Microsoft's October update describes expanded Copilot Studio evaluations, including Task Completion, Tool Accuracy, Safety, custom graders, and broader automation evaluation. These categories reflect an important shift: an agent can produce a good-looking response while failing the underlying job.
Define success outside the conversation
For an account-update task, verify that the correct record changed to the approved value. For a research task, verify that the memo answers the question with supporting evidence. Do not accept the agent's statement that it finished as the only evidence.
Inspect tool behavior
Check whether the agent selected an appropriate tool and supplied the right arguments. Include missing fields, ambiguous identities, and unavailable services. An incorrect tool call can have a larger consequence than an awkwardly phrased answer.
Use explicit safety criteria
Write down actions that must never happen, data that must not be exposed, and cases requiring human review. Evaluate those separately from ordinary quality so a high average score cannot hide a serious failure.
Custom graders also need validation. Compare automated judgments with human-reviewed examples and investigate disagreements.
Make evaluation a release decision
Run a fixed regression set when changing models, instructions, connectors, or knowledge sources. Track which configuration produced each result. Set thresholds appropriate to the consequence and provide a stop condition for critical failures.
The goal is not a perfect-looking dashboard. It is evidence that a particular version can perform an approved task, handle exceptions, and remain within the authority the organization intended.
Sources & further reading
Reviewed October 26, 2026. Product availability and regulatory guidance can change. Vendor performance claims are not independent Rovio AI benchmarks.
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