Microsoft Viva Insights Rolls Out GitHub Copilot Spend and Usage Dashboards: What M365 Admins Need to Know

Mo Wasay July 8, 2026 6 min read

Microsoft Viva Insights Rolls Out GitHub Copilot Spend and Usage Dashboards: What M365 Admins Need to Know

REPORT: Viva Insights Adds GitHub Copilot Spend and Usage Reporting

Microsoft has announced that, beginning July CY2026 (Roadmap ID: 566470), Viva Insights will provide managers, global analysts, and global administrators with actionable dashboards to track GitHub Copilot AI spend and usage. This feature is enabled by default for eligible roles—in particular, managers with at least five direct reports (scoped access)—and surfaces both licensing and utilization data for Copilot within your Microsoft 365 tenant.
Read the roadmap item.

WHAT’S NEW THIS CYCLE

GitHub Copilot Spend and Usage Dashboards in Viva Insights (General Availability July CY2026)
Automatic enablement for scoped managers, M365 global analysts, and global admins
Dashboards accessible through Viva Insights portal (Microsoft 365 admin center > Insights > Viva Insights > Usage & Spend)
Visibility includes: number of Copilot seats, monthly active users, spend trends, and basic license assignments

PowerShell and Graph API endpoints for deep Copilot license analysis remain unchanged, but the reporting surface is now natively integrated in the Insights dashboard for non-technical roles.

IMPACT: Who and What is Affected

This change primarily impacts:

People managers with at least five direct reports, who will now see scoped Copilot analytics
Global analysts and global admins: gain full-tenant Copilot spend visibility by default
Security and compliance teams: downstream impact on license and spend reviews, as AI usage data flows into broader M365 governance discussions

Risks include:

Accidental over-provisioning or under-provisioning of GitHub Copilot due to lack of real-time spend analytics
Potential permission creep if analytics access is not periodically reviewed (especially for scoped managers)
Shadow IT: If Copilot usage outpaces licensing, admins can detect anomalies before compliance issues surface

EDUCATE: How Viva Insights Connects to GitHub Copilot Data

Viva Insights aggregates organizational data from Microsoft 365 workloads. With this update, it extends that reach to GitHub Copilot—a generative AI coding assistant requiring paid licensing. Insights surfaces:

Seat assignments directly from Entra ID (formerly Azure AD)
Monthly active user counts (via GitHub’s Microsoft 365 data pipeline)
Spend/consumption trends, rolled up per manager or per admin scope

Managers see only their direct/indirect reports. Analysts and admins have full-tenant visibility. Raw data is still accessible via Microsoft Graph; the dashboard simply synthesizes it for non-technical consumption.

DETECT: Auditing Current Copilot License Assignment and Usage

To validate the dashboard’s numbers and audit Copilot licensing directly, use Microsoft.Graph PowerShell. This script lists all users assigned GitHub Copilot, paginates results, and includes error handling.

# Requires Microsoft.Graph.Users and Microsoft.Graph.Licenses modules
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes 'User.Read.All','Directory.Read.All','Organization.Read.All'

# Get the SKU PartNumber for GitHub Copilot (adjust if your SKU differs)
$sku = Get-MgSubscribedSku | Where-Object {$_.SkuPartNumber -like '*GITHUB_COPILOT*'}
if (-not $sku) { Write-Warning 'GitHub Copilot SKU not found.'; return }

$copilotSkuId = $sku.SkuId

# Paginated query for users assigned the Copilot license
$users = @()
$uri = "/users?`$select=id,displayName,userPrincipalName,assignedLicenses&`$top=100"
do {
    $result = Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Method GET -Uri $uri
    $users += $result.value | Where-Object { $_.assignedLicenses.skuId -contains $copilotSkuId }
    $uri = $result.'@odata.nextLink'
} while ($uri)

$users | Select-Object displayName,userPrincipalName | Format-Table
Write-Host "Total assigned Copilot licenses: $($users.Count)"

Notes: Adjust the SkuPartNumber value if your tenant uses a custom GitHub Copilot SKU. The script paginates through all users, as large tenants commonly exceed 100-user API results. Always test in a limited scope before scaling up.

REMEDIATE SAFELY: License Review and Correction (Dry Run)

If you identify users incorrectly assigned Copilot, run remediation only on explicitly reviewed input. Never bulk-remove directly from a live query. Here’s a safe, dry-run example:

# Example: Remove Copilot license from reviewed users (dry run: outputs who would be removed)
$usersToRemove = @('[email protected]','[email protected]')  # Replace with reviewed list
foreach ($upn in $usersToRemove) {
    $user = Get-MgUser -UserId $upn
    Write-Host "Would remove Copilot from: $($user.DisplayName) ($upn)" -ForegroundColor Yellow
    # Actual removal (uncomment for production, after manual review):
    # Set-MgUserLicense -UserId $upn -RemoveLicenses @($copilotSkuId)
}

Important: This script does not perform any changes until you explicitly uncomment the action line and provide a reviewed list. Do not run live queries for removal in production without secondary validation.

PORTAL EQUIVALENT: Where to Find These Features

Viva Insights Copilot Dashboard: Microsoft 365 admin center > Insights > Viva Insights > Usage & Spend > GitHub Copilot
License assignment: Entra admin center > Users > Licenses
Reports: Microsoft 365 admin center > Reports > Usage > GitHub Copilot

WHAT’S COMING IN THE NEXT 90 DAYS

Copilot for Microsoft 365 granular admin activity auditing (GA Q4 2026): Use Microsoft Purview Audit to track Copilot prompts and data accesses
Unified AI license cost center tagging (Preview H2 2026): Link Copilot and other AI spend to internal cost centers for showback and chargeback
Intune policy integration for Copilot deployment (Preview Q1 2027): Conditional access and device compliance scoping for Copilot license and access assignment

Admins should plan tenant-wide governance and prepare for new compliance and cost reporting features.

THE UPGRADE: Benefits Over Previous Approach

Visibility: Managers see Copilot usage and spend for their teams, driving accountability and reducing wastage
Actionable Data: Dashboards are updated in near real-time—no more exporting CSVs from multiple portals or custom Power BI builds
Security: Scoped access ensures only authorized personnel can see AI spend data, reducing risk of data leakage
Efficiency: Aligns Copilot license assignments with actual need, preventing over-provisioning and reducing unnecessary spend

Related Microsoft 365 Changes Affecting This Workflow

Entra ID My Access portal introduces delegated admin review for license-based roles (Q3 2026)
Microsoft 365 Usage Analytics (Power BI) will surface AI workload pivots, facilitating broader reporting beyond Copilot
Purview Data Loss Prevention for Copilot prompts/outputs (Preview): Adds DLP scanning for AI-generated content

RECOMMENDATION: What Should Admins Do Now?

Review your current GitHub Copilot license assignments and spend trends using both the new Viva Insights dashboard and PowerShell for accuracy.
Validate scoped manager access—limit to those who truly require spend visibility, and audit permissions quarterly.
Prepare standard operating procedures for license remediation (always dry-run and review before removal).
Monitor Microsoft 365 roadmap for upcoming AI governance and reporting enhancements—especially Purview and Intune integration.
Educate managers and finance partners on how to interpret and act on Copilot spend data—for true accountability and cost control.

With Viva Insights surfacing actionable AI spend and usage data, you can finally align Copilot investment with real business value. But the right governance and regular reviews remain essential for sustainable results.