Microsoft Teams Insider Inside Microsoft’s IC3 and the future of AI Communications with Microsoft CVP Mahendra Sekaran
Feb 10, 2026
Mahendra Sekaran, Corporate VP leading product management and data science for IC3, talks about the communications platform behind Teams. He dives into AI-powered productivity tools and model-first product design. He previews AI-native phone experiences, agentic AI in 2026, and how agents will transform on-call work and personalized user experiences.
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IC3 Is Microsoft’s Communications Backbone
- IC3 is the core communications and collaboration platform powering Teams and other Microsoft products.
- It provides media, messaging, calling and connectivity used across Microsoft products including Copilot and Dynamics.
Daily Copilot Briefs Save Hours
- Mahendra starts his day with a Copilot-generated researcher brief that summarizes past meetings and actions.
- He credits this habit with saving hours and improving meeting preparedness.
Model-First Design Requires Strong Evals
- Teams is shifting toward model-first product building and rigorous eval frameworks for probabilistic models.
- Mahendra says evaluation and continuous verification are essential as AI capabilities are integrated into products.