MC1218711 – People Skills: AI skill inferencing expanded to E3/E5 licenses

Product:

Copilot, Microsoft 365 admin center, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft Graph, Microsoft Viva

Platform:

Developer, Online, Web, Windows Desktop, World tenant

Status:

In development

Change type:

New feature, User impact

Links:

548643

Details:

Summary:
AI-powered People Skills skill inferencing will expand to Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 and E5 users, enabling admins to activate this feature in the admin center. Rollout begins late January 2026, enhancing workforce analytics and people-based queries for organizations with Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses.

Details:
[Introduction]
People Skills is expanding AI-powered skill inferencing to include users with Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 and Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 licenses. Previously, AI-powered skill inferencing was available only to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Viva licensed users.
With this update, admins will be able to turn on AI-powered skill inferencing for Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 and E5 licensed users directly in the Microsoft 365 admin center. AI-powered skill inferencing uses AI to automatically identify and update skills on users' Microsoft 365 profiles based on their work activity from the Microsoft Graph. Learn more: People Skills AI inferencing engine.
As a reminder, People Skills is an intelligent data layer that infers skills from user activity mapped to a customizable built-in skills taxonomy. It enhances Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft Viva experiences by providing contextualized information about people across the organization. Learn more about People Skills.
Expanding AI-powered skill inferencing to Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3/E5 licensed users increases skills coverage across the organization, resulting in richer workforce analytics for leaders and more robust results in people-based queries across Microsoft 365 Copilot and related agents.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 548643.
[When this will happen:]
General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout will begin at the end of January 2026 and is expected to complete by mid-February 2026.

Change Category:
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Scope:
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Release Phase:
General Availability

Created:
2026-01-17

updated:
2026-01-17

Task Type

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Docu to Check

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MS How does it affect me

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MS Preperations

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MS Urgency

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linked item details

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summary for non-techies**

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Direct effects for Operations**

AI-Powered Skill Inferencing Activation
If the change is implemented without proper preparation, admins may face challenges in managing the new AI-powered skill inferencing feature, leading to potential misconfigurations and ineffective use of the tool.
   - roles: Admins, IT Support
   - references: https://learn.microsoft.com/copilot/microsoft-365/people-skills-ai-inferencing, https://learn.microsoft.com/copilot/microsoft-365/people-skills-setup

User Experience with Skills Coverage
Without preparation, users may experience inconsistencies in their skill profiles, leading to confusion and reduced trust in the AI-generated insights, negatively impacting their engagement with Microsoft 365 tools.
   - roles: End Users, Team Leaders
   - references: https://adoption.microsoft.com/ai-agents/people-skills/, https://learn.microsoft.com/copilot/microsoft-365/people-skills-manage-skills-library

Configutation Options**

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Data Protection**

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explanation for non-techies**

Microsoft is expanding its AI capabilities to include more users within organizations that use Microsoft 365. Imagine your office as a library. In this library, every employee has a book that lists their skills and expertise. Traditionally, updating these books would require someone to manually add new skills as employees learn and grow. This can be time-consuming and often inaccurate.

Now, with AI-powered skill inferencing, Microsoft 365 acts like a smart librarian who can automatically update these books by observing what employees do in their daily work. This smart librarian uses information from the Microsoft Graph, which is like a digital map of all the activities and interactions within Microsoft 365. This way, the librarian can see which skills are being used and developed, and update the books accordingly.

Previously, this smart librarian service was only available to a select group of users with specific licenses. But starting in early 2026, it will be available to a broader range of users who have Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 and E5 licenses. This means more employees will have their skills automatically updated, leading to a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of the skills available within the organization.

For managers and HR staff, this change means they can have better insights into the skills landscape of their teams. It’s like having a detailed map of all the skills in the organization, helping to make more informed decisions about team composition, training needs, and career development opportunities.

Admins will have the ability to turn on this feature through the Microsoft 365 admin center, but nothing will change until they decide to activate it. This ensures that organizations can prepare and set up the necessary infrastructure, like the People Skills feature, before the smart librarian starts updating skill profiles.

Overall, this expansion of AI capabilities in Microsoft 365 is designed to enhance workforce analytics and provide richer data for people-based queries, ultimately helping organizations better understand and utilize their human resources.