Two artificial intelligence assistants may be able to access the same SharePoint document without having the same understanding of your work environment.
One may be connected to one or more specific data sources. The other may rely on a layer designed to bring together the data, relationships and tools available across Microsoft 365. This is the role of Work IQ.
This article explains what Work IQ is, how it differs from Microsoft Graph and a traditional connector, and why its integration with Microsoft 365 Copilot can matter. It also covers its limitations, data security and the option to use Work IQ outside Copilot through a consumption-based model.
By the end of the article, you will be able to distinguish between three concepts that are often confused: the AI model, access to data and the construction of professional context. This will help you compare the different ways in which artificial intelligence can be connected to Microsoft 365.
What is Work IQ?
Work IQ is Microsoft's work intelligence layer. It helps Copilot and supported agents use the professional context available to a user.
Its purpose is not limited to finding a word in a file. Work IQ helps an agent identify and use relevant information and relationships across the messages, documents, meetings, people, projects and tools that the user is authorised to access.
Microsoft presents Work IQ through four main components:
- conversation, for interactions with users or other agents;
- context, for preparing the information relevant to a request;
- tools, for finding information or performing actions;
- workspaces, for maintaining context across longer tasks.
Work IQ is therefore neither an artificial intelligence model nor a new database. The model interprets the request and produces the response. Work IQ provides the professional context and tools required for the task.
Read the official Work IQ overview (opens in a new tab)
Work IQ is not Microsoft Graph
Microsoft Graph provides interfaces that applications can use to access Microsoft 365 data and services, subject to the permissions granted to them.
An application can, for example, use Microsoft Graph to find a message, check a calendar or open a document. The application must then determine how the retrieved information should be used and combined.
Work IQ operates at a different level. It prepares context for Copilot or an agent and helps it use the data and tools relevant to the task.
The distinction can be summarised as follows:
Microsoft Graph provides access to resources. Work IQ helps an agent use the relevant resources within the context of the user's work.
The two are not competing technologies. Work IQ operates within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem and relies on its data, services, identities and permissions.
A Microsoft 365 connector does not automatically provide Work IQ
Other artificial intelligence solutions can access certain Microsoft 365 data through authorised connections.
It would therefore be inaccurate to claim that only Microsoft 365 Copilot can read a SharePoint file, find an Outlook message or use information stored in OneDrive.
The difference lies in how the assistant builds its context.
A connector provides access to a defined source. Work IQ is intended to build a broader understanding of work by bringing together the data, people, relationships and tools available in the Microsoft 365 environment.
When comparing solutions, it is not enough to check whether they can connect to SharePoint or Outlook. The organisation should also examine:
- which sources are actually available;
- which permissions are requested;
- how information from different services is combined;
- which actions the assistant can perform;
- which administrative controls are available;
- where the data is processed.
An example: preparing for a customer meeting
Consider the following request:
"Prepare me for my meeting with this customer. Summarise the recent discussions, find the commercial proposal and identify the outstanding actions."
The necessary information may be distributed across Outlook, the calendar, Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive.
With access limited to SharePoint
The assistant may be able to find the commercial proposal and other documents that the user is authorised to access.
However, it will not necessarily have access to Outlook messages, the next meeting or Teams conversations unless those sources are also connected and authorised.
This limitation does not necessarily come from the AI model. It comes from the scope of the data made available to it.
With several connectors
Another AI solution may have separate connections to SharePoint, Outlook, OneDrive and Teams.
This provides a broader scope. The organisation must still understand how the solution combines results, which information is sent to its platform and which security, retention and processing rules apply.
With Microsoft 365 Copilot and Work IQ
Work IQ is intended to construct context across the data, people, relationships and tools available in Microsoft 365.
The objective is not simply to find more documents. It is to provide Copilot with coherent professional context for a request that covers several aspects of work.
This does not guarantee that every answer will be complete or accurate. The result still depends on the availability, location, quality and permissions of the underlying information.
Data processed within the Microsoft 365 environment
Microsoft 365 Copilot does not need to create a separate repository containing the organisation's data. With Work IQ, it uses information already available in Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive or Teams while respecting the user's permissions and the organisation's policies.
The data remains covered by the Microsoft 365 protection framework, including Microsoft Entra identity, permissions, sensitivity labels, retention policies and auditing.
Microsoft also states that prompts, responses and data accessed through Microsoft Graph are not used to train foundation models.
