The endpoint management category is being redefined in real time. Organizations no longer need tools that only inventory devices or enforce configuration policies; they need a platform that connects identity, security, compliance, and AI governance across every endpoint where work happens. Microsoft’s recognition as a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Endpoint Management Platforms, Q2 2026 report reflects that shift—and the role Microsoft Intune plays in helping organizations manage what’s next.
Why Microsoft Intune is a leader in endpoint management
The Forrester Wave™ Endpoint Management Platforms, Q2 2026 report includes eight endpoint management platform providers, assessed across current offering, strategy, and customer feedback. Forrester’s assessment of Microsoft reflects how Intune is built. The vision Forrester describes is one built on Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Defender, Windows, and Windows 365 as a connected system, not a collection of adjacent tools. Customers can enforce conditional access, apply compliance policies, and correlate device health signals from a single admin center. That reach is what the cross-platform, cloud-native architecture is built for.
Microsoft Intune offers a strong platform for Windows environments, as customer feedback in the Forrester report notes, and Intune brings management across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android together in the same admin console. That leadership extends from information worker devices to the frontline worker endpoints that are increasingly critical to business operations. On macOS specifically, Intune uses declarative device management to apply configuration and compliance policies natively, without requiring a separate tool or an additional management layer. Frontline workers on shared kiosks and handheld scanners, and information workers on corporate laptops, fall under the same policies without requiring parallel toolchains.
Endpoint Privilege Management (EPM) received explicit recognition from Forrester, which noted that AI embedded in Intune powers EPM and device onboarding workflows to help IT analyze device data and troubleshoot issues. Elevating or restricting privileges used to require manual review cycles. With AI in that workflow, admins make faster decisions on which requests to approve, deny, or escalate.
Security Copilot in Intune operates directly within the admin experience, operating on the same data and policy surface IT teams already use. From policy configuration, to identifying vulnerabilities, and recommending remediation, agentic assistance handles investigation and triage so admins focus on decisions that need judgment. The recent public preview of the Vulnerability Remediation Agent extends that further, drawing on Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management to surface CVEs across Intune-managed Windows devices and apps, with Copilot-assisted impact summaries, suggested actions, and step-by-step remediation guidance, all without leaving the console.
These capabilities do not stand alone. Forrester also recognized a superior partner strategy. Our strategy helps connect endpoint management to the service desk, device procurement, and mobile threat defense tools already in the environment. Endpoint management that stops at the device boundary does not close the loop on risk. Intune, with capabilities such as EPM and AI-assisted remediation, brings its partner ecosystem together to help turn Zero Trust from core principles into daily IT practice: apply least privilege, verify explicitly, and enforce through policy to prevent breach.
On licensing, Forrester’s independent customer feedback pointed to the economic value of Microsoft simplified, bundled pricing. Intune is included in Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5. Starting this month, advanced management solutions of the Intune Suite, including EPM, join those plans automatically. Full details are in our announcement blog: Microsoft 365 adds advanced Microsoft Intune solutions at scale. We continue to invest in areas such as unattended remote access sign-in for Intune Remote Help and automatic updates of required apps for Intune Enterprise Application Management, both of which will roll out for general availability in July 2026, and Intune now supports Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and 10.
Governing AI for the future of work
Every organization putting AI to work in practice needs IT and security teams that can say yes confidently: Yes to new device types, yes to modern workloads, and yes to agents running alongside users. Trust and confidence are requirements for safe AI adoption. Microsoft Agent 365 gives organizations a control plane for agents they can trust, and confidence comes from having a platform where identity, device management, and security policy are already connected. A unified platform does not just reduce complexity. It changes what teams are able to do with their time, and what the organization is able to do with AI.
AI agents are now endpoints, and Intune is the policy layer for Agent 365 that governs how they run. Through Microsoft Execution Containers, Intune gates local agent runtime execution directly on Windows devices, requiring isolation with guardrails like filesystem rules so agents run in controlled environments rather than with unchecked access to host systems. Windows 365 for Agents extends that model to cloud PCs provisioned specifically for agent workloads: Each agent Cloud PC is Entra-joined and Intune-managed, configured with the same security, compliance, and policy controls as user devices, so governance scales without new infrastructure.
For shadow AI, Intune is one of three signals alongside Defender and Entra that surface unmanaged agents. Defender discovers agents and adds inline protection; Intune applies policies to block common execution methods and device-level runtime security policies, giving multiple connected signals and one coordinated posture rather than multiple parallel workflows. That is how AI moves from an isolated pilot into the daily practice of how organizations operate, govern and protect AI, not just enable it.
At Microsoft, we believe Forrester’s assessment reflects where the market is heading, where governance, identity, and security work as one system. Each capability is more effective because it operates on shared signal, not siloed data. Microsoft Intune helps organizations reduce complexity, strengthen security, and make AI adoption practical at scale—governed and protected.
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Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. This report is part of a broader collection of Forrester resources, including interactive models, frameworks, tools, data, and access to analyst guidance. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here .
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