👋 Hi folks, Merill here with a special Microsoft Ignite edition of Entra News!
Here’s a handy list of all the key Microsoft Entra sessions at Ignite this year. Register for a free digital pass, add these sessions to your schedule, and be the first to catch all the new Microsoft Entra announcements.
📍 I’ll be at Ignite in person. Come and say hi! I’ll be connecting with everyone and sharing updates on IDFusion and Maester Cloud. Huge thanks to Increment for sponsoring my Ignite trip! 🙏
🎥 Follow along live. I’ll be catching up with the Microsoft Entra team for deep dives, sharing all the key announcements as they land, and recording lots of Entra.Chat episodes. I might even live stream, so subscribe on YouTube to catch the live interviews.
Cheers
Merill
🎙️ Breakout sessions
📺 Available in person and streamed online. All seven breakouts stream live and stay available on demand after the event, so you can watch from anywhere.
⭐ Don’t miss: AI is changing access. See how Microsoft Entra helps you stay ahead.
Get the identity and network access roadmap to help your organization get ready for AI, scale AI responsibly with Microsoft Agent 365, and leverage AI to detect and disrupt attacks. See what’s new in securing access for people and agents, reducing risk, and enabling productivity without weakening protection. This team delivers top-ranked, standing-room-only sessions every year, so don’t miss it!
Register for session · Wed, Nov 18 · 10:15 AM PT
Build, secure and govern agents across platforms with A365 and Entra
Discover how Microsoft and NVIDIA are advancing secure, enterprise-ready AI agents across platforms. Give every agent an accountable identity and govern access to Microsoft and non-Microsoft resources. Learn to automate identity lifecycles, govern access from onboarding, grant permissions based on intent and automatically remediate risky or excessive access. Follow an NVIDIA employee’s digital twin running in OpenShell with its own agent identity and governed access to enterprise resources.
Register for session · Wed, Nov 18 · 4:15 PM PT
A single policy for humans and AI agents? Here’s how to make it work
Dozens of policies become hundreds, and changing one can break something downstream. See how a unified policy engine brings identity, network, device, and risk signals together to make access decisions without forcing teams to untangle dependencies. Learn how to scale adaptive access with confidence and control.
Register for session · Thu, Nov 19 · 1:30 PM PT
Local agents are here. Can you find and secure them?
Local agents can unlock major productivity, but unmanaged adoption introduces risk leaders cannot ignore. Learn how to close the visibility gap, reduce risk, and enable trusted agent adoption without slowing innovation.
Register for session · Thu, Nov 19 · 4:00 PM PT
Identity knows what your SOC doesn’t: Stop threats faster together
Identity attacks move fast. Your teams need to move faster. See how Microsoft Entra and Microsoft Defender bring identity context and risk signals into SOC investigations, helping IAM and security teams detect, investigate, and disrupt threats faster with unified visibility and automation.
Register for session · Thu, Nov 19 · 4:00 PM PT
Master agent governance with Agent 365
AI agents are multiplying across organizations. Without governance, it’s hard to know which agents exist, who owns them, what they can access, and whether they work as intended. See how Microsoft Agent 365 governs agents at scale with central oversight, clear ownership, policy and tool controls, and lifecycle management, with practical examples and demos.
Register for session · Thu, Nov 19 · 5:15 PM PT
Modern phishing doesn’t end at the click
Attackers don’t need to steal your password to compromise your identity or account. See how AI-powered phishing, impersonation, compromised accounts, and identity-based attacks are changing the game, and how identity, email, and collaboration security help defenders detect and disrupt threats before they spread.
Register for session · Fri, Nov 20 · 11:30 AM PT
Sponsored by:
IDFusion by Increment: The identity logic that runs before an account lands in Entra
Entra ID handles authentication, lifecycle workflows and entitlements, but depends on clean HR data. Most organisations fill the gap with scripts and middleware that are costly to maintain.
IDFusion connects your HR systems to Entra ID and adds the logic before an account lands. Then Entra takes over.
Merge HR, payroll, contractor and vendor data into one identity
Assign access by business role, not HR job codes
Provision across multiple Entra ID tenants and on-prem AD
Tell a late hire from a new hire, a correction from a role change
Clean HR data with no code, fully audited
Works with Workday, SuccessFactors, Dayforce, Dynamics 365 HR and more.
Built by Increment, an Australian Microsoft partner. At Ignite? Meet Merill and the team in San Francisco, 17–20 Nov.
🎫 In-person sessions
📍 Only available to those attending Ignite in San Francisco. These sessions aren’t streamed and most aren’t recorded. Labs need an RSVP and fill fast.
