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

Message ID: MC1218711

[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.

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected:

• Admins managing People Skills in Microsoft 365.
• Tenants that have at least one Microsoft 365 Copilot license will have access to this control 

What will happen:

• Admins will have the option to enable AI-powered skill inferencing for Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3/E5 licensed users.
• This capability is available directly in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
• No changes will occur until an admin turns on this capability.
• People Skills must be set up before AI-powered inferencing can begin.

[What you can do to prepare:]

No action is required at this time. This message is for awareness only.

To prepare for enabling AI-powered skill inferencing for Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3/E5 licensed users after rollout, you can:

• Confirm your tenant has Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 or E5 licensed users.
• Confirm your tenant has at least one Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
• Set up People Skills in the Microsoft 365 admin center before enabling inferencing.
• Review the guide: Manage your skills library in People Skills.
• Learn how to set up People Skills.

[Compliance considerations:]

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.

Source: Microsoft

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