Configure Workforce Insights Agent (Frontier)

Prerequisites

Licensing and access

Workforce Insights Agent (Frontier) requires a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license, and the tenant has to enroll in Microsoft Frontier program. To enable skills queries in the agent, you also need to enable People Skills and meet People Skills licensing requirements.

Responsible AI, data privacy, and security

The Workforce Insights Agent (Frontier) isn't built to monitor behavior, manage performance, or make employment decisions. Admins must know and follow their organizations' legal and business rules. These rules might include data protection laws and Works Council guidance. Use the controls to set up the agent to meet those rules. To learn about responsible AI, see these articles:

Role requirements

Give each admin the role with the fewest rights they need. Assign roles only to trusted users who need them. Review who has each role often. Don't use Global Administrator for routine tasks.

Role Use for Workforce Insights Who should be assigned
Global Administrator Rare, company-wide tasks that need broad rights, such as assigning admin roles or setup steps other roles can't do. A few highly trusted admins. Keep this group small, because this role can reach all Microsoft 365 settings and data.
AI Administrator Manages AI services, Copilot, and agents. Can also review usage and insights. Use it for AI and agent tasks when its rights are enough. The team that runs Copilot and agent rollout. Use this role instead of Global Administrator for routine AI tasks.
Organizational Data Source Administrator Imports and maintains org data. Manages HR system links, file imports, field descriptions, and org context. Controls which apps can use the data. The person or team that prepares, uploads, checks, and maintains HR data. Use this role instead of Global Administrator for routine data tasks.

Use the Organizational Data Source Administrator to import and maintain data. Use the AI Administrator to manage Copilot and agents. Use the Global Administrator only for rare tasks, like assigning roles. One person can have more than one role, but split duties when you can.

Choose how to configure the agent

You can configure the Workforce Insights Agent (Frontier) in two ways. Both options manage the same settings, so choose the one that fits how you work:

  • Admin settings: Use the Workforce Insights Agent (Frontier) home page to set up organization-specific prompts, custom AI disclaimers, and organization context step by step.
  • Guided administration experience in chat: Chat with the agent to view current settings and draft, review, and edit changes. The agent shows the exact change and asks you to confirm before it saves anything.

Where settings apply

These settings shape answers in the agent. Where supported, they also shape answers in Microsoft 365 Copilot. Each setting has its own scope.

  • Attribute descriptions: Help apps read your data the same way each time. They shape answers in the agent and organizational queries in Microsoft 365 Copilot.
  • Access policies: Set which fields and employee groups each user can see. They apply to the agent and organizational queries in Microsoft 365 Copilot.
  • Organizational context: Helps the agent deliver more relevant answers using your organization's terminology and business rules, with planned support in Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Install and deploy the agent

Use the Microsoft 365 admin center

Deploy Workforce Insights Agent (Frontier) from the Microsoft 365 admin center to make it available to the users and groups you choose. During installation, review the agent's permissions and select its users. After installation, you can pin the agent and manage its availability, data access, security, permissions, and activity.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center as an admin.
  2. Under Agents, select All agents.
  3. Search for Workforce Insights.
  4. Select Workforce Insights (Frontier).
  5. Select Install.
    1. Specify the users for this environment (just me, all users, or specific users or groups).
    2. Select Next.
    3. Review permissions.
    4. Select Next.
    5. Select Finish installation.
  6. From the pop-up menu, you can choose from the following:
    • Details
    • Users
    • Data & tools
    • Security
    • Permissions
    • Activity

Use the Workforce Insights Agent (Frontier) home page

Additionally, you can manage some settings by chatting with the agent. Chat works well when you want to see your current settings, draft new content, or check for problems before you publish.

Admins can use chat to manage:

  • Custom AI disclaimers
  • Organizational context
  • Organization-specific prompts
  • Descriptions or rules attributes
  • Customize how managers are identified

Before the agent proposes a change, it checks that all required information is included, the text is within length limits, and the new guidance doesn't conflict with existing guidance. If it finds a problem, it explains what to fix and helps you resolve it. Admin features are available only to users with a supported admin role, and access rules continue to block any change you aren't allowed to make. The agent saves a change only after you confirm it.

To get started:

  1. Sign in to Microsoft 365 as an admin.
  2. Go to the Workforce Insights (Frontier) home page.
  3. Describe what you want to do in plain language, such as:
    • "Show me our current custom AI disclaimer"
    • "Help me write a description for the CostCenter field"
    • "Draft organization context that defines what 'frontline worker' means in our company"
  4. Review the change the agent proposes. The agent saves it only after you confirm.

