Seeking Microsoft Office feedback - re MS Planner

Question

Hoping that you can assist, as I’ve logged feedback and complaint forms and have not received a response to any of the requests.

When calling Microsoft for assistance (1800 624 449) the auto attendant provided a URL, however that cannot be accessed as I am not the administrator of the account.

My request is simply one - to clarify a situation. It is generic and product related – so I’ve not posted to the community.

Our MS Planner was recently updated to Planner 1, one of the primary reasons for this was to utilise the reporting functionality. I am unsure as to whether there is a lag, however suspect that it may be due to another factor.

I currently have Microsoft 365 Copilot (Basic).

Let me explain further, I can use Copilot in other Microsoft apps, but I believe that the Planner AI Status Reports requires the Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 licence specifically. This might explain why I am getting a system error.

 From my Co-Pilot page, I can see that Microsoft 365 Copilot (Basic) is noted and I suspect that this does not support Planner AI reporting.

The interesting thing is that on the MS links – there is nothing that I can note that makes a reference to this requirement.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/compare-microsoft-planner-basic-vs-premium-plans-5e35117…

https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/microsoft-365/planner/microsoft-planner-plans-and-pricing

So, our organisation has upgraded a couple of MS Planner licences, which will not suit our needs moving forward.

The MS Planner Plan 1 upgrade is fine, and the account appears to be is fine, however, the key component for the upgrade is ineffective. I am seeking assistance in determining what it is that can be done.

Moved from: Microsoft 365 and Office | Other

Answer 1

Hi @Steve Venning-Smith,

You’re actually on the right track here, this behavior does align with how the feature is currently designed.

The key point is that the AI capabilities in Microsoft Planner (including things like status summaries or plan insights) are part of the broader Copilot experience, not a standalone Planner feature.

According to Microsoft’s official documentation, Copilot in Planner uses the same shared infrastructure as Copilot across Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, Teams, etc.) . Because of that, access to these AI capabilities depends on having the appropriate Copilot licensing. (For your reference: Frequently asked questions about Copilot in Planner (preview) - Microsoft Support)

More importantly, Microsoft explicitly states that access to advanced Planner AI features (such as the Project Manager agent / Copilot experiences) requires a Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 license, you can find this information in here: Turn off or restrict access to Planner Agent and Planner Agent chat in Planner - Microsoft Planner …

This explains what you’re seeing:

• Your Planner Plan 1 upgrade is working correctly
• However, the AI reporting/ Copilot-driven features are not available because “Microsoft 365 Copilot (Basic)” does not include those capabilities

So even though the feature appears in the UI, it may return an error or not function without the required license.

It’s also worth noting that Microsoft’s public pricing and comparison pages don’t clearly call out this dependency, which can make it seem like Planner plan upgrades alone should unlock AI features; but in reality, those features are tied to Copilot licensing.

At this point, your options would be:

• Assign a Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 license to users who need AI reporting in Planner, or
• Continue using Planner without the Copilot-based features

If you need confirmation specific to your tenant or licensing setup, your Microsoft 365 admin or official support channel would be the best next step, as licensing and backend feature enablement are outside the scope of the community forum. Hope this information will help.