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:

Launched

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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MS workload name

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linked item details

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summary for non-techies**

Microsoft is expanding its AI-powered skill inferencing feature to users with Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 and E5 licenses, allowing organizations to automatically identify and update employee skills based on work activities for better workforce insights.

Direct effects for Operations**

User Experience Degradation
If AI-powered skill inferencing is enabled without proper setup, users may experience inaccurate skill representations on their profiles, leading to confusion and misalignment in team collaborations.
   - roles: End Users, Team Leaders
   - references: https://learn.microsoft.com/copilot/microsoft-365/people-skills-ai-inferencing, https://learn.microsoft.com/copilot/microsoft-365/people-skills-setup

Admin Overload
Admins may face increased workload due to unanticipated issues arising from enabling the feature without prior configuration, such as troubleshooting incorrect skill data or managing user complaints.
   - roles: IT Admins, HR Managers
   - references: https://learn.microsoft.com/copilot/microsoft-365/people-skills-manage-skills-library, https://adoption.microsoft.com/ai-agents/people-skills/

Configutation Options**

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Data Protection**

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explanation for non-techies**

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