AI Teammates and Mailbox Agents
Outermind helps you design an AI teammate by starting with the work you want handled. You do not need to know which agent type to choose before you begin.
Start with the work
Go to Workforce > Agents and select Create agent. The design interview asks a few focused questions about:
- What should trigger the work
- What a good result looks like
- Which systems and knowledge sources are needed
- What the agent may do on its own
- When and to whom it should escalate
You can type your answers or use Live Audio when it is available. The interview produces a reviewable design before anything is created.
The examples on the first page are conversation starters, not fixed templates. You can edit the example text, start with your own idea, or ask the interview to help you figure it out.
Mailbox agents
A mailbox agent monitors one shared mailbox and one or more folders in that mailbox. Inbox is the usual starting folder, but a different folder can be selected when work is intentionally routed there.
Use a mailbox agent when the work begins because a message arrives. Common examples include:
- Customer or employee support requests
- Accounts payable invoices and vendor questions
- Sales inquiries
- Compliance or document intake
- Requests routed into a dedicated team folder
A mailbox agent can inspect the message, use its assigned tools and knowledge, respond within its approved boundaries, or escalate to a person.
Mailbox agents are not callable specialists. Other AI teammates cannot invoke or directly message them as SMEs.
Specialist agents
A Specialist Agent, or SME, performs focused work when an eligible AI teammate invokes it. An administrator can optionally assign a monitored mailbox so incoming email also triggers the SME directly. Use an SME when expertise should be reusable across AICOS, AIPSO, Personal Assistants, or other permitted SMEs.
For details, see Specialist Agents.
How the interview chooses
The interview uses your description as evidence, not as an irreversible selection.
- Work that begins with incoming email usually points to a mailbox agent.
- Work that begins when another AI teammate asks for expertise usually points to an SME.
- If your idea contains both patterns, the interview explains the difference and may recommend creating two cooperating agents, one at a time.
- If the work belongs to AICOS, AIPSO, or a Personal Assistant, the interview explains that role and directs you to the correct setup experience.
You can correct the recommendation during the interview. The review updates to reflect the newly required decisions.
Review before creation
The review summarizes the design in plain language:
- Name and purpose
- How work arrives
- Expected outcomes
- Mailbox and folders, for a mailbox agent
- Invocation access, for an SME
- Tools and knowledge
- Supervisor and escalation boundaries
- Activation choice
Open Advanced settings only when you need to change execution limits, model overrides, tool details, sender restrictions, or other technical controls. Defaults remain visible in the review even when the advanced section is collapsed. After the agent is created, you can change its model override from the agent's edit page, which opens the model picker with search, provider/capability filters, and side-by-side comparison.
Changing a deployment-affecting setting invalidates the earlier approval. Review the updated design before creating the agent.
Plans, prerequisites, and limits
The interview can explain any agent role, even when the current subscription does not include it. It never recommends creating something the tenant cannot deploy.
Locked capabilities show the required current tier from the feature matrix and provide an upgrade path. Limits and prerequisites are checked again immediately before creation. Typical prerequisites include:
- A shared mailbox that is available and not assigned elsewhere
- Microsoft 365 application authorization
- Required tools and their application connections
- Configured knowledge sources
- Available agent capacity
You can complete supported prerequisites and return to the same interview without losing the design.
Creation and activation
Outermind creates the agent inactive, applies the approved design, and verifies every required resource. The agent is activated only after the required checks succeed and activation was requested.
If a resource is still provisioning, the page identifies the exact item that needs attention. Successfully created resources are preserved, and retry continues from the incomplete step rather than starting over.
Managing an existing agent
- Open Workforce > Agents.
- Select the agent or choose Edit to open its admin page.
- Use the left menu to select the section you need. Available sections depend on the agent kind and your permissions.
Watch: The Agent Admin page (3:52)
The page opens on Overview at /workforce/agents/<agent-id>. Mailbox agents, Specialist Agents, Personal Assistants, the AI Chief of Staff, and AIPSO all use this shared destination. Editing an existing agent remains separate from the design interview.
Agent results in the command palette also open this page. After a successful design deployment, Meet your AI teammate opens the created agent's Overview.
From an agent in the System Diagram, Open full configuration opens Overview, Edit agent policy opens Autonomy, Adjust limits opens Spending, and Manage all tools opens Tools.
Use the agent detail and activity pages to:
- Pause or resume the agent
- Review execution history and errors
- Change assigned tools and knowledge access
- Adjust sender restrictions or escalation settings
- Test behavior before relying on it for production work
Do old configuration bookmarks still work?
Yes. Older agent and SME edit links redirect to the shared admin page. Recognized tab links open the corresponding section; an unavailable section falls back to Overview. Links from existing notification emails continue to work.
Configure the responsible person
On the agent admin page, use the Configure menu to open the section for the people accountable for that agent. The section name and controls depend on the agent kind:
| Agent kind | Section | What you can change |
|---|---|---|
| Mailbox agent or Specialist Agent (SME) | Supervisor | Select or clear the supervisor |
| AI Chief of Staff (AICOS) | Business Owner | Change the Business Owner using the confirmation dialog |
| Platform & Security Officer (AIPSO) | Managers | Add, remove, or choose the primary manager |
| Personal Assistant | Employee | View the assigned employee; this assignment is fixed at creation |
Change a supervisor
- Open Supervisor under Configure.
