Administer Microsoft 365 and AI Services (AB-650)

Build the skills to configure, manage, secure, and govern Microsoft 365 environments and AI services, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, AI agents, and Microsoft Agent 365.

This three-day instructor-led course develops the practical knowledge required to administer Microsoft 365 tenants, manage core workloads, protect organisational data, and support the secure adoption of AI-powered services.

Learners will explore tenant administration, licensing, identity and access management, threat protection, and data governance using Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Defender, and Microsoft Purview. The course also covers Microsoft 365 Copilot deployment, agent identity management, the Agent Registry, and monitoring AI services.

Through demonstrations, hands-on labs, and real-world scenarios, learners will develop the skills to maintain secure, compliant, and reliable Microsoft 365 environments while supporting responsible AI adoption across their organisation.

Prerequisites

Before attending this course, learners should have:

• Experience administering Microsoft 365 workloads, including Exchange Online, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive
• Familiarity with Microsoft Entra ID and identity management concepts
• Understanding of Microsoft Defender XDR security capabilities
• Familiarity with Microsoft Graph PowerShell
• Basic knowledge of domain name system concepts
• An understanding of Microsoft 365 administration and cloud-based productivity services

Previous experience with Microsoft 365 Copilot administration is beneficial, particularly when exploring AI service management and agent governance.

No mandatory prerequisite certification is specified.

Target audience

This course is designed for IT professionals responsible for administering Microsoft 365 tenants, protecting organisational information, and managing AI-powered productivity services.

It is particularly relevant for:

• Microsoft 365 administrators managing tenant configuration, licensing, and workloads
• Microsoft 365 and AI services administrators responsible for Copilot and agent governance
• Identity and access administrators supporting Microsoft Entra environments
• Security and compliance professionals managing Microsoft 365 protection and governance controls
• Modern workplace engineers supporting secure collaboration and AI adoption
• Technical consultants responsible for Microsoft 365 deployment, operational management, and optimisation

The course also supports administrators seeking to develop the skills associated with the Microsoft 365 and AI Services Administrator Associate certification.

Configure and manage Microsoft 365 tenants and workloads

Develop the administrative skills required to configure Microsoft 365 environments, maintain service health, and manage collaboration workloads.

Provision and brand a Microsoft 365 tenant

• Understand Microsoft 365 tenant architecture
• Assign least-privilege administrator roles
• Add and verify custom domains
• Configure organisational branding and settings
• Apply appropriate administrative controls

License Microsoft 365 and AI services at scale

• Assign and manage Microsoft 365 licences
• Verify and troubleshoot licence assignments
• Configure licensing for Microsoft 365 Copilot and AI services
• Understand Microsoft 365 billing structures
• Configure pay-as-you-go billing for supported AI services

Keep a Microsoft 365 tenant resilient and healthy

• Configure Microsoft 365 Backup for critical workloads
• Monitor service health and configure notifications
• Diagnose network connectivity issues affecting Copilot
• Review Microsoft 365 usage and adoption information
• Understand endpoint and client management capabilities

Configure Exchange Online and Microsoft Teams workloads

• Create and manage Exchange Online mailboxes
• Configure mailbox delegation and permissions
• Understand Exchange Online mail flow
• Manage Microsoft Teams, channels, and memberships
• Configure Copilot capabilities in Teams meetings

Govern SharePoint and OneDrive for Microsoft Copilot

• Create and manage SharePoint sites
• Configure SharePoint and OneDrive sharing settings
• Identify overshared content and excessive access
• Apply Restricted Content Discovery and Restricted Access Control
• Review controls supporting secure Copilot access to organisational content

Govern and secure Microsoft 365 tenants and workloads

Explore identity, security, and compliance capabilities that protect users, information, and collaboration services.

Provision and govern identities in Microsoft Entra

• Manage user, contact, and guest identities
• Perform bulk identity administration with Microsoft Graph PowerShell
• Create and manage groups and lifecycle policies
• Configure administrative units
• Govern privileged roles using Privileged Identity Management

Implement authentication and access in Microsoft Entra

• Configure authentication methods and policies
• Implement password protection and self-service password reset
• Evaluate Conditional Access policies
• Investigate authentication and sign-in issues
• Respond to identity risk and device compliance conditions

Secure email and collaboration with Microsoft Defender for Office 365

• Configure threat protection policies
• Manage email and collaboration security settings
• Protect Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive
• Investigate security alerts and threats
• Explore automated investigation, remediation, and attack simulation training

Protect information with Microsoft Purview information protection

• Identify appropriate information classification methods
• Configure sensitivity labels and protection settings
• Publish and manage sensitivity label policies
• Review classification reporting
• Assess how information protection supports secure Copilot access to data

Prevent data loss and govern the data lifecycle with Microsoft Purview

• Define data loss prevention requirements
• Configure protection across Microsoft 365 workloads
• Investigate alerts involving AI applications and agents
• Respond to data loss prevention alerts using Microsoft Defender XDR
• Apply data lifecycle management controls
• Review AI-related data risks using Data Security Posture Management

Manage and secure Microsoft 365 AI services

Develop the capabilities required to deploy Microsoft 365 Copilot, secure AI agents, and govern AI services throughout their operational lifecycle.

