In this blog, Kaj Jongen, Solutions & Services Specialist at Storm, shares his perspective on the introduction of Microsoft 365 E7 – The Frontier Suite. Drawing on his experience working with organisations designing and delivering secure Microsoft solutions, Kaj explores why E7 represents a fundamental shift in how Microsoft is enabling AI, governance, and security at enterprise scale.
One thing has always been true with Microsoft: change is constant.
With the introduction of Microsoft 365 E7 – the Frontier Suite, Microsoft is signalling a much bigger shift than a simple licence refresh. This is the first new enterprise tier since E5, and it’s clearly designed for organisations that are moving beyond AI experimentation and into AI at scale.
At its core, E7 brings together everything organisations value in Microsoft 365 E5, with Copilot for Microsoft 365 included by default. Where it really stands apart, however, is its focus on governance. The inclusion of Agent 365 shows Microsoft recognising that AI agents are becoming part of the workforce, and that they need the same levels of identity, security, and compliance as human users.
Just like with the M365 Business licenses Copilot bundles released towards the end of 2025, M365 E7 includes Copilot. What is unique to M365 E7 is the inclusion of the new Agent 365.
Agent 365 acts as a central control plane for AI agents across the organisation. As businesses adopt multiple agents – built by Microsoft, partners, or internally there is a growing need for visibility and control. Agent 365 addresses this by extending familiar Microsoft security and compliance frameworks to agentic AI, using capabilities from products such as Purview, Defender, and Entra.
This approach reflects a broader shift: AI agents are no longer treated as experimental tools, but as managed entities that must operate within the same governance boundaries as users and workloads.
With the inclusion of Intune Suite into M365 E5 from July 1st (Source #2), M365 E7 will include both Intune and Entra Suite.
The Entra Suite includes many features that organisations may already be using from third party vendors. One example is Entra Private Access, which provides a modern alternative to traditional VPN solutions. This could help offset the higher cost of M365 E7 by consolidating existing IT spend. Similarly, upcoming changes such as Remote Help becoming available in Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 point towards a broader strategy of platform consolidation. This creates opportunities to assess the need for standalone RMM or remote support tools, particularly in environments already consolidated into the Microsoft stack.
For SMEs who want to become Frontier, Microsoft 365 Business Premium remains the standout choice. Especially with the introduction of Defender and Purview Suites add on last year, and Copilot for Business strengthening its value even further. This combination delivers many of the same principles seen in E7 – security by default, strong governance, and AI-enabled productivity scaled appropriately for growing organisations.
In many ways, E7 defines the frontier for enterprise, while Business Premium continues to do the same for growing organisations.