Viva Engage: Agents in Viva Engage communities Public Preview [MC1155311]

Message ID: MC1155311

[Introduction]

Agent in Viva Engage communities are now available in Public Preview. Community admins can add agents to communities to enhance knowledge sharing by drafting answers to questions without best or verified answers based on community content.

Shortly after public preview begins, we’ll be enhancing agents in communities with SharePoint grounding to improve the accuracy and relevance of AI-generated answers. This update allows the agent to use content from SharePoint sites that community members can access, helping ensure responses are contextually grounded and backed by trusted sources. Agents in communities will only draft answers with content that all community members have access to. You can set up your agent with before SharePoint grounding is available and add it later.

[When this will happen:]

• Agents in communities Public Preview: Begins September 18th, expected to be complete by late September
• SharePoint Grounding Public Preview (Worldwide): Begins late September 2025, expected to complete by early October 2025
• General Availability (Worldwide): Begins late January 2026, expected to complete by late February 2026

[How this affects your organization:]

• Who is affected: Viva Engage community admins with Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses; Global and Engage admins managing Viva Engage networks
• What will happen:
• During Public Preview:
• Admins can opt their network into the preview via the Engage admin center: Engage admin center > Analytics and AI > Enable Community Agent Public Preview.

  Figure i. Toggle on to opt network into Community Agent Public Preview​

  

• Once enabled, admins can add agents to any community they manage.

  Figure ii. Add agent to community​

  

• The agent will proactively draft answers to unanswered questions using past conversations.
• By default, the agent posts answers automatically.
• Admins can configure whether the agent posts answers automatically or only after approval.

  Figure iii. Configure the agent to require answer review before posting​

  

• If Require review is enabled, admins and designated experts will be notified when the agent drafts an answer. They can approve, edit, or dismiss the response.

  Figure iv. Community admins and experts can review agent suggestions​

  

• Coming soon (General Availability):
  • The agent will only use content that all community members can access.
  • Admins must be owners of the SharePoint sites they wish to configure.
  • Admins can add additional SharePoint sites to expand the agent’s grounding knowledge.
  • The agent will be grounded by default on the community’s SharePoint site.
  • All Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed users will have access to the Community Agent by default.
  • The Community Agent Public Preview toggle will be retired.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• If participating in preview:
• Opt your network into the preview via the Engage admin center
• Communicate this change to helpdesk staff. 
• Update internal documentation that references Viva Engage Community Agent behavior or setup.
• No action is required at GA; the feature will be on by default.

Learn more: Set up and manage the agents in communities feature in Viva Engage

[Compliance considerations:]

Consideration	Explanation
Uses customer data	The agent accesses SharePoint content to generate answers. Only content accessible to all community members is used.
Introduces AI/ML agent capabilities	The agent uses generative AI to draft responses based on SharePoint content.
Admin control available	(Optional) Community admins can configure which SharePoint sites are used for grounding. Admin must be site owner.
User interaction with generative AI	End users receive AI-generated answers grounded in community conversations and SharePoint content
Can be controlled through Entra ID group membership	Admin access and site ownership can be managed via Entra ID group membership.

https://cxcs.microsoft.net/file/ccp/en-us/e641e3d6-9fff-4a4e-ac28-07adc0509e00https://cxcs.microsoft.net/file/ccp/en-us/e641e3d6-9fff-4a4e-ac28-07adc0509e00

Source: Microsoft

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