👩💻 Hands-on labs
Can’t secure what you can’t see. Find every AI agent in your org
AI agents multiply fast, often with no human in the loop. Identity admins, roll up your sleeves: find agents on Microsoft and third-party platforms, assign accountability, right-size access, and protect them with Entra Agent ID and Agent 365.
Tue 6:15 PM, Wed 4:00 PM, Thu 9:00 AM PT · Repeats; RSVP required
Speakers: Jeff Bley (Microsoft), NICK Wryter (Microsoft)
AI Agents Are Sending Signals. Make Access Respond.
AI agents need access to corporate resources to be useful, but risk can change what that access should allow. Identity teams, put your policy plans into practice: scale Conditional Access across humans and AI agents, use agent risk to drive access decisions, and adapt enforcement in real time.
Wed 10:15 AM, Wed 4:00 PM, Thu 9:00 AM, Thu 2:45 PM PT · Repeats; RSVP required
Speakers: Danielle Augustin (Microsoft), Swaroop Krishnamurthy (Microsoft)
🌟 Theater session
AI agents: access granted. Trust not included
AI agents need access to apps, data, and resources, but should they get a blank check? See how Microsoft Entra Agent ID helps secure agent connections, limit risky permissions, and apply network controls to reduce risk and block compromised access before it becomes an attack path.
Tue, Nov 17 · 4:05 PM PT · ▶ Recorded, on demand after the event
Speakers: Ehud Itshaki (Microsoft), Leandro Iwase (Microsoft)
⚡ Lightning talks
AI agents need access. Your network needs controls.
AI agents need network access to get work done, but every connection can expand their blast radius. Learn how network controls help security teams see where agents connect, govern what they can reach and do, and contain risky activity while approved work continues.
Wed, Nov 18 · 9:50 AM PT
Speaker: Alexander Pavlovsky (Microsoft)
⚙️ Oops! Someone Deleted a Critical Identity. Can You Get It Back?
A deleted identity can quickly become a major business disruption, especially when it has dependencies across applications, groups, policies, and access. See how Microsoft Entra Backup and Recovery helps protect critical identity data and recover from accidental or malicious changes. Learn how to build resilience into your identity environment before deletion becomes downtime.
Thu, Nov 19 · 9:00 AM PT
Speaker: Hien Nguyen (Microsoft)
🛍️ Customers Expect a Frictionless Login. Attackers Do Too.
External users expect every interaction with your application to be fast, seamless, and secure. Attackers are looking for the gaps in that experience. See what’s new in Microsoft Entra External ID, with innovations that help you deliver low-friction customer experiences while strengthening protection for customer identities.
Thu, Nov 19 · 2:35 PM PT
Speaker: Yuliya Gorbunova (Microsoft)
👥 Table talks
Is Powerful Access Your Biggest Risk? Get Privileged Access Right
Privileged identities remain a top target for attackers. Join peers to discuss how to discover and reduce standing access, secure admin roles, strengthen access controls, and manage privilege across users, workloads, and AI agents.
Wed, Nov 18 · 10:05 AM PT
Speakers: Matt Steele (Microsoft), Mark Wahl (Microsoft)
AI Agents Are Scaling. Are Your Access Controls Ready?
How do you govern thousands of Microsoft & third-party agents without slowing adoption? Join a candid discussion about discovery, ownership, permissions, lifecycle controls, monitoring, and network policy enforcement across cloud & local agents.
Wed, Nov 18 · 12:15 PM PT
Speakers: Ehud Itshaki (Microsoft), PADMA Parthasarathy (Microsoft)
🎤 Community theater
Meet the Entra Agent ID Product Team and Get Your Questions Answered
Thu, Nov 19 · 2:00 PM PT · COMM17
Speakers: Diana Vicezar (Microsoft, moderator), Ehud Itshaki, Vince Smith, Dareen Radwan, Leandro Iwase, Mark Wahl (Microsoft)
Strengthen Security Across Your Multitenant Estate
Thu, Nov 19 · 10:00 AM PT · COMM13
Speakers: Hien Nguyen (Microsoft), Nik Charlebois (Microsoft)
🤝 From the community
More in-person sessions on Microsoft Entra from MVPs and partners.
Too Much Clutter in Entra? Three AI Approaches to Find It
Entra tenants accumulate clutter over time: unused objects, outdated configurations, and forgotten settings that may become security risks. Can AI make housekeeping easier? In this interactive Table Talk, we discuss three approaches: Security Copilot, the Conditional Access Optimization Agent, and an MCP Server integration. Drawing on practical experiences, we explore where they help, where they fall short, and where human expertise is still needed. Bring your questions and share your own experiences with Entra housekeeping.
