What Is the Difference Between Work IQ, Fabric IQ, Foundry IQ, and Web IQ?

Last updated October 13, 2026

Work IQ, Fabric IQ, Foundry IQ, and Web IQ are the four context layers inside Microsoft IQ, which Microsoft made generally available at Build on June 2, 2026. Work IQ grounds AI agents in Microsoft 365 activity, Fabric IQ in governed business data, Foundry IQ in enterprise knowledge retrieval, and Web IQ in live public web content.

Each layer has its own release status, billing model, and data boundary, so an agent that draws on all four inherits four sets of permission, cost, and compliance decisions.

Microsoft IQ Layers Compared by Status and Scope

Work IQ Grounds Agents in Microsoft 365 Activity

Work IQ models how your organization operates from email, calendar, meetings, chats, files, and people data. The Work IQ APIs announced at Build, generally available since June 16, 2026, expose the same intelligence layer behind Microsoft 365 Copilot to custom agents through four domains.

• Chat returns the cited response Copilot would give a user.
• Context returns the source material behind that response.
• Tools lets agents send email, schedule meetings, and act on other Microsoft 365 entities through 10 generic tools.
• Workspaces stores an agent's intermediate state and files inside the Microsoft 365 tenant boundary.

Work IQ Licensing Runs on Copilot Credits

Custom agents built in Copilot Studio, Foundry, or third-party platforms consume Copilot Credits when they call Work IQ, and Microsoft sells no separate Work IQ subscription, SKU, or per-user license. The Copilot license covers prebuilt Microsoft 365 Copilot agents. According to Microsoft's June 2026 Partner Center announcements, an administrator must enable consumptive billing in the Microsoft admin center before usage begins. Pair consumptive billing with the usage monitoring covered in our guide to Microsoft Copilot governance for IT and security leaders.

Fabric IQ Models How the Business Operates

Fabric IQ is a Microsoft Fabric workload that gives agents shared definitions of customers, orders, revenue, and their relationships. Microsoft's Build 2026 Fabric announcement describes three layers.

1. Unified data in OneLake across analytical and operational sources.
2. Business intelligence through Power BI semantic models.
3. Operational intelligence through ontologies that define entities, relationships, rules, and actions.

Microsoft declared Fabric IQ generally available on June 2, 2026. Ontologies remain in preview, and Microsoft has committed only to general availability "in the coming months." Build on semantic models now and run ontologies as a pilot. An ontology reflects the quality of the data beneath it, which is why teams should assess AI data readiness before they build.

Foundry IQ Unifies Enterprise Knowledge for Custom Agents

Foundry IQ is the retrieval layer for Microsoft Foundry agents. One knowledge base can pull from Blob Storage, OneLake, SharePoint, and the web while enforcing document-level permissions, and each requires an Azure AI Search resource.

Component status varies, according to Microsoft's Foundry IQ Build update.

• Knowledge bases, agentic retrieval, and the Foundry IQ MCP server became generally available on June 2, 2026.
• Foundry IQ Serverless (Developer tier) is in public preview, and billing for it began September 13, 2026.
• Work IQ, Fabric IQ, Azure SQL, File Search, and MCP knowledge sources are in preview.

Those preview sources make Foundry IQ the integration point for agents that need workplace, business, and external context together.

Web IQ Adds Live Web Grounding Under Limited Access

Web IQ, announced at Build on June 2, 2026, returns web, news, image, and video results designed for agent workflows. Microsoft reports latency under 200 milliseconds with zero data retention, and Web IQ honors publisher preferences. Access runs through the Foundry IQ MCP knowledge source and is currently available to select Azure customers. Microsoft has not announced a broad general availability date.

Microsoft IQ Layer Selection by Use Case

1. Work IQ fits agents that read or act on Microsoft 365 content; budget Copilot Credits before deployment.
2. Fabric IQ semantic models suit agents answering questions about metrics already defined in Power BI.
3. Foundry IQ anchors custom agents that search several repositories under one permission model.
4. Web IQ access is the request to file when answers depend on current external events, such as regulatory changes.

Microsoft IQ Readiness Depends on Permissions, Data Quality, and Credit Budgets

Every Microsoft IQ layer inherits existing permissions and definitions, so SharePoint oversharing or inconsistent Power BI metrics flow straight into agent answers. CloudServus is a top 1% Microsoft Solutions Partner globally and an Azure Expert MSP, with engineers working across Microsoft 365, Fabric, and Azure AI. An AI Readiness Assessment maps your permissions, data quality, and Copilot Credit exposure so your first Microsoft IQ agent runs on a governed foundation.

Microsoft IQ Frequently Asked Questions

When did Work IQ become generally available?

The Work IQ APIs reached general availability on June 16, 2026, two weeks after Microsoft announced the date at Build.

Does Work IQ require a separate license?

Microsoft offers no separate Work IQ SKU or per-user license. Custom agents bill through Copilot Credits, and the Copilot license covers prebuilt Microsoft 365 Copilot agents.

Is Fabric IQ generally available?

The Fabric IQ workload has been generally available since June 2, 2026. Ontologies within Fabric IQ remain in preview as of October 1, 2026.

Can Foundry IQ combine all four IQ layers?

Foundry IQ knowledge bases can draw on Work IQ and Fabric IQ as preview knowledge sources and on Web IQ through limited access.