Assess readiness and roll out Microsoft Copilot

• Evaluate tenant readiness for Copilot deployment
• Identify information access and data readiness risks
• Review prerequisites for secure AI adoption
• Plan phased deployment and pilot groups
• Address issues before wider organisational rollout

Configure Microsoft Copilot settings and extensibility

• Configure Microsoft Copilot tenant settings
• Manage web search and Copilot Chat capabilities
• Configure Copilot Search and Copilot connectors
• Manage third-party AI providers
• Explore Copilot Cowork and SharePoint AI skills
• Review governance considerations for Copilot extensibility

Establish agent identities and secure access with Microsoft Entra Agent ID

• Understand the Microsoft Entra Agent ID object model
• Configure agent identity ownership and sponsorship
• Manage agent identity lifecycle responsibilities
• Apply Conditional Access to supported agent identities
• Review access requirements and licensing considerations

Curate and control agents with the Agent Registry and Agent 365 tools

• Discover and review registered AI agents
• Approve or block tools available to agents
• Govern Model Context Protocol servers
• Manage ongoing Agent Registry curation
• Audit agents by publisher and distribution channel

Monitor and manage agents with Microsoft Agent 365

• Monitor AI agent activity and operational status
• Review agent permissions and behaviour
• Identify issues affecting agent operation
• Manage agents through operational scenarios
• Support secure and reliable agent deployment

Govern agents using Agent 365

• Apply security and governance policies to agents
• Manage agent access to tools and services
• Review audit logs and agent activity
• Investigate agent-related governance concerns
• Support responsible agent lifecycle management

Monitor and optimise Microsoft 365 AI services

• Identify appropriate Copilot and agent reporting sources
• Analyse Copilot and agent usage reports
• Review adoption and effectiveness
• Monitor AI service costs and consumption
• Identify opportunities to optimise AI expenditure
• Assess AI service health using the Copilot Control System

Exams and assessments

This course is associated with the Microsoft 365 Certified: Microsoft 365 and AI Services Administrator Associate certification, which Microsoft currently lists as being in beta.

The course supports the development of administrative skills relevant to this certification.

Learners will reinforce their understanding through:

• Module-level assessments
• Instructor-led discussions and demonstrations
• Hands-on configuration exercises
• Scenario-based security and governance activities
• Practical tasks covering Microsoft 365 and AI service administration

Microsoft certification is subject to successfully meeting the relevant examination requirements.

The certification examination is not confirmed as included within the course. Examination availability, booking arrangements, and eligibility should be checked separately.

Hands-on learning

This course combines instructor-led teaching with practical exercises that reflect real Microsoft 365 administration responsibilities.

Learners will practise:

• Configuring tenants, administrator roles, and licences
• Managing collaboration workloads and secure access
• Applying Microsoft Entra authentication and identity controls
• Investigating threats and configuring information protection
• Assessing Microsoft 365 Copilot deployment readiness
• Managing AI agent identities, permissions, and governance
• Reviewing Copilot and agent activity, adoption, and costs

Practical scenarios help learners understand how administrative decisions affect security, compliance, service reliability, and AI adoption.

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

• Configure and manage Microsoft 365 tenants, including domains, organisational settings, administrator roles, licensing, and billing for Microsoft 365 and AI services.
• Administer core Microsoft 365 workloads, including Exchange Online, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive, while applying appropriate governance and collaboration controls.
• Implement identity and access management using Microsoft Entra, including authentication methods, Conditional Access, privileged access, and identity governance.
• Strengthen organisational security using Microsoft Defender for Office 365 and Microsoft Purview to manage threats, information protection, data loss prevention, and data lifecycle controls.
• Assess Microsoft 365 Copilot readiness, plan deployment, configure service settings, and manage Copilot extensibility.
• Establish and manage secure AI agent identities using Microsoft Entra Agent ID, and apply governance controls through the Agent Registry and Microsoft Agent 365.
• Monitor AI agent activity, investigate security risks, manage permissions and policies, and support responsible agent lifecycle management.
• Analyse Microsoft 365 Copilot and agent usage, assess operational health, and optimise AI service costs, performance, and adoption.