- Search for and select the person, or clear the current selection.
- Select Save in the command bar to apply the change. Select Discard to abandon an unsaved selection.
The supervisor receives a mailbox agent's messages. For an SME, held actions go to the supervisor when they can be notified, otherwise to the Business Owner.
Change the Business Owner
- Open Business Owner for AICOS.
- Select Change Business Owner.
- Choose an eligible replacement, review the dialog, and select the confirmation checkbox.
- Select Confirm Change to apply the change, or Cancel to leave the current owner in place.
The Business Owner approves AICOS held actions. This dialog saves the change directly; a separate command-bar Save is not required.
Manage AIPSO managers
Open Managers for AIPSO. Select an eligible platform admin and choose Add manager, use Set primary beside a non-primary manager, or choose Remove beside a manager. Review and confirm each change. These changes save immediately.
At least one active manager must remain. The primary manager is the default contact for AIPSO alerts; held actions go to all active managers. For more details, see Managing AIPSO.
View a Personal Assistant's employee
Open Employee to view the assigned person. The employee cannot be changed here. Held actions go to the employee when they can be notified, otherwise to the Business Owner. On Outermind Assistant, a Personal Assistant never falls back to the Business Owner.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the section missing or read-only?
Opening the agent admin page requires agents:write. Individual sections also require their own read access: Supervisor and Employee require agents:read; Business Owner requires caioo:manage and the AICOS entitlement; Managers requires aipso:view and the AIPSO entitlement. A section is hidden without its required read access. Changing AIPSO managers additionally requires aipso:manage; otherwise the roster is read-only. Employee is always read-only.
Where do I change AIPSO risk brief preferences?
Open Governance > AIPSO > Settings > Managers. The agent admin Managers section above provides roster controls only; risk brief switches live on that Settings > Managers section, where each manager can also change their own switch.
Configure model and mailbox
On the agent admin page, open Model or Mailbox under Configure. The available controls depend on the agent kind and your permissions.
| Agent kind | Model | Mailbox |
|---|---|---|
| Mailbox agent | Work type and optional model override | Monitored mailbox and sender restrictions |
| Specialist Agent (SME) | Optional reasoning model override | Optional monitored mailbox |
| Platform & Security Officer (AIPSO) | Work type and optional model override | Mailbox binding and sender restrictions |
| AI Chief of Staff (AICOS) | View the current override or tenant Reasoning assignment | View the linked mailbox; change it through AI Chief of Staff setup |
| Personal Assistant | Model section is hidden | Choose the PA's shared mailbox |
Change the model
- Open Model for the agent.
- For a mailbox agent or AIPSO, choose the Work Type that supplies its default model assignment.
- Choose a model override if this agent should use a specific model. For an SME, leaving the override at default uses the tenant's Reasoning model.
- Select Save in the command bar, or Discard to abandon unsaved changes.
AICOS model information is read-only here. Use the AI Models page to review tenant defaults.
Change the mailbox or sender rules
- Open Mailbox for the agent.
- Choose an available mailbox. For mailbox agents and SMEs, you can also clear the assignment. An SME's optional mailbox allows inbound email to trigger it directly.
- For a mailbox agent or AIPSO, review Sender Restrictions and adjust the allowed senders and related checks as needed.
- Select Save for mailbox agents, SMEs, Personal Assistants, and sender-rule changes. Use Discard to abandon unsaved changes. AIPSO mailbox binding actions save directly through their own controls.
If Save displays a warning that sender rules could not be saved or remain pending, review the message and retry Save. Other settings may already have saved; the warning means the sender-rule change still needs attention. The existing agent edit form also displays sender-rule save warnings.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't I select a model or mailbox?
The model catalog requires settings:read, and monitored-mailbox choices require mailboxes:read. If those reads are unavailable or fail, the current assignment is preserved. Check your access or resolve the displayed error before changing the assignment.
Why is Model or Mailbox missing or read-only?
Sections without the required read access are hidden. AICOS Model and Mailbox are always read-only. Personal Assistant Mailbox requires users:write; AIPSO Mailbox requires aipso:manage and the AIPSO entitlement. Sender rules additionally require agent read access to view and agent write access to change. Deleted agents are read-only, and these sections are unavailable for an unlinked Personal Assistant.
Testing agents with chat
Use the agent's test chat to try representative requests before production use. Confirm that the agent follows its boundaries, uses only expected tools, cites the right knowledge, and escalates when required. Test chat does not replace a mailbox delivery test for mailbox agents.
Step 6.7: Configure Long-Running Tasks (Advanced)
Long-running controls are available in Advanced settings and when editing an existing agent. Increase execution time only when the work genuinely needs it. SME research and analysis may need a longer window; routine mailbox triage should remain bounded so one message cannot consume excessive resources.