Microsoft Teams Splits Copilot Meeting Controls Into Two New AI Policies: What IT Admins Need to Know

Microsoft is introducing a significant update to how organizations manage artificial intelligence in Microsoft Teams meetings, replacing the existing Copilot meeting policy with two separate policies designed to give IT administrators and meeting organizers more precise control over AI features and transcription.

The change, announced ahead of its November 2026 rollout, introduces two new administrative controls: MeetingAI and TranscriptionWithMeetingAI. Together, they separate the ability to use AI in meetings from the decision to automatically start transcription when AI is enabled.

The update will give organizations greater flexibility in managing Copilot, Facilitator, Intelligent Recap, and other AI-powered meeting capabilities. It will also introduce more granular meeting options, allowing organizers to determine who can manage and use AI features during meetings.

The rollout will begin in mid-November 2026 for Targeted Release customers, followed by General Availability later in November. Microsoft expects both deployment phases to finish by early December 2026.

For most organizations, no administrative action will be necessary because Microsoft will automatically migrate existing policy configurations. However, IT teams that rely on PowerShell scripts, custom integrations, or automation to manage Teams meeting policies should prepare for the transition.

Until now, Microsoft Teams has used a single Copilot meeting policy to control AI availability and certain transcription-related behaviors.

While this approach provided administrators with centralized control, it combined two separate decisions: whether AI features could be used during meetings and whether a saved transcript was required for those features.

Microsoft is now separating these capabilities into two dedicated policies.

The new policies are:

1. MeetingAI

The MeetingAI policy determines whether AI-powered capabilities are available during Teams meetings.

It covers features such as:

Microsoft Copilot
Facilitator
Intelligent Recap
Other supported AI meeting capabilities

Administrators can configure whether AI is available, whether meeting organizers can change the setting, or whether AI must remain disabled.

This provides organizations with a clearer way to enforce AI usage requirements across meetings.

For example, an organization with strict internal governance requirements may choose to disable meeting AI entirely. Another organization may allow AI by default while giving meeting organizers the flexibility to enable or disable it depending on the meeting’s purpose.

2. TranscriptionWithMeetingAI

The second policy, TranscriptionWithMeetingAI, controls whether transcription starts automatically when meeting AI is enabled.

This distinction is important because AI availability and transcription are not necessarily the same thing.

Organizations may want participants to use Copilot without automatically starting a meeting transcript. Others may require transcription whenever AI capabilities are activated to support their internal meeting documentation processes.

The new policy makes these configurations easier to manage independently.

The key difference: MeetingAI controls access to AI features, while TranscriptionWithMeetingAI determines whether transcription starts when those features are enabled.

New Teams Meeting Options Give Organizers More Control

The policy changes are accompanied by updates to the Teams meeting options interface.

Meeting organizers will receive more visibility into AI-related settings and greater control over how participants interact with AI capabilities.

Microsoft is introducing several controls to make these permissions easier to understand.

Who Can Manage AI

The new Who can manage AI option replaces the existing Allow Copilot and Facilitator meeting setting.

It determines who can turn Copilot and other AI features on or off during a meeting.

This distinction matters for organizations that want to prevent participants from independently changing AI settings after a meeting has started.

Administrators can enforce restrictions through the MeetingAI policy. If an administrator disables Meeting AI entirely, the Who can manage AI setting will automatically be set to No one.

This helps prevent meeting-level settings from overriding organization-wide restrictions.

Who Can Use AI

The new Who can use AI setting introduces more granular control over which meeting participants can access Copilot and other AI capabilities.

This gives organizers greater flexibility when managing meetings with different participant groups.

For example, an organization may want to make AI available to specific participants while limiting access for others.

The distinction between managing AI and using AI is particularly relevant for larger organizations where meeting ownership, participant permissions, and information governance may involve different responsibilities.

Start Transcription with AI

Another important addition is the Start Transcription with AI option.

This setting allows meeting organizers to determine whether transcription automatically starts when AI is enabled.

Administrators can also control the behavior through the Teams admin center.

Depending on the organization’s configuration, transcription can be enabled by default, enforced as a requirement, or disabled.

Intelligent Recap Controls

Microsoft is also introducing additional controls for Intelligent Recap.

Organizers will be able to decide whether an Intelligent Recap should be created when Copilot is turned on, including scenarios where a transcript is not created.

This is particularly relevant for organizations that want to make use of AI-generated meeting insights while maintaining separate controls over transcription.

The additional flexibility should make it easier to align Teams meeting experiences with different operational and governance requirements.

What Is Changing in the Teams Admin Center?

The new policies will appear in the Teams admin center under the meeting policy settings.

Administrators will find the controls in two areas:

Recording and transcription
Copilot and other AI

The updated interface will include the new controls for allowing AI in meetings and starting transcription when AI is turned on.

Microsoft’s approach is intended to make the relationship between AI availability and transcription more transparent.

Rather than managing both behaviors through one combined policy, administrators will be able to configure them independently.

This should also make troubleshooting easier. When a user reports that Copilot is unavailable or transcription does not start as expected, administrators will have separate policy settings to investigate.

For organizations managing multiple Teams policies across departments, the additional separation could also simplify policy design.

Important: Microsoft Will Automatically Migrate Existing Policies

One of the most important aspects of this announcement is how Microsoft plans to handle existing configurations.

Organizations will not need to recreate their current Copilot meeting policies manually.

Microsoft will perform a one-time migration, mapping existing Copilot policy values to the corresponding settings in MeetingAI and TranscriptionWithMeetingAI.

The goal is to preserve each organization’s existing effective behavior.

