Microsoft Teams now includes immersive metaverse-style meetings. Here’s how to use avatars, 3D spaces, and AI together to make hybrid work more engaging and productive.
Most teams don’t need more meetings. They need better ones.
Microsoft just pushed in that direction: immersive metaverse-style meetings are now built directly into Microsoft Teams, replacing Mesh as a standalone product. You get 3D avatars, spatial audio, and branded virtual environments without adding another app to your stack.
This matters because hybrid work fatigue is real. Cameras off, multitasking, people “in the meeting” but not really there. If you care about productivity, engagement, and collaboration, this new feature isn’t just a toy — it’s a serious tool you can use to make work feel more human again.
In this post, I’ll walk through what Teams’ immersive meetings actually do, where they’re useful, and how to roll them out in a way that supports your broader AI & Technology strategy — not distracts from it.
What Changed: From Microsoft Mesh to Immersive Meetings in Teams
Microsoft has folded its metaverse product, Mesh, into the place people already work: Teams. You no longer need a separate client to host or attend 3D experiences.
Here’s the big shift in one sentence:
Immersive 3D collaboration is now a native Teams capability, not an experimental side project.
Key facts:
- Mesh as a standalone product sunset on Dec 1, 2025.
- Immersive events are now generally available in Teams.
- They run on Windows, macOS, and Meta Quest headsets.
- Organizers need Teams Premium; attendees just need a standard commercial Teams license.
From a technology and workflow perspective, this is a smart move. Instead of asking people to adopt yet another virtual reality app, Microsoft brings immersive collaboration into the same calendar, chat, and channels your team already uses.
For companies trying to work smarter, not harder with AI and technology, that’s the right pattern: put advanced tools where people already are, with as little friction as possible.
What Immersive Meetings in Teams Actually Offer
Immersive meetings in Microsoft Teams create a 3D virtual space where people join as avatars and interact more naturally than in a flat grid of video tiles.
Core features at a glance
Here’s what you get out of the box:
- 3D avatars instead of webcams
- Spatial audio so voices come from where people “are” in the room
- Roamable environments with smaller breakout areas and social zones
- Preset spaces like Lakehouse or Oasis for different types of events
- Branding options with logos, media screens, and digital assets
- First- and third-person views for more comfortable navigation
Under the hood, these experiences still run on Mesh technology — that’s what powers co-presence, movement, and spatial audio — but you never need to think about Mesh directly. You just schedule an event in Teams.
What this changes for your meetings
Traditional video meetings flatten everything. Everyone’s in the same “space,” and all interactions funnel through a single stream.
Immersive meetings change that dynamic:
- People move — they stand near colleagues, walk to different zones, or peel off into small groups.
- Side conversations feel more natural because spatial audio reduces chaos; you mostly hear people closest to you.
- Engagement goes up because you’re not just staring at a grid; you’re participating in a shared environment.
This doesn’t magically fix bad agendas or poor facilitation, but it gives you new tools to make collaboration more effective — especially for distributed teams.
Where Metaverse-Style Meetings Actually Make Sense
Not every meeting should be immersive. You don’t need avatars for a 1:1 status update.
The sweet spot is high-value, high-engagement sessions where connection, onboarding, or creativity matter as much as information sharing.
1. All-hands and company events
Large meetings are where traditional video shows its limits: passive watching, chat chaos, zero actual connection.
In an immersive Teams event, you can:
- Use a main stage area for keynotes, leadership updates, and demos.
- Create networking zones where people can roam and meet colleagues.
- Add branded media screens for announcements, KPIs, or campaign visuals.
If you’re running an end-of-year event this month, you could:
- Host the formal updates in a central space.
- Send people into themed zones (e.g., product, sales, operations) to meet teams.
- Use AI tools in parallel (PowerPoint Live, Copilot notes) to capture questions and summarize outcomes.
You’re not just talking at people; you’re giving them a space to move, react, and connect.
2. Onboarding and culture-building
Onboarding is where immersive spaces shine. New hires often struggle to feel part of the culture in a remote-first world.
Practical ideas:
- Run a “Welcome to the company” tour inside a branded virtual office or lakehouse.
- Place stations for Product, HR, IT, and Leadership, each staffed by reps during a set time.
- Let new hires walk up to people, introduce themselves, and ask questions naturally.
You can pair this with AI-enhanced workflows:
- Use AI to create short explainer videos or interactive FAQs shown on in-room screens.
- Automatically summarize key questions asked during the session and add them to your onboarding docs.
This approach hits the core of our series theme: using AI and technology to make work — and especially human connection at work — more efficient and more meaningful.
3. Brainstorming, scrums, and creative workshops
Hybrid brainstorming is notoriously awkward: overlapping audio, shared whiteboards that no one wants to use, people zoning out in silence.
In a 3D immersive space, you can:
- Break people into small, natural clusters around different boards.
- Use spatial audio so each cluster feels like its own table.
- Encourage walking between groups to cross-pollinate ideas.