You can switch between chat and the settings pages at any time. Both update the same settings.

Prepare organizational data for the agent

Supported Microsoft 365 and Copilot apps can use org data. When set up, they can also use People Skills data. What each user sees depends on four things: the data you import, the user's role and license, access policies, and what each app supports.

Public organizational data goes to Microsoft 365 Profile on its own. Users can then ask about it in Copilot. For the list of public attributes, see Microsoft 365 Organizational Data Service attribute reference. Custom public and private attributes aren't sent on their own. An admin must choose to send them to Microsoft 365 Profile through the Microsoft 365 Organizational Data System (MODS). Then users can ask about them in Copilot.

Access rules stay with the data. Only users with rights can ask about a field. They see only the groups in their scope.

Important

Having data and rights doesn't mean Copilot can answer every question. Responsible AI rules can block sensitive or unsupported requests.

Import options

Results can differ by user and by app. Each answer includes only data the user can see and attributes the app supports. An answer might show less detail if a custom field or People Skills isn't set up. An access policy that limits the user's scope can also reduce detail.

Public attributes

Org data describes the people in your company, like name, work email, job title, department, and location. Public attributes are common attributes that all users can see. Microsoft 365 and Copilot apps, including Workforce Insights Agent (Frontier), can use them. They help users see how the company is built and answer questions about role, place, or team. Results depend on each app and the user's rights. For more information, see Understand how organizational data is used and retained in Microsoft 365.

Examples include internal role groups and location types. Before you share a custom field, give it a clear title and the right data type. Then assign an access policy. Last, write a description so apps read the field the same way each time.

Use the information in Map attributes and set access for Microsoft 365, Copilot, and Viva apps to share your data with supported apps.

Configure access policies

Access policies establish who can see each attribute and which employee groups they can see. They apply to supported Microsoft 365 and Copilot apps. A Global Administrator or Organizational Data Source Administrator manages them.

Policies for public and confidential attributes are preset. For custom attributes, admins set who can see them and which groups are in scope. Use the strictest policy that meets your needs. Use the Staging policy to test with a small group first. Available attributes can vary by app.

Review policies when attributes, managers, or business needs change. For details, see Set access policies for Microsoft 365, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Viva apps.

People Skills data

People Skills data helps answer questions about skills and plan your workforce. It needs People Skills setup and a license. With it, the agent can find skills and the people who have them. It can also sum up skills and show gaps.

Configure attribute descriptions

Attribute descriptions add business context. They help apps read your data the same way each time. A description can say what a field means and define its values or short forms. It can also say when the field applies and how to use it.

Write effective descriptions

Every attribute needs a description. Without one, users might not be able to ask about it. Write in plain, direct words. Start with what the field means. When needed, add value mappings, rules for math, scope, and examples. Keep each description about one field. Don't repeat or contradict other descriptions.

Don't include private, sensitive, or personal details about employees. Don't include passwords, unrelated policies, or steps that change the data.

Draft and test descriptions

Where supported, admins can share approved files to help draft descriptions. Check each one before you confirm the change. After you publish a description, test it with real questions. Try different terms and values, and check that answers use the field as intended. If they don't, revise the description.

To create attribute descriptions

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center as an admin.
  2. Go to the Workforce Insights homepage.
  3. Under Attribute descriptions, select Manage descriptions.
  4. Enter an attribute and its description.
  5. (Optional) Select Run a quality check.
  6. Select Save. If you didn't run a quality check, a pop-up appears.

Customize how managers are identified

By default, the Workforce Insights Agent (Frontier) identifies managers based on organizational hierarchy: any employee with one or more direct reports is considered a manager. Some organizations, however, use a different definition based on internal HR policies.

To support these scenarios, you can override the default logic by providing a SupervisorIndicator as custom attribute in your organizational data. This attribute becomes the authoritative signal for determining manager status in manager-related questions, insights, and analytics. This attribute ensures that manager counts, manager-to-individual contributor (IC) ratios, and related metrics align with your organization's formal definition of a manager.

The SupervisorIndicator configuration is fully data-driven. Adding the SupervisorIndicator attribute doesn't change your reporting hierarchy, manager-employee relationships, access control, delegation, or privacy enforcement. Features such as delegation and manager-confidential access continue to rely on direct reporting relationships.

