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What’s new for Microsoft Viva – January 2026
I’ve been saying for a while that the hype around the Employee Experience suite has been fading a bit, mostly because Copilot announcements have completely taken over the spotlight. But even with all the noise around AI, some of the Viva apps are still getting important updates, and in many cases, they’re actually tied to Copilot or new AI capabilities.
My highlights this month go straight to Viva Engage. The first one is theme moderation, which will automatically block posts, comments, and replies based on monitored themes. AI handles the detection, and there’s nothing you need to enable ahead of rollout, though admins should definitely review the monitored themes and make sure everything aligns with their governance standards.
The second big change is the unification of Microsoft communication platforms. Viva Engage communities are being integrated directly into Microsoft Teams, bringing asynchronous conversations and leadership engagement into the same space where people already work.
There were more updates across the rest of the Employee Experience apps, and you can find all of those in the details of this post.
JAN
7
We’re excited to announce that MODIS (Microsoft Organizational Data Ingestion System) is now available in the GCC-Moderate (GCC-M) environment! MODIS provides a secure, compliant, and scalable platform for ingesting organizational data into Microsoft 365. With this release, government cloud customers can now leverage the same powerful data ingestion capabilities previously available only in commercial environments.
Enhancing the Engage Events experience with additional capabilities such as Broadcast for large scale produced events, Meetings based Events. Organizers will have additional support for moderating the posted questions and conversations, and attendees can post questions anonymously. An Events Landing page allows for attendees and organizers to have one place for the contiguous events experience of “Before”, “During” and “After”
JAN
14
Microsoft Viva Glint introduces granular permissions for Advanced Configuration, Nudges, General Settings, and Integrations. The top role is renamed “Viva Glint Service Admin,” assignable only via Microsoft Admin Center by M365 Global or Viva Glint Tenant Admins. Rollout starts and completes in February 2026.
Adding new, more granular permissions for Viva Glint administration. These areas include Advanced Configuration, Nudges, General Settings, and Viva Integrations. Updating the name of the highest privileged role in Viva Glint to “Viva Glint Service Admin”, and for increased security, restricting the ability to assign new Viva Glint Service Admins to the MAC only.
This feature enables users to export fresher row-level Copilot metrics from the Copilot Dashboard for reporting and deeper analysis at day level. #copilotcontrolsystem
JAN
15
Viva Engage will introduce theme moderation to block posts, comments, and replies based on monitored themes, starting February 2026. Blocked content won’t publish, with exceptions for leaders and admins. AI detects themes, and no action is required before rollout, though admins should review settings and themes.
JAN
16
Viva Engage communities will be integrated into Microsoft Teams by March-April 2026, enabling asynchronous conversations and leadership engagement within Teams. Features include synced memberships, notifications, rich interactions, and admin controls. The feature is ON by default for all tenants and requires no extra license.
Microsoft Viva Glint will introduce a Survey designer role by mid-February 2026, allowing selected users to create and manage surveys without access to sensitive settings. Admins must assign this role, enabling secure, flexible survey creation for employee listening programs. No compliance issues identified.
Starting late January 2026, Viva Engage admins can export a CSV snapshot of admin settings from the Engage Admin Center, including tenant- and network-level configurations. The export excludes community-level and Teams/Microsoft 365 Admin Center settings. Accessible by Global, Engage, and Verified Admins.
Viva Glint Reporting users like managers and leaders will be able to retrace their navigation flow i.e. drill down and drill up in reports rather than lose their navigation flow within reports. Navigation improvements will replace “Go Back” to Reporting home page with an alternative clickable UX to enable users to go back to the last page of reporting they were in. In other words, this feature will cater to Back navigation improvements in Reporting.
JAN
18
Viva Glint Reporting users like managers and leaders will be able to retrace their navigation flow i.e. drill down and drill up in reports rather than lose their navigation flow within reports. Navigation improvements will replace “Go Back” to Reporting home page with an alternative clickable UX to enable users to go back to the last page of reporting they were in. In other words, this feature will cater to Back navigation improvements in Reporting.
JAN
21
Viva Glint Reporting will improve navigation by replacing the “Go Back” link with a feature allowing users to drill down and up within reports, returning to the previous report state instead of the home page. This will roll out globally in February 2026, enabled by default with no admin action needed.
JAN
26
Microsoft 365 Copilot is expanding AI audio overview support in Viva Connections and SharePoint, adding more languages and AI-generated audio summaries for site pages and news posts. The feature rolls out from January to February 2026, is on by default, and requires no admin action.
JAN
27
Viva Glint will default Copilot to ON and remove its internal toggles, using Viva Feature Access Management (VFAM) as the sole control for Copilot access starting March 2026. Admins must manage access via VFAM; users see Copilot by default if they have Glint permissions. No M365 Copilot license is needed.
JAN
28
The Copilot Dashboard’s updated Readiness page provides IT leaders with tailored Copilot configuration recommendations. Th suggested settings are meant to streamline deployment, enhance user experience, and help users get most out of Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Chat and agents. #copilotcontrolsystem
JAN
31
Viva Glint notifications in Microsoft Teams will now appear in each user’s configured language instead of the tenant default, starting mid-February 2026. This change requires no admin action; users should ensure their Viva Glint dashboard language is set correctly for proper localization.
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