Here is how the migration will work:

Existing Copilot configuration	MeetingAI	TranscriptionWithMeetingAI
Copilot enabled, saved transcript used by default	On	On, organizers can change
Copilot enabled, saved transcript required	On	On, organizers cannot change
Copilot available without transcription	On	Off
Copilot disabled, but organizers can enable it	Off, organizers can change	Based on existing configuration
Copilot enforced off	Off, organizers cannot change	Off

This mapping is designed to minimize disruption during the transition.

For most IT administrators, the migration should happen in the background without requiring manual policy recreation.

What Happens to Existing PowerShell Commands?

There is an important consideration for administrators who manage Microsoft Teams through PowerShell.

The existing Copilot meeting policy will be replaced by the two new policy controls.

Administrators will need to use:

MeetingAI
TranscriptionWithMeetingAI

Once the new controls are enabled, the existing Copilot policy can no longer be updated directly.

Attempts to modify it will return guidance directing administrators to use the new policies instead.

This means organizations using scripts to create, read, or update Teams meeting policies should review their automation before the rollout.

It is not enough to update only scripts that change settings. Reporting tools, configuration audits, and internal administrative dashboards may also reference the old Copilot policy.

Understanding the Relationship Between AI and Transcription

Although the two new policies provide more flexibility, Microsoft is also introducing safeguards to prevent conflicting configurations.

One important rule applies when an administrator enforces AI as disabled.

If MeetingAI is configured as enforced off, transcription will also be turned off.

If transcription is subsequently turned back on, MeetingAI will no longer remain enforced off.

This behavior is intended to keep the two settings consistent and prevent unsupported combinations.

Administrators should pay particular attention to this interaction when designing policies for different departments or meeting scenarios.

For example, an organization that wants to prohibit Copilot while continuing to allow ordinary meeting transcription will need to distinguish between its general transcription policy and the new transcription behavior associated with meeting AI.

The existing Transcription policy will remain available.

It will continue to determine whether transcription is permitted in Teams.

By contrast, TranscriptionWithMeetingAI specifically controls whether transcription starts when meeting AI is enabled.

These policies therefore serve different purposes and should not be treated as interchangeable.

What IT Administrators Should Do Before the Update

Microsoft has confirmed that no administrative action is required to migrate existing configurations.

However, organizations that use custom automation or maintain detailed Teams administration procedures should take a few precautionary steps.

Here are four recommendations for IT teams.

1. Review PowerShell Scripts and Automation

Identify scripts that reference the existing Copilot meeting policy.

Update relevant automation to use MeetingAI and TranscriptionWithMeetingAI instead.

This includes scripts used for:

Creating and updating meeting policies
Auditing existing configurations
Generating compliance reports
Managing policies across multiple departments
Synchronizing settings with external administration tools

Testing these changes before the rollout can help prevent failures in automated policy management.

2. Update Internal Documentation and Runbooks

IT documentation may continue to reference the old Copilot policy long after Microsoft introduces the replacement settings.

Review internal knowledge bases, administrator guides, troubleshooting procedures, and operational runbooks.

Make sure administrators understand which new policy controls AI availability and which one controls transcription behavior.

3. Communicate the Changes to Teams Administrators

Although the migration is automatic, administrators should understand that the policy structure is changing.

A short internal briefing can help support teams respond to questions about Copilot availability, transcription, and meeting organizer permissions.

This is especially important for organizations where different departments have different AI usage requirements.

4. Validate the Migrated Configuration

Once the new controls become available, review the resulting configuration in the Teams admin center.

Check that the mapped values reflect the organization’s intended AI and transcription behavior.

Pay particular attention to policies that enforce AI restrictions or require transcription when Copilot is enabled.

These checks can help identify unexpected behavior before it affects regular business meetings.

Compliance and Data Governance Considerations

The update also raises an important question for organizations managing AI governance and meeting data.

Microsoft states that the policy change does not alter how existing customer data is processed or stored.

Instead, the update changes the administrative controls governing AI and transcription availability during meetings.

That distinction is important.

Organizations should not interpret the introduction of separate policies as a change to their underlying data processing arrangements.

However, more granular controls can provide an opportunity to revisit internal governance requirements.

IT and compliance teams may want to review:

Which employees are permitted to use Copilot during meetings.
Whether transcription should automatically start when meeting AI is enabled.
Who can manage AI settings during meetings.
Whether Intelligent Recap should be available in meetings without a transcript.
Whether existing meeting policies align with internal data retention and access requirements.

Organizations operating in regulated industries may also want to ensure that their AI usage guidelines clearly explain when meeting AI and transcription are permitted.

The new settings provide additional administrative flexibility, but they do not replace the need for appropriate internal governance.

Why This Update Matters for the Future of Microsoft Teams

Microsoft’s decision to separate AI availability from transcription reflects a broader challenge facing organizations adopting AI-powered collaboration tools.

As Copilot and other AI capabilities become more integrated into everyday meetings, organizations need more than a simple on/off switch.

They need to determine who can use AI, who can control it, when transcription should begin, and how meeting-generated insights should be handled.

The previous combined policy provided a simpler administrative model, but it offered less flexibility for organizations with different operational and compliance requirements.

The new structure moves Teams toward a more granular permission model.

For IT administrators, this means greater control over how AI capabilities are deployed across the organization.

For meeting organizers, it means clearer options for managing AI participation and transcription.

For employees, the practical experience will depend on the policies configured by their organization’s administrators.

The November 2026 rollout is therefore worth tracking, particularly for businesses that rely heavily on Teams meetings or use PowerShell to manage collaboration policies at scale.

The immediate priority is not rebuilding existing configurations. It is making sure that scripts, documentation, and governance processes are ready for the new policy structure.

As Microsoft continues expanding AI capabilities across Teams, organizations should expect administrative controls to become increasingly important in balancing productivity, user flexibility, and responsible AI adoption.