Read Microsoft's policy on data, privacy and security for Copilot (opens in a new tab)
When an external AI service connects to Microsoft 365, it must receive the data or relevant extracts in its own environment to analyse them. The original documents may remain in Microsoft 365, but the information used to generate the response is processed by an additional platform.
That platform may provide its own security and data residency commitments. However, it introduces an additional processing chain that the organisation must assess, including:
- permissions granted to the connector;
- data transmitted to the platform;
- processing region;
- retention period;
- subprocessors involved;
- applicable contractual commitments.
With Copilot and Work IQ, artificial intelligence uses professional context within the extended Microsoft 365 environment. With a third-party AI service, the relevant data must be sent to another processing environment. This difference reduces the number of technical, contractual and organisational boundaries that the organisation has to govern.
Can Work IQ be used outside Copilot?
Yes. Microsoft provides APIs and protocols that allow an application or agent to use Work IQ capabilities outside the standard Microsoft 365 Copilot interface.
This approach may be relevant when creating:
- a specialised agent;
- a custom business interface;
- an application combining Work IQ with other services;
- a process that needs to perform actions in Microsoft 365.
Microsoft provides Agent-to-Agent, Model Context Protocol and REST interfaces. These can allow different agent and application environments to use Work IQ while retaining Microsoft 365 permissions and governance controls.
Read the Work IQ API documentation (opens in a new tab)
However, this external access is not automatically covered by a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence.
Use of the Work IQ APIs is independent of the Microsoft 365 Copilot licence and follows a usage-based billing model. Depending on the experience and the applicable commercial model, this consumption may be tracked through Copilot Credits.
Organisations should therefore distinguish between:
- Work IQ integrated with Microsoft 365 Copilot, under the relevant licence and experience;
- Work IQ consumed as a service by an application or agent, with usage and costs that must be monitored.
Before deployment, the organisation should verify the experience being used, the tools called by the agent, the required licences and the applicable consumption model.
Work IQ does not fix governance issues
Work IQ does not bypass Microsoft 365 permissions.
Two users may receive different answers because they do not have access to the same messages, files, sites or meetings.
However, this protection does not correct excessive sharing. If a SharePoint document is available to a wider audience than intended, Copilot may make it easier to discover for users who already have access.
Before a broader rollout, organisations should review:
- SharePoint and OneDrive permissions;
- sharing links and external access;
- outdated groups and access rights;
- applications authorised in Microsoft Entra;
- sensitive information available too broadly;
- actions assigned to agents;
- monitoring of consumption-based usage.
Data quality also matters. Work IQ cannot automatically correct outdated documents, contradictory procedures or information that is missing from Microsoft 365.
Preparing Microsoft 365 before deploying Copilot
Assigning licences is not enough to make a Copilot project successful.
The organisation first needs to understand which information will be accessible, review its sharing practices, select appropriate use cases and prepare users to use and verify AI-generated responses.
MC3 Cloud's managed Microsoft 365 Copilot readiness and adoption service supports this process. It helps organisations approach both the preparation of their Microsoft 365 environment and the adoption of Copilot in a structured way.
This brings together two dimensions that are frequently treated separately: the technical readiness of Microsoft 365 and the integration of Copilot into everyday work.
Questions to ask before choosing an approach
Before connecting artificial intelligence to Microsoft 365, ask the following questions:
- Which data does the AI assistant need to use?
- Is that data located in one application or distributed across Microsoft 365?
- Does the assistant only need to find documents, or must it build context across several services?
- Which permissions will be granted to the connector or agent?
- In which environment will the data be processed?
- Should the assistant only provide answers, or should it also perform actions?
- Will Work IQ be used within Copilot or consumed by an external application?
- Which licence or consumption model applies?
- How will access, usage and costs be controlled?
- Is the Microsoft 365 environment sufficiently prepared and secured?
What to remember
Work IQ is not an artificial intelligence model, a database or a new name for Microsoft Graph.
It is the work intelligence layer that helps Copilot and supported agents use the professional data, relationships and tools that a user is authorised to access.
Other assistants can also connect to Microsoft 365. The comparison should therefore consider the depth of integration, context construction, permissions, governance and processing environment, rather than focusing only on the AI model.
Work IQ can also be used outside Microsoft 365 Copilot by an application or agent. This access follows a consumption-based billing model and must be monitored accordingly.
The final question is straightforward:
Does your assistant only need to access a few Microsoft 365 sources, or must it understand and use work context distributed across your entire environment?
This distinction helps determine which form of integration best fits your organisation's data, use cases and governance requirements.
