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Workplace Protection: From Modern to Zero Trust and Microsoft Agent 365
TL;DR
- The background of how Zero Trust Network Architecture was sought based on the concept of the Modern Workplace.
- Microsoft announced Global Secure Access (GSA) in 2024.
- The concept of Zero Trust Network Architecture is also applied to AI agents.
Introduction
It has been some time since the world began talking about "Zero Trust" and "Zero Trust Network Architecture," but for a long time, Microsoft has advocated the concepts of "Modern Workplace" and "Modern Management."
By utilizing this Modern Workplace environment, it was already possible to realize an environment where you could work "securely" "from anywhere."
However, recently, the environment has changed to one where various SaaS applications besides Microsoft products are used, and the number of resources and scenarios that cannot be fully protected by conventional thinking has increased.
Therefore, the generally mentioned Zero Trust Network Architecture can now be realized by using Global Secure Access (GSA), which Microsoft announced in 2024.
Furthermore, this concept can be applied to AI agents and has been incorporated into the concepts announced as Microsoft Agent 365.
What is needed to achieve remote work?
I suddenly realized a question: "Microsoft was able to handle remote work perfectly fine long before everyone started saying Zero Trust." I believe a major point of the environment realized or desired by Zero Trust was remote work.
If we proceed with a vague understanding of this area, there is a possibility of misunderstandings in conversations with customers, so let me organize it again.
- Modern Workplace, Modern Management
- A combination of endpoint protection with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, device management with Intune, and access protection with Microsoft Entra's Conditional Access.
- The concept that data can be protected by ensuring that devices are protected by policies defined by the organization and that internal resources can only be accessed from devices that meet those conditions.
- Realizes an environment where you can work "securely" "from anywhere" by combining strong identity authentication and device management, regardless of the connection source (IP address).
- Zero Trust Network Architecture
- (From my personal perspective) Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), in particular, is often discussed with keywords like "VPN replacement."
- As mentioned above, if the goal is to make remote work safe and secure, it can be realized to some extent with the Modern Workplace concept.
- A more accurate understanding is that a combination of Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is now necessary to further increase the granularity of protection for access destinations, including modern SaaS.
In Microsoft 365 E3 and E5, the concept of a Modern Workplace was already achievable.
However, to realize the concept of Zero Trust Network Architecture, mechanisms like SWG (which has a different control granularity than CASB) and ZTNA are required, and I believe GSA was provided for that purpose.
Internet Access and Private Access
For the next explanation, I will briefly describe Microsoft Entra Internet Access.
In GSA, there are two primary features: Microsoft Entra Internet Access (MEIA) and Microsoft Entra Private Access (MEPA).
MEIA provides so-called SWG functionality, offering features such as web filtering, anti-malware, and DLP.
MEPA provides so-called ZTNA functionality, which is an extension of the feature previously provided as Microsoft Entra Application Proxy to protect access to resources in on-premises environments.
Organizing from a Licensing Perspective
Now, it might be a bit hard to see, but I will organize the licenses and their associated product groups.
The following diagram is cited from the well-known Home | M365 Maps.
First, the following products and features are included in Microsoft 365 E3.
Then, adding Microsoft Entra Suite results in something like this, though it looks a bit awkward.
Also, since it's probably impossible to see clearly, I've indicated the relevant products with callouts.
Zero trust is also required for AI agents
Changing the subject slightly, how much can you imagine a work environment surrounded by AI agents?
Based on the announcements at the recent Microsoft Ignite 2025, we can envision a future where, for example, you chat with an AI agent in Teams or send it an email via Outlook, and the AI agent then proceeds with the work autonomously.
We can also see a future where AI agents themselves collaborate autonomously with other AI agents to advance tasks.
Thinking about it this way, it seems as though AI agents will perform work much like human users, leading to the idea that the same protections discussed in the previous section might also be necessary for AI agents.
In fact, some videos about Microsoft Agent 365 use the term "Microsoft Agent 365 license," suggesting a concept where, similar to assigning a Microsoft 365 E3 license to a human user, a Microsoft Agent 365 license is assigned to an AI agent.
It is also conceivable that when an AI agent uses Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, or Teams, access protection via Microsoft Entra's Conditional Access will be applied.
Furthermore, if an AI agent autonomously performs web searches to gather information, it is understandable that protection for internet traffic using a mechanism like GSA's Microsoft Entra Internet Access would be required.
However, the good news is that since AI agents themselves do not have physical devices, I believe the MDE and Intune components of the Modern Workplace concept will likely be unnecessary.
For those with some knowledge of Microsoft product groups, a rough mental model that makes sense is: Microsoft Agent 365 = Microsoft 365 E3/E5 + Microsoft Entra Suite (even just Internet Access) - Intune - MDE (since they don't have devices).
So, while quite simplified, I think the image for "Microsoft 365 for AI agents" looks like this, without Intune and MDE.
Summary
In this article, I have discussed the evolution from the concept of a Modern Workplace to a Zero Trust Network Architecture, and how that concept is now being applied to AI agents.
In materials regarding Microsoft Agent 365, Microsoft Entra is frequently highlighted as a collaborating service, but the key components are Conditional Access and GSA (specifically Microsoft Entra Internet Access).
GSA is still a relatively new service and needs broader awareness, but I would be glad if you could recognize it through the lens of Microsoft Agent 365, as it is one of the contexts in which it will be utilized.
References
- What is Global Secure Access? - Global Secure Access | Microsoft Learn
- Microsoft Security Service Edge is now Generally Available (GA) | Japan Azure Identity Support Blog
- Microsoft Entra Internet Access: Integrating Security Service Edge with Identity and Access Management
Discussion