Knowledge Agent for SharePoint

Key insights

• Knowledge Agent: A new AI feature in SharePoint that prepares and structures content so AI tools can deliver more accurate, actionable answers.
  It enriches files, organizes libraries, and makes your content Copilot-ready.
• Metadata: The agent auto-tags and auto-fills metadata to improve discoverability and let AI reason over document context.
  Populated metadata helps Copilot and custom agents give more grounded, higher-quality responses.
• Content management & workflows: Use natural-language prompts to tag files, build rules, and create workflows without coding.
  The agent can generate views, transform unstructured files (like resumes) into searchable databases, and build notifications or automation rules instantly.
• Content freshness & page authoring: Detect content gaps, fix broken links, and retire outdated pages with a few clicks.
  The agent also co-authors pages using templates, suggests layouts, and can add AI-powered FAQs and audio overviews to improve user experience.
• Context-aware access: A floating button appears across SharePoint surfaces to open a menu tailored to your role and current file or site.
  Options include “Ask a question,” summarize, compare files, create workflows, or organize a library based on where you are.
• Availability & roadmap: Knowledge Agent is in Public Preview for tenants with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license and requires tenant-level opt-in by admins.
  Site-level opt-in will be available on November 1, and Microsoft plans general availability and more features in early 2026.

Overview

The Microsoft YouTube video introduces Knowledge Agent, a new AI-powered layer in SharePoint designed to make content more useful for Copilot and other agents. It presents the tool as a way to prepare and structure organizational knowledge so AI can provide grounded, relevant answers. The video frames this feature as part of a broader shift toward human-AI collaboration in modern workplaces. Consequently, the demo focuses on practical workflows that aim to reduce manual effort and improve search and automation.

What Knowledge Agent Does

The demo shows that Knowledge Agent enriches content by adding metadata, organizing libraries, and suggesting automation rules. For example, it can auto-fill metadata columns, tag files, and generate views that sort or group documents by meaningful attributes. These steps help Copilot and custom agents reason about the content with better context rather than relying on raw text alone. As a result, answers and actions become more relevant and grounded in the actual documents stored in the library.

In addition, the video highlights content hygiene and compliance features that suggest labels and admin controls to keep information trustworthy. The agent can flag broken links, recommend retiring inactive pages, and surface content gaps based on search patterns. It also proposes ways to convert unstructured files—such as resumes—into structured records that are easier to search and analyze. Overall, the emphasis is on improving discoverability while reducing the manual burden of content governance.

How It Works in SharePoint

The interface centers on a floating button that opens a context-aware menu wherever users work in SharePoint. From there, the agent adapts its suggestions based on whether a person is viewing a site, editing a page, or managing a library. Users can ask questions, request summaries, compare files, or generate audio overviews without leaving their current screen. This workflow aims to keep people focused while letting AI perform repetitive tasks and surface useful insights.

The video also explains natural language prompts for building automations and views, showing how non-technical users can create rules like notifications for invoices above a threshold. By letting people describe needs in plain language, the agent builds workflows and filters automatically. Additionally, the agent leverages metadata reasoning to better distinguish between similar documents and produce more accurate results. These capabilities underline the role of structured metadata in improving AI performance across an organization's content.

Real-world Use Cases

The presentation walks through use cases across functions to show tangible benefits in everyday work. For IT and project teams, the agent helps keep sites current by fixing links and identifying outdated pages, which reduces confusion and support requests. HR and legal teams gain from automated tagging, review dates, and clause extraction that streamline audits and routing for review, respectively. Communications and marketing teams can speed up page production using AI-driven drafting and templates, while sales and operations benefit from quicker access to product specs, contracts, and vendor records.

Importantly, the demo positions these scenarios as starting points rather than exhaustive solutions; teams still need to configure policies and check outputs. The agent accelerates routine work but relies on organizations to set guardrails that match their business rules. Thus, the video emphasizes collaboration between humans and AI where staff remain accountable for validation and final decisions.

Tradeoffs and Challenges

The YouTube demo acknowledges several tradeoffs that organizations should weigh before wide adoption. On one hand, auto-tagging and metadata reasoning can dramatically improve search and automation, but on the other hand they depend on high-quality source content and sensible taxonomies. If metadata suggestions are incorrect or inconsistent, AI responses can become misleading, which highlights the need for ongoing oversight. Therefore, admins must balance automation benefits with governance processes that ensure data quality and compliance.

Another challenge involves privacy, licensing, and change management. While the tool can help enforce policies, it also raises questions about who can access enriched metadata and generated insights. Licensing requirements for Microsoft 365 Copilot influence who can use the preview features, and organizations must plan rollouts to manage cost and adoption. Finally, the risk of over-reliance on AI outputs means teams should maintain review practices to prevent errors and avoid blind trust in automated decisions.

Availability and Next Steps

The video notes that Knowledge Agent is available in Public Preview and requires tenant-level opt-in for organizations with appropriate licenses. It also states that site-level opt-ins will offer more granular control later in the preview phase, and that broader availability is planned ahead of general release in early 2026. Microsoft invites customer feedback during the preview to refine features and address real-world needs before full rollout.

In summary, the YouTube presentation frames Knowledge Agent as a practical bridge between unstructured content and AI-driven workflows in SharePoint. However, the demo also makes clear that success depends on metadata quality, governance, and careful rollout planning. As organizations test the preview, they will need to weigh automation gains against compliance, cost, and the human oversight required to keep AI outputs reliable and useful.

Keywords

Knowledge agent AI, Knowledge agent software, Knowledge agent platform, Knowledge agent chatbot, Enterprise knowledge agent, Knowledge agent for customer support, Knowledge agent integration, Knowledge management agent