Microsoft is turning its security stack into a fully managed, AI-powered service with the launch of the new Microsoft Defender Experts Suite on January 1, 2026. The new offering combines human-led expertise, advanced XDR, and deep integration across Defender, Entra, Intune, Purview, and Security Copilot—aimed squarely at enterprises that want “SOC-as-a-service” without stitching everything together themselves.
A New Expert-Led Defender Suite for 2026
Microsoft is kicking off 2026 with a major security play: the general availability of Microsoft Defender Experts Suite on January 1, 2026. Positioned as an integrated, expert-led security service, the suite is designed to help organizations defend against threats, build cyber resilience, and modernize their day‑to‑day security operations without having to assemble all the moving parts themselves.
Built on top of Microsoft’s existing security stack, Defender Experts Suite marries human analysts with AI-powered automation and telemetry pulled from Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview. It is clearly targeted at customers who want turnkey access to Microsoft’s threat intel, managed XDR capabilities, and incident response expertise, instead of relying solely on internal SOC staffing and third‑party MSSPs.
What’s Included in Microsoft Defender Experts Suite
At a high level, Microsoft describes Defender Experts Suite as a unified per‑user, per‑month SKU that bundles multiple capabilities into one managed offering. The suite is expected to include:
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Managed XDR (extended detection and response) – Continuous, expert-led monitoring and response across endpoints, identities, email, and cloud workloads using Microsoft Defender’s XDR platform.
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Proactive and reactive incident response – Services to both hunt for latent threats and respond quickly when an incident occurs, including deep investigations and coordinated remediation actions.
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Access to designated Microsoft security advisors and engineering resources – Direct engagement with Microsoft specialists who can guide architecture, tuning, and response best practices.
These services are framed as “expert-led, AI-powered,” combining human defenders with agentic and autonomous security capabilities that Microsoft has been talking up since Ignite 2025. For partners and resellers, Microsoft highlights that this single SKU gives them a way to offer high‑end security operations and IR services underpinned by Microsoft’s own teams.
Deep Integration Across Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview
A key selling point for Defender Experts Suite is how deeply it ties together Microsoft’s major security and compliance platforms. Microsoft notes that the suite aligns with the 12 new Microsoft-built agents across Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview that were announced at Ignite 2025 to power smarter, automated security workflows.
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Defender: Telemetry and protections from endpoints, email, identities, SaaS apps, and cloud workloads flow into the managed XDR layer, enabling automatic attack disruption and AI-driven investigations.
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Entra: Identity signals such as risky sign‑ins, compromised accounts, and conditional access policy decisions feed into threat hunting and incident response actions.
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Intune: Device management and configuration data give the suite levers to isolate, remediate, and harden endpoints when threats are detected.
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Purview: Data security and compliance insights add context around sensitive information, insider risks, and regulatory exposure when investigating or blocking threats.
By bringing these components together under an expert-led umbrella, Microsoft is clearly pushing a narrative of a unified “agentic SOC,” where AI agents and human defenders collaborate across product boundaries to detect, disrupt, and predict attacks.
Security Copilot Comes to Microsoft 365 E5 Customers
One of the most important parts of this announcement is the expansion of Microsoft Security Copilot access. As part of the overall security push, Microsoft states that Security Copilot will be made available to all Microsoft 365 E5 customers, with rollout starting for existing Security Copilot customers and continuing over the following months.
Security Copilot is Microsoft’s generative AI assistant for security teams, capable of:
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Summarizing incidents, alerts, and threat campaigns with natural language explanations.
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Generating hunting queries and playbooks based on the environment’s specific context.
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Helping analysts quickly triage alerts and reduce noise by providing recommendations and guided investigation steps.
For organizations already standardized on Microsoft 365 E5, this move effectively bakes an AI co‑pilot into the security operations workflow without requiring a separate licensing journey. Paired with Defender Experts Suite, it means customers can get both human expertise and AI reasoning layered on top of their security data from day one.
Pricing, Promo Window, and Partner Opportunity
From a commercial standpoint, the December 2025 Partner Center communication positions Defender Experts Suite as a big opportunity for resellers and scale solution providers (SSPs). Microsoft emphasizes that:
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Defender Experts Suite will be generally available January 1, 2026, with a limited‑time promo offer running through December 31, 2026.
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The service is packaged as a unified per‑user, per‑month SKU, simplifying quoting and bundling for partners.
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Partners can use the suite to expand their security portfolio, layering Microsoft’s managed XDR and IR services on top of their own value‑added consulting or managed services.
For channel partners already selling Defender Suite, Purview Suite, and Microsoft 365 E5 security bundles, Defender Experts Suite plugs directly into that story as a “white‑glove” option where Microsoft’s own experts watch the environment. Given the one‑year promo, there is a clear push for partners to lead with this offering in 2026 as customers look to consolidate tooling and staff.
Part of Microsoft’s “Agentic SOC” Strategy
This launch does not happen in isolation. At Ignite 2025, Microsoft outlined a broader vision for an “agentic SOC,” where AI agents handle much of the heavy lifting—triaging alerts, correlating events, and even triggering automatic attack disruption. Defender Experts Suite slots neatly into that story as the human‑in‑the‑loop layer that operationalizes those capabilities for customers who may not have mature internal security teams.
Microsoft’s security blog highlights several innovations that surround this suite:
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New Security Copilot agents in Defender for incident analysis, threat hunting, and threat intelligence briefings, all embedded into the Defender portal.
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Automatic attack disruption expanded across data brought in through Microsoft Sentinel, including sources like AWS, Proofpoint, and Okta, enabling policy-bound actions like isolating devices and disabling compromised accounts.
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Predictive shielding, a capability that uses graphs, AI, and threat intel to predict where an attacker might pivot next and automatically harden those paths.
Defender Experts Suite effectively becomes the packaged way for customers to benefit from these agentic and autonomous features without needing to build a sophisticated SOC around them.
What This Means for Microsoft 365 and Security Customers
For Microsoft 365 E5 customers and organizations invested in Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview, the message is straightforward: Microsoft wants to be not just your tool vendor, but your security operations partner. Defender Experts Suite offers:
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A simpler path to 24/7 coverage and advanced incident response without sourcing and retaining a full internal SOC.
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Direct access to Microsoft’s security engineering and advisory teams, plus the latest AI‑assisted workflows via Security Copilot.
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Tighter integration across identity, device, data, and threat protection, reducing the complexity and gaps that often appear in hybrid environments.
The limited‑time promo through the end of 2026 suggests Microsoft is aggressively lowering the barrier to entry for this kind of managed security. For organizations facing staffing shortages, rising threat volumes, and pressure to consolidate vendors, Defender Experts Suite may become a flagship option in the Microsoft security ecosystem.
Download the Microsoft Defender Experts Suite datasheet
Read the Microsoft Defender Experts Suite e-book
Check out Microsoft Defender Experts for XDR overview
On January 6th, Visit Microsoft Defender Experts Suite to learn more about the promo offer.
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