A simple workflow for a 60-minute product workshop:
- Kickoff (10 min) – Everyone meets in the main area, facilitator explains the goal and tools.
- Small group ideation (25 min) – People move to different zones for themes like “customer pain points,” “AI opportunities,” or “process improvements.”
- Share-out (15 min) – Groups present their top 3 ideas from each zone.
- AI follow-up (10 min) – Use an AI assistant to condense ideas into themes and create a prioritized backlog.
You’re turning what used to be a tiring video call into a more physical, social, and creative experience, while still keeping everything digital and searchable.
4. Networking and community sessions
If you run internal communities (e.g., women in tech, AI guild, leadership circles), immersive events can make these sessions feel more like a meetup and less like another webinar.
Think:
- Rotating speed networking in different corners of a virtual lounge
- Topic-based “tables” where people self-select into conversations
- Ambient social zones where people can casually connect before or after a main event
For December, this could be a low-pressure virtual end-of-year social: no awkward breakout rooms, just a shared 3D space where people can naturally cluster and chat.
Requirements, Setup, and How to Avoid the Gimmick Trap
The reality? You only get value from immersive meetings if setup is easy and use is intentional.
Licensing and devices
To run immersive events in Teams, you need:
- A qualifying commercial Teams license
- Teams Premium for hosting immersive events
- Standard Teams licenses for co-hosts and attendees
Devices supported:
- Teams desktop app on Windows or macOS
- Optional Meta Quest headsets for a deeper VR experience
You don’t need headsets for everyone. Most organizations will start with PC-based avatars, then selectively add VR devices where they make sense (e.g., innovation teams, training centers, or executive offsites).
Setup workflow inside Teams
A simple implementation path:
- Define use cases: Pick 1–2 high-impact scenarios (e.g., quarterly all-hands, onboarding day, innovation sprint) instead of trying to use immersive spaces for everything.
- Pilot with a small group: Run an internal event with a cross-functional team — HR, IT, and a business unit — to test logistics and gather feedback.
- Standardize templates: Decide which virtual environments you’ll use for which purposes (Lakehouse for offsites, Oasis for onboarding, etc.) and create basic run-of-show templates.
- Train a small facilitator pool: Identify 3–5 people who are comfortable hosting and navigating in 3D spaces.
- Integrate AI workflows: Combine immersive events with AI-driven assets — autogenerated summaries, Q&A docs, and follow-up tasks.
This phased approach avoids the “cool demo that no one uses again” problem. You’re treating immersive meetings like any other business capability: start narrow, prove value, then scale.
How to keep it productive, not gimmicky
If you’re responsible for collaboration tools or digital workplace strategy, you’ll hear this concern a lot: “Isn’t this just a toy?”
A few guardrails help:
- Tie every immersive event to a clear outcome: stronger onboarding, higher engagement, higher-quality ideas, or faster decisions.
- Measure something: post-event surveys, idea volume, participation rates, or even simple “camera on vs avatar participation” metrics.
- Avoid forcing it: use avatars and 3D spaces where they add value — not for quick syncs or incident calls.
Used well, this is not about escaping reality. It’s about making remote work feel less flat and more human while still staying efficient.
How This Fits Into Your AI & Productivity Strategy
Immersive meetings are one piece of a bigger shift: AI and spatial technology are merging to change how work feels — not just how fast it goes.
Here’s how I’d think about it strategically:
- AI boosts productivity; immersive spaces boost presence. Use AI for summarization, automation, and content generation. Use immersive environments when connection and creativity matter.
- Keep everything in one ecosystem. By housing metaverse-style experiences in Teams, you reduce tool sprawl and keep your work history, chats, files, and meeting content connected.
- Design work around energy, not just efficiency. Video calls are efficient but draining. Mixing in immersive sessions for key moments can increase engagement and reduce hybrid fatigue.
If your 2026 planning includes AI, technology, work, and productivity initiatives, immersive Teams meetings should sit alongside projects like AI copilots, workflow automation, and analytics — not compete with them.
You’re building a workplace where:
- Routine tasks are automated.
- Information is summarized.
- Collaboration feels more human, even when everyone’s remote.
That’s what “work smarter, not harder — powered by AI” should actually mean.
Where to Start This Month
If you want to experiment before the new year, here’s a practical playbook you can run in the next 30 days:
- Pick one pilot use case – End-of-year all-hands, onboarding for your January hires, or a 2026 strategy workshop.
- Confirm licensing – Make sure you’ve got Teams Premium and that IT has immersive events enabled.
- Design a simple immersive agenda – Main stage + 1–2 zones, clear timing, clear outcomes.
- Invite a mixed group – Include a few skeptics, not just tech enthusiasts.
- Measure impact – Ask: Did people feel more connected? Did we get better engagement? Would they attend another event like this?
If the answer is yes, you’ve just added a new, high-impact format to your collaboration toolkit — one that aligns tightly with your broader AI & Technology roadmap.
The companies that win the next few years won’t just use AI to move faster; they’ll redesign how people experience work. Immersive meetings in Microsoft Teams are one practical, available-now way to start.