Workforce Insights Agent (Frontier) interprets SupervisorIndicator using the following parameters:

  • Employees defined as "Managers" are treated as managers in Workforce Insights Agent (Frontier).
  • Employees defined as "Individual contributors" are treated as ICs, even with direct reports.
  • If the attribute isn't provided as the custom attribute, Workforce Insights Agent (Frontier) uses the default logic based on direct reports.

Use this feature if your organization:

  • Excludes certain roles from being considered as managers such as contractor sponsors
  • Distinguishes people managers from other supervisory roles
  • Uses a formal manager definition that differs from reporting hierarchy

If your definition of a manager already aligns with having direct reports, no additional configuration is required.

Set up SupervisorIndicator

For instructions on how to upload the SupervisorIndicator attribute, see Upload and maintain organizational data in the Microsoft admin center. The attribute must contain one of the following values. Values are case-insensitive but must otherwise match exactly.

  • Boolean: True, False
  • Enumerated strings:
    • Manager: Mgr, Mgr+
    • Individual contributor: ic

If unsupported values are used, such as additional labels, different spelling, or unexpected formats, Workforce Insights can't reliably determine manager status.

Attribute migration

Starting October 1, 2026, SupervisorIndicator and WeeklyBadgeDays are no longer sent to Workforce Insights Agent (Frontier) as reserved fields. Microsoft 365 Profile doesn’t accept them as reserved fields.

  • Current customers who use these fields: Copy each field and give it a new name, like SupervisorIndicator2 or WeeklyBadgeDays2. Map it to Microsoft 365 Profile as a custom field. Use the new field in Workforce Insights.
  • Current customers who don't use these fields: You don't need to do anything.
  • New customers: To use the same data in Workforce Insights Agent (Frontier), upload it and map it to Microsoft 365 Profile as custom fields.

Configure organization-specific prompts

Org-specific prompts are ready-made prompts that admins add to the agent. They point users to the questions that matter most to your company.

Each prompt can have a short title. Where supported, it can also have a longer prompt with more detail. Use terms your users know. Make sure prompts match the data in Workforce Insights. Only Organizational Data Source Administrators can create, edit, reorder, or delete org-specific prompts.

Review these limits before you start:

  • You can add up to six prompts per company.
  • Default Microsoft prompts can't be edited or removed.
  • Your prompts are added to the default prompts and don't replace them.
  • Your prompts apply to the whole company and aren't aimed at certain groups or roles.

To create organization-specific prompts:

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center as an admin.
  2. Go to the Workforce Insights homepage.
  3. Select Organization-specific prompts.
  4. Enter a Title and Prompt in the existing fields. To add more prompts, select add a prompt.
  5. Select Publish changes.

Configure AI disclaimers

Use a custom AI disclaimer to show your company's guidance in the agent. It can explain how to use data, link to trusted dashboards, or give other notices. It supports bold, italic, and links. Remind users to follow company policy and check key insights before they act on them.

To add a custom AI disclaimer

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center as an admin.
  2. Go to the Workforce Insights homepage.
  3. Select Custom AI disclaimer.
  4. Enter the custom AI disclaimer.
  5. Select Publish changes.

Configure organization context

Org context lets admins add definitions and guidance. The agent uses it to learn your terms and business rules when it answers. Org context can show up in answers. Assume everyone in your company can see what you enter. Add only details that are safe to share inside the company. Don't include private, sensitive, or personal details about employees.

Answers can include your terms and rules. AI answers can vary, even with the same context. Org context helps the agent understand you. It doesn't add or change your workforce data.

Before you begin

To set up org context, you need the AI Administrator or Organizational Data Source Administrator role. Use plain, direct words. Define each term and say when it applies. For math, give the formula and name the fields it uses. Keep entries short. Don't repeat or contradict other entries.

To configure organization context

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center as an admin.
  2. Go to the Workforce Insights homepage.
  3. Select Org context.
  4. Download and fill in the markdown template or type text in the Context field. You can also draft org context by chatting with the agent. For details, see Use chat.
  5. (Optional) Select Run a quality check.
  6. Select Save.

Changes can take up to 15 minutes to take effect. After the changes take effect, test org context with a set of real questions.

  • Test questions that use each new term, rule, or formula.
  • Try different wordings, including short forms and full terms.
  • Check that you get the results you expect. Test unrelated questions too, to catch side effects.
  • If needed, edit the context, save, wait, and test again.
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