As part of its 2025 Ignite event, Microsoft unveiled its latest round of team collaboration capabilities powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Despite a very limited number of related announcements made at the event, Teams remains front and center at Microsoft, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
Gregg Willsky, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Technology & Services at GlobalData, comments: “Only a handful of Teams-related announcements were made, giving the impression that Teams has taken a back seat to other Microsoft initiatives. In reality, much the opposite is true. The features unveiled were merely the tip of the iceberg, a small subset of a lengthy and diverse list of improvements that appeared in a Microsoft Teams blog.”
One especially intriguing aspect of Microsoft Ignite 2025 lies beyond the inventory of enhancements revealed, exposing something fundamental to the company. It is taking a holistic approach to providing team collaboration capabilities. That approach spans Teams software, device hardware such as video bars, and security, for instance, blocking files that pose a security risk, such as executables, before they reach a chat or channel.
Willsky continues: “While such an ‘all points covered’ approach is powerful, it is not unmatched. Cisco mirrors Microsoft in employing deep lineups of software capabilities, devices, and security. To their credit though, both companies are setting a tone that others will need to follow to compete in the team collaboration space; rivals certainly have their work cut out for them.”
While the actual depth of Teams introductions might have come as a surprise, what shouldn’t be a surprise is that the introductions were infused with AI. Some examples bear this out. Copilot in Teams will soon be able to analyze chat history, meeting transcripts, and calendar content and generate recaps, rewrite messages, and surface insights.
Microsoft has launched a public preview of several features that enhance interaction between Teams users and external parties such as vendors, clients, and partners. In addition, a persistent collaborative space is now available to help organize information from within Teams chat and channels and to support co-creation of content.
Willsky concludes: “Collectively, all the new features further cement Microsoft’s position as a leading vendor in the team collaboration/hybrid work arena. With AI touching multiple points of its portfolio, including the latest Ignite announcements, the company has taken the ‘permeate the platform’ approach to AI adopted by competitors such as Cisco, Google, Zoom, and RingCentral. By coupling collaboration capabilities found in Teams with productivity tools resident in its Office portfolio, Microsoft offers a combination that only Google can mimic.”
