A range of security and AI enhancements have been announced for the Microsoft 365 suite of products in 2026, along with some small price increases.
In 2025, Microsoft have released over 1,100 new features across Microsoft 365, Security, Copilot and SharePoint. Now they are looking ahead at 2026, and have announced the following improvements and changes to help organisations prepare in advance.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat enhancements
At Microsoft Ignite 2025, Microsoft announced that Copilot Chat will soon understand your inbox and calendar and include access to Agent Mode in chat and the Office apps, enabling you to work with Copilot to create professional documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. IT administrators will also have access to integrated, enterprise-grade controls to secure, manage, and measure Copilot Chat usage.
Enhanced email security
Two specific improvements have been announced:
- The improved email security features of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 will be added to Office 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E3 to help more organisations detect and protect against phishing, malware, and malicious links.
- URL checks will be added to Office 365 E1, Business Basic, and Business Standard, helping to protect against known, malicious websites when users click on links in emails and within Office apps.
Integrated Endpoint management
Additional endpoint management features are to be added to Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5, enabling IT departments to solve issues faster, pre-emptively detect exposures, and keep devices productive. These features include:
- Microsoft Intune Remote Help
- Intune Advanced Analytics
- Intune Plan 2
In addition, for Microsoft 365 E5 customers:
- Intune Endpoint Privilege Management
- Enterprise Application Management
- Microsoft Cloud PKI
will enable IT teams to safeguard AI use and strengthen security by mitigating risk and maintaining compliance.
Microsoft Security Copilot Agent
Also announced at Ignite 2025, Microsoft introduced Security Copilot agents, built into the flow of work for security teams using Microsoft Defender, Entra, Intune, and Microsoft Purview. More than 70 Microsoft and partner-built agents will be available.
To summarise these new features and which product SKU they are applicable to, please refer to the following table:
New Microsoft 365 pricing from July 2026
As part of their announcement on product enhancements, Microsoft also stated that some of the Microsoft suite of products will be subject to small price increases from July 2026. The below table details the products that will see changes and also includes the unchanged products for clarity:
| Current List Price (per user, per month) | List Price from July 2026 (per user, per month) | |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | $6 | $7 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard | $12.50 | $14 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Premium | $22 | $22 |
| Microsoft Office 365 E1 | $10 | $10 |
| Microsoft Office 365 E3 | $23 | $26 |
| Microsoft 365 E3 | $36 | $39 |
| Microsoft 365 E5 | $57 | $60 |
| Microsoft 365 F1 | $2.25 | $3 |
| Microsoft 365 F3 | $8 | $10 |
As UK pricing has yet to be announced, both before and after prices are displayed in dollars for comparison purposes. Once UK pricing has been announced, we will publish a subsequent update.
To read Microsoft’s announcement in full, click here.
Summary
Microsoft continue to push ahead with AI-related functionality and the additional security that this entails, and it is good to see that even the lowest Microsoft 365 product levels receive some of these improvements too. If you are an existing Strategy 365 client and want to discuss any of these new features or how the future price changes will affect your organisation, please get in touch with one of our experts.