Microsoft Expands AI Marketplace to Sell Agents and Apps as Token Costs Rise
Updated
Updated · InfoWorld · Jun 11
Microsoft Expands AI Marketplace to Sell Agents and Apps as Token Costs Rise
3 articles · Updated · InfoWorld · Jun 11
Summary
Build 2026 brought an expanded Microsoft Marketplace that lets developers publish and sell AI agents and apps built across platforms including Copilot Studio, Teams and Visual Studio.
Rising inferencing costs are driving the push: Microsoft says companies want to turn AI projects from budget items into revenue sources as pricing becomes less subsidized.
Intelligent Discovery adds natural-language search that matches tools to use cases across Microsoft 365, Visual Studio and Teams storefronts, using one backend to surface relevant listings.
Microsoft is pairing the rollout with code validation, governance guardrails and GitHub-based selling guidance, while phasing in discovery features carefully to limit spam and hallucinations.
The move extends Microsoft's partner-driven software marketplace model to AI agents, aiming to make enterprise automation tools easier to govern, buy and monetize.
Microsoft is launching an AI agent store, but who is liable when a purchased agent goes rogue and breaks the law?
With autonomous agents running on micro-transactions, how will the marketplace prevent businesses from facing a nightmare of unpredictable, runaway costs?
As AI agents begin to 'remember' user data, how can businesses guarantee they can also be forced to forget?
Agentic AI at Scale: Navigating Costs, Security, and Marketplace Transformation in 2026
Overview
Microsoft Build 2026 marked a turning point for AI, highlighting a shift toward agentic AI and a unified marketplace. Microsoft is making it easier for startups and developers to build trustworthy AI solutions on a single platform, connect them with real-world data, and reach customers efficiently. This new focus positions AI agents as key tools for productivity across industries. The event also emphasized the importance of secure, integrated environments for deploying these agents, showing Microsoft’s commitment to both innovation and safety. As a result, the AI marketplace is becoming more connected and competitive, driving new opportunities for growth.