IANS Launches Practitioner-Validated Cybersecurity Intelligence in Microsoft Copilot

Security teams can now use IANS peer decision data, vendor assessments and Faculty insight in Microsoft Copilot via the IANS Agent

BOSTON, Oct. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- IANS today announced the general availability of the IANS Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server for Microsoft Copilot. Organizations using Copilot can now bring IANS intelligence into Copilot features, including Chat and Copilot Cowork via the IANS Agent, all using the collective intelligence from thousands of Faculty interactions, client conversations, unbiased vendor intelligence, proprietary data, news and peer community discussions.

An answer on virtually any cybersecurity topic delivered by Copilot using IANS data is deeper, richer, and more actionable than an answer delivered by the same tool alone. IANS added Copilot so security teams at organizations that have standardized on Copilot can use IANS intelligence without switching platforms.

"AI is changing how security teams find answers, but not who they trust with the hard calls," said Paul Henderson, Chief Product Officer at IANS. "Microsoft Copilot puts IANS intelligence into the tools security teams already work in. With Copilot, the whole security team can see not just what an expert would advise, but what organizations like theirs actually did, and with what results. When a decision needs a deeper conversation, our Faculty are still the people they talk to."

In Copilot Chat, users can select IANS as a source for a prompt and get answers grounded in IANS intelligence, with citations that link to the underlying IANS material. In Copilot Cowork, IANS is available as a plugin, so users can hand off multi-step work grounded in the same intelligence. Users can also use the IANS Agent to have a dedicated conversation powered solely by IANS intelligence. A Microsoft 365 administrator enables IANS for the organization in the Microsoft 365 admin center, and each user's access reflects the organization's IANS subscription.

With IANS in Microsoft Copilot, security teams can:

• Benchmark decisions against peers. See how organizations of similar industry and size approached the same question, drawing on more than 4,000 summarized Ask-an-Expert calls, more than 3,500 Faculty polls, and compensation, budget, and staffing benchmarks from more than 600 security leaders
• Track active threats. Draw on intelligence about current vulnerabilities, attack campaigns, and threat activity, each with remediation steps and IANS Faculty analysis of major breaches and industry-wide incidents
• Evaluate vendors. Leverage 300+ IANS vendor assessments, free of vendor influence
• Brief leadership on the news. Turn current security news into executive talking points and action plans
• Prepare board and executive material. Build briefings grounded in peer data and Faculty guidance
• Reach a practitioner. Request an Ask-an-Expert session with one of more than 170 IANS Faculty members, all practicing security practitioners, when a question calls for a direct conversation

"Our mutual customers' security teams make high-stakes decisions every day, and the quality of those decisions depends on the information behind them," said Chantrelle Nielsen, Principal Product Manager, Copilot Platform Microsoft. "With IANS in Microsoft Copilot, those teams can draw on how peer organizations approached the same decisions, directly in Copilot Chat and Copilot Cowork, under the administrative controls they already use for Microsoft 365."

The IANS MCP for Microsoft Copilot is available now to IANS clients whose subscription includes MCP access and whose users hold Microsoft Copilot licenses. It is also available in Claude. To learn more, visit the IANS MCP Server page.

About IANS

IANS is the practitioner-sourced intelligence engine where data, peer experience, and expert insights converge for security teams. Our private knowledge base spans thousands of conversations between client security teams and our Faculty network of 170+ active cybersecurity practitioners, proprietary benchmarking data, and a continuously growing library of practitioner-authored insights and content. Governed by strict anonymization and consent standards, this intelligence is now directly accessible through the AI tools security teams already use.

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SOURCE IANS