What Microsoft announced
The item is listed in Microsoft's AI at Work roadmap as ID 562412, titled "Microsoft Viva: Agent metrics for custom reporting in Insights analyst workbench." According to the listing, Insights global and partition analysts can access and combine granular agent usage metrics with agent and organizational attributes to uncover agent adoption trends, export and customize reporting, and drive more informed decisions, without relying on predefined dashboards.
The roadmap entry covers these details:
- Status: Rolling out
- Products: Microsoft Viva and Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365)
- Platform: Web
- Release rings: Preview and General Availability
- Cloud: Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant)
- Preview: July 2026
- General availability: September 2026
"Rolling out" means the deployment has started. It doesn't mean every tenant or every eligible analyst has the feature yet. The roadmap also says that all of its information is subject to change.
Section summary: The change is narrow but useful. Agent metrics are coming to the custom-reporting side of Viva Insights, so analysts no longer have to rely only on dashboards.
What Message Center adds
The roadmap description is brief, but a related Microsoft 365 Message Center post, MC1403410 ("Microsoft Viva: Agent flexible query in Analytics Workbench"), describes what appears to be the same capability in more detail. Microsoft says it is introducing a flexible query capability in Microsoft Viva Insights Analytics Workbench that enables insights analysts to explore Microsoft 365 Copilot agent adoption using customizable, self-serve queries.
According to that post:
- A new Agent query template will be available in the Analytics Workbench, which analysts use to query Copilot agent metrics.
- Queries include agents used within Microsoft 365 Copilot. Analysts can combine agent usage data with organizational attributes. Analysts can customize and export reports.
- There is a licensing threshold. Organizations must have more than 50 Microsoft 365 Copilot (Premium) license to access and use this feature
- Admins don't need to turn anything on. The post says No action is required to enable this feature.
The timing has moved. A copy of the Message Center post archived by the M365 Admin site, originally posted by Microsoft on June 25, 2026, said the feature rolls out worldwide from late July to late August 2026, requiring no admin action. A later summary on Merill Fernando's Message Center tracker says the Analytics Workbench will add a flexible query feature in late September 2026. That fits the roadmap's September general availability date and suggests the schedule slipped. Admins should check their own tenant's Message Center entry for the current dates.
Section summary: Message Center names the deliverable (an Agent query template), sets an entitlement bar of more than 50 Copilot licenses, and confirms the feature turns on without admin action. The rollout window has shifted at least once.
How this fits into Copilot Analytics
Copilot Analytics already has several tools, so it helps to know which one does what. Microsoft's Copilot Analytics overview on Microsoft Learn lists the Copilot Dashboard, the Consumption Dashboard, Copilot Analytics reports, Advanced Reporting, and an Agent Dashboard in the Viva Insights web app for leaders, analysts, and their selected delegates.
The Agent Dashboard gives a curated, read-only view. Advanced Reporting is where analysts build their own queries. Microsoft describes Advanced Reporting as letting organizations dive deeper into Copilot usage and impact through both pre-configured Power BI report templates and fully customizable queries. Until this update, agent adoption data appeared mainly in the dashboard. This update brings agent data into the custom query tools.
There is also a gatekeeping detail. Microsoft says the Agent Dashboard is available in the Viva Insights web app for any customer with at least 50 Microsoft Copilot licenses and agent activity. The Message Center wording for the new query feature ("more than 50") is slightly different. Tenants right at 50 licenses should verify eligibility rather than assume it.
Who gets access
This feature is for analysts only. Microsoft's documentation states that only users with the Insights Analyst role can set up and run customized queries. The roadmap specifically mentions global and partition analysts. A partition analyst's view is limited to that partition's slice of the organization, and nothing in the announcement says the new template changes that.
Analysts should also check whether behavioral insights are turned on in their tenant. Microsoft's documentation on behavioral insights data says that with them off, analysts can run custom person queries for Copilot metrics only. With them on, the full analyst workbench is available, including the Create analysis, Analysis results, and Metric library pages. Microsoft hasn't said which of those modes the Agent query template needs.
What analysts might measure
Microsoft hasn't published a metric list specific to the new template. Its metric reference does document the agent measures used in the dashboards, and these show what "granular agent usage metrics" probably covers. The list below describes existing documentation, not a confirmed field list for the new template:
| Metric (dashboard definition) | What it means |
|---|---|
| Sessions | A session is a period of continuous interaction between a user and an agent. New sessions begin after 30 minutes of inactivity. |
| Active users | The number of unique users with at least one agent response over the last 28 days. |
| Returning users | Share of the prior 28-day period's users who were active again in the current period |
| Total Copilot credits | Credits consumed across all agents or by a specific agent over 28 days |
| Agent creator type | User, Your org, Microsoft, or Microsoft partner |
| Agent source | Agent Builder, Copilot Studio, SharePoint, Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit, Other, Other Microsoft |
The "agent attributes" in the roadmap description probably refer to descriptors like creator type and source. If so, analysts could answer questions such as:
- Are user-built Agent Builder agents getting more use than IT-approved Copilot Studio agents?
- Which departments or regions are starting to use agents, and which haven't begun?
- Where are Copilot credits going, and does credit consumption follow actual usage?
The organizational attributes come from the same data that feeds other Viva Insights reports. By default, Viva Insights brings in Microsoft Entra ID data, which automatically ingests the PersonId, ManagerId, Organization, Domain, and TimeZone attributes. Organizations that want to slice by job function, cost center, or location need to upload extra organizational data.
Exporting results
The roadmap and Message Center both say reports can be exported but don't name formats for agent queries. For existing queries, the Analysis results page lets analysts download query results as CSV, Power BI, or a direct link copied to your clipboard. Microsoft's metric reference also cautions that some metrics might be restricted from export based on your organization's privacy settings and/or role-based access permissions. Expect privacy settings such as minimum group size to apply to agent data as well.
What usage numbers can and can't show
This feature measures adoption. It doesn't measure return on investment. High session counts show that people are using an agent, not that the agent saves time or money. Microsoft handles business impact as a separate workflow: the Copilot business impact report requires uploading business-outcome data first. Analysts who take agent usage charts to leadership should label them as adoption metrics.
Copilot data also arrives with a delay. Microsoft's metric reference says reports include complete Copilot data as long as the report is run at least six days after the completion of the previous week. If you query too soon, the results can show NULL values, which look like non-use but really mean the data hasn't arrived yet.
What to do now
- Check eligibility. Confirm your tenant has more than 50 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses and some agent activity.
- Check roles. Make sure the people who need this have the Insights Analyst role, with global or partition scope as appropriate.
- Look for the template. Once it reaches your tenant, look for the Agent query template in the analyst workbench. Microsoft says no admin action is needed.
- Add attributes if needed. If Entra ID's default attributes are too coarse, upload extra organizational data before your first agent analysis.
- Tell your analysts. Microsoft suggests letting insights analysts know about the new capability and updating internal documentation if you reference analytics workflows in Viva Insights.
- Wait for data to settle. Run queries at least six days after the period ends so the numbers are complete.
Bottom line
This is a small update that should still be useful. Organizations have spent a lot on Copilot and agents, and leaders want answers broken down by their own org structure. Putting agent metrics into custom queries gives analysts more flexibility than dashboards allow, as long as they stay within their analyst scope, privacy limits, and the six-day data delay. Two points need checking in your own tenant. Rollout dates have moved, so watch your Message Center. And Microsoft hasn't published an exact field list, so don't assume every dashboard metric will appear in the new template.