tar-8

TAR-8 refers to the "8-Surface Tenant AI Readiness Standard," a free 24-point rubric published by Houston-based Microsoft consultancy EPC Group for judging whether a Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant is ready for Microsoft 365 Copilot, AI agents, and approved external models. It scores eight areas, spanning Entra identity through Teams transcripts and Power BI models, and was announced in September 2026. Coverage on WindowsForum.com notes that Microsoft did not create TAR-8 and does not certify against it, and that EPC sells a paid assessment built on the rubric, so the standard is best treated as a vendor-authored readiness framework rather than an official Microsoft benchmark.