The expanded collaboration brings together Microsoft’s AI ecosystem and AvePoint’s data governance, resilience and AgentPulse capabilities as organisations move from AI pilots to enterprise-wide deployment.
As enterprises expand their use of Microsoft Copilot and autonomous AI agents, the challenge is shifting from enabling AI to governing what these systems can access, decide and execute. AvePoint is expanding its strategic partnership with Microsoft to help organisations address this challenge through stronger data governance, security, resilience and operational controls.
The agreement builds on nearly 25 years of collaboration between the companies and will focus on supporting enterprise adoption across Microsoft Copilot, Agent 365, Copilot Studio, Microsoft Foundry, Microsoft 365 and Azure. The announcement comes as AvePoint’s 2026 State of AI Report found that nearly nine in ten organisations had delayed AI initiatives because of data security and management concerns.
AvePoint argues that AI adoption is advancing faster than many organisations’ ability to govern the data and systems on which it depends. Its expanded partnership aims to bridge that gap by combining Microsoft’s AI and security capabilities with AvePoint’s expertise in data management, protection and governance.
“AI represents the next major technology shift. We’re helping organisations establish the trust, governance and operational foundations needed to confidently deploy AI at scale.” — Dr. Tianyi Jiang (TJ), Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, AvePoint
A key component is AgentPulse, AvePoint’s AI governance solution designed to complement Microsoft Agent 365. While Agent 365 provides a common control plane for managing agents across supported platforms, AgentPulse adds business-context-driven governance workflows. It helps organisations map agents to business functions, departments and accountable owners, enabling teams to direct attestations, oversight and remediation to the right people.
The approach is intended to address the growing problem of agent sprawl as employees increasingly use AI agents in their daily work. AvePoint cites its research showing that nearly half of employees rely on AI agents daily or weekly, increasing the need for clear ownership and visibility into their activities.
“Realising AI’s business value at scale requires organisations to pair innovation with security, governance and accountability,” said Edwin Vargas, Managing Director – AI Business Solutions and Security Partnerships, Microsoft. He said the collaboration would connect Microsoft’s AI and security capabilities with AvePoint’s data governance and business-context-driven workflows.
The partnership also extends to data resilience. AvePoint, a Microsoft launch partner for Microsoft 365 Backup Storage, has expanded its Cloud Backup Express capabilities to support prioritised recovery of critical Microsoft 365 workloads, identities and infrastructure. The company said the number of Cloud Backup Express customers increased 45-fold in 2026 year to date.
AvePoint is also applying its own experience as a user of Microsoft technologies to inform its product development and customer guidance. Following its deployment of Microsoft Copilot across its global workforce, the company is expanding access to Microsoft 365 E7 to give employees advanced AI and agent capabilities.
For AvePoint, the next phase of enterprise AI will depend not simply on the availability of increasingly capable models and agents, but on whether organisations can establish accountability, protect data and recover quickly when systems fail. The expanded Microsoft partnership is designed to help customers scale AI adoption without scaling operational and security risks.