Ground your custom agents in Microsoft 365 data securely and at scale. Effective June 16, 2026, Microsoft makes the Work IQ API generally available.
Summary
- Work IQ API reaches general availability (GA) on June 16, 2026
- Usage for custom and third-party agents moves to consumption-based billing through Copilot Credits
- Users of Microsoft 365 Copilot pre-built agents stay covered by existing licensing
- An administrator must enable consumptive billing before usage can begin
- API access is independent of Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing
- Billing, access, and usage controls are managed in the Microsoft Admin Center
What is changing?
From June 16, 2026, the Work IQ API lets customers build agents and apps that use Microsoft 365 data, context, and tools securely and at scale. For agents built in Microsoft Copilot Studio, Microsoft Foundry, or third-party AI platforms and grounded in Microsoft 365 data through the Work IQ API, usage moves to consumption-based billing through Copilot Credits.
For users accessing Microsoft 365 Copilot pre-built agents, Work IQ usage remains covered by existing licensing. Before usage can begin at general availability, an administrator must enable consumptive billing and prepare billing, access, and usage controls in the Microsoft Admin Center.
What is the Work IQ API?
Work IQ is a workplace intelligence layer that lets agents access and reason over organizational data, context, and tools. It builds a semantic understanding across Microsoft 365 and connected systems, with built-in, permission-aware governance.
The Work IQ API is the external interface to this layer. It lets developers embed Microsoft 365 intelligence directly into their own agents, apps, and services, returning permission-aware, fully contextualized responses instead of raw data. At general availability, API access is independent of Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing and available on a consumption basis.
Customer benefits at a glance
- Faster, more intelligent agents grounded in real organizational context
- Predictable cost control, with usage caps and alerts set by administrators
- Flexible adoption, since you only pay for what your agents consume
- Consistent governance, because every request honors existing permissions
- Freedom of platform, across Microsoft and third-party AI tools
What the Work IQ API enables
Core capabilities relevant to customers and developers:
- Grounded intelligence: agents reason over mail, calendar, files, people, chat, and sites
- Permission-aware access: every request runs in the context of a specific user
- Built-in governance: every tool call is logged for auditing, analytics, and compliance
- Cross-platform reach: agents built in Microsoft Copilot Studio, Microsoft Foundry, or third-party platforms
- Administrator cost controls: named billing policies, access policies, and usage limits in the Microsoft Admin Center
How Work IQ usage is billed
Copilot Credits are the metered currency used to pay for Microsoft Copilot consumption across the tenant. The same credit pool covers Work IQ API usage, Microsoft Copilot Studio agents, Dynamics 365 first-party agents, and Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat for users without a license.
There are three ways to buy Copilot Credits:
| Purchase option | Price | Where to buy |
| Pay-as-you-go | $0.01 per credit | Azure subscription |
| Copilot Credit Capacity Packs | $200 per tenant, per month (25,000 credits) | Microsoft Admin Center |
| Copilot Credits Pre-Purchase Plan | Tiered discounts, one-year commitment | Azure subscription |
Work IQ cost is variable based on usage and can be managed in the Microsoft Admin Center.
Why this matters now
The shift to consumption billing changes how Microsoft 365 intelligence is funded. Organizations gain clearer cost control and only pay for what their agents use, but they also need to act before June 16, 2026 to avoid interrupted access. Enabling billing early reduces the risk of overspend, keeps custom agents running, and gives finance and information technology teams predictable, governed usage as agent adoption scales.
What organizations should do now
- Review which custom or third-party agents use the Work IQ API today, or are planned
- Enable consumptive billing in the Microsoft Admin Center before June 16, 2026
- Set up a payment method for consumption-based billing
- Create access policies that define which users and groups can consume credits
- Configure usage limits and alert emails to control spend
- Estimate expected credit consumption to choose the right purchase option
Ready to plan your Copilot Credits strategy?
Our Microsoft licensing experts help you compare Copilot Credits purchase options, forecast consumption, and align spend. Contact our experts today to plan your Work IQ and Copilot Credits licensing with confidence.
Sources
For the announcement of Microsoft Work IQ API: General Availability and Consumption-Based Pricing, please visit: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/microsoft365dev/work-iq-production-ready-intelligence-for-every-agent/.
For useful software licensing information on Microsoft products, please visit: https://www.schneider.im/software/microsoft/.