Thu, Nov 19 · 12:15 PM PT
Your App Registration Grew a Mind: Four Decisions for Agent Identity
An app registration was built for predictable code. What changes when software can plan, choose tools, and act autonomously? Learn four decisions every organization must make before granting an AI agent access: identity type, operating context, trust boundary, and identity granularity. See a classic service principal evolve into a governed Agent ID with accountability, auditing, and lifecycle controlsùand leave with a practical framework for production-ready agents.
Wed, Nov 18 · 12:15 PM PT | Thu 11:25 AM, Thu 2:35 PM PT
Speaker: Ray Comvalius (Microsoft MVP)
Every agent is a principal now. Do you know what yours can reach?
Since July 2026 every new Copilot Studio agent gets an Entra Agent ID, and you can no longer opt out. That changes what an agent is: a principal with connector scopes, Conditional Access and a lifecycle. I build one live, then switch to the admin side and show what just landed in your tenant, including the part nobody enjoys. Agents created before the rollout cannot be migrated in place. You recreate them. Leave with a list of what to check in your own tenant on Monday.
Wed, Nov 18 · 2:50 PM PT · ▶ Recorded, on demand after the event
Speaker: Nicole Enders (Microsoft MVP)
Bring Microsoft passkeys to frontline and shared devices
Microsoft is expanding passkey-based authentication through experiences such as Windows Hello for Business and Microsoft Authenticator. IDmelon builds on this direction by bringing simple, phishing-resistant authentication to frontline workers using shared PCs, kiosks, and mobile devices. See how workers can use the same access badge they already carry to sign in with a simple tap without changing familiar workflows.
Wed, Nov 18 · 2:35 PM PT
Speaker: Bahram Piri (IDmelon)
Secure remote onboarding with Yubico, CLEAR, and Entra
Remote onboarding is a high‑risk, Zero Trust phase for many organizations. Shipping a laptop and YubiKey is easy but proving a remote user’s identity before key registration is not. Attackers increasingly exploit Day Zero helpdesks to bypass MFA. Join Yubico and CLEAR to see an Entra‑powered workflow that verifies identity, issues a verifiable credential, and binds a YubiKey with no helpdesk needed. Come for the insights, leave with a blueprint for zero‑touch provisioning and reduced fraud.
Thu, Nov 19 · 2:15 PM PT · ▶ Recorded, on demand after the event
Speakers: Sheryl Chamberlain (Yubico), Mark Whitesell (GuidePoint Security), Dmitriy Yakubov (CLEAR)
Who broke access? Recover Entra ID and Intune live
One configuration change can break access fast. In this live demo, we intentionally disrupt a Microsoft access path, trace the issue across Intune and Entra ID, identify what changed and who changed it, compare the current state with a known-good version, and recover only what is needed. See a practical identity resilience workflow in action, from incident to remediation.
Tue, Nov 17 · 3:30 PM PT · ▶ Recorded, on demand after the event
Speakers: Alessandro Cesarini (Backupta), Nicolas Groh (Backupta)
📼 Watch on demand
Not in San Francisco? Besides the breakouts above, these in-person sessions are recorded and will be on demand after the event:
AI agents: access granted. Trust not included • Ehud Itshaki (Microsoft), Leandro Iwase (Microsoft)
Every agent is a principal now. Do you know what yours can reach? • Nicole Enders (Microsoft MVP)
Secure remote onboarding with Yubico, CLEAR, and Entra • Sheryl Chamberlain (Yubico), Mark Whitesell (GuidePoint Security), Dmitriy Yakubov (CLEAR)
Who broke access? Recover Entra ID and Intune live • Alessandro Cesarini (Backupta), Nicolas Groh (Backupta)
These pre-recorded partner sessions are on demand now:
Protect your identity layer with Entra ID backup and recovery • Gal Hutmann (ControlMonkey)
Strengthen identity recovery across Entra ID and hybrid environments • Craig Birch (Cayosoft)
Build identity resilience across Microsoft Entra ID and Intune • Nicolas Groh (Backupta)
Your global admin deserves better than your everyday laptop • Jan Geisbauer (glueckkanja AG), Thomas Naunheim (glueckkanja AG)
💬 After Ignite
Ask Microsoft Entra anything: a live AMA with Yina Arenas, Ankur Patel and Ehud Itshaki on Wednesday, December 2 at 11:00 AM PT. Bring your questions about the Ignite announcements.
The Microsoft Entra December webinar series (December 15–17) goes deeper into the announcements with new demos.