AitAgent
AitAgent is a legacy Windows task in the Application Experience category.
since 0.9.8.11
Purpose
Identifier: \Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\AitAgent
Setup Foundry disables this scheduled task; the task remains registered but is no longer started by its triggers.
AitAgent is a legacy Windows task in the Application Experience category. It starts the Application Impact Telemetry Agent, which aggregates and uploads application telemetry when the computer is enrolled in the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP).
The task is therefore part of the reporting path for application usage and behavior. It does not install, update, or validate applications, and it is distinct from the Program Compatibility Assistant and other tasks stored under Application Experience.
Notes
Privacy and security
The task description identifies the information only as application telemetry; Microsoft does not publish a complete field-level specification for AitAgent. The wider CEIP system could collect information such as hardware configuration, program performance and reliability, and the use of Windows features.
When sent directly to Microsoft, CEIP information was transmitted over HTTPS and processed in Microsoft-controlled facilities. Managed environments could instead redirect CEIP data to an organization-operated Windows Feedback Forwarder.
Disabling AitAgent stops the aggregation and upload initiated by this particular task. It does not erase information that has already been collected. It also does not disable other CEIP, diagnostic, or error-reporting components, which may continue to collect or transmit their own data.
Effects of the change
Task Scheduler no longer starts AitAgent at the times or events defined by the task's triggers. The task is not deleted.
Because AitAgent belongs to the optional CEIP reporting path, disabling it neither removes installed applications nor prevents them from starting. It also leaves the Program Compatibility Assistant and the other tasks under \Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience unchanged. Users will normally see no interface change; the observable effect is limited to the absence of this task's background execution and associated transmission.
Microsoft documents no interactive or security feature that directly depends on AitAgent. Microsoft will, however, no longer receive the application-impact telemetry supplied through this task for usage and compatibility analysis.
Notes
AitAgent belongs to an older generation of Windows CEIP components. The associated Microsoft documentation applies particularly to Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2. Microsoft's current scheduled-task overview for Windows 10 and Windows 11 no longer lists AitAgent and instead identifies a task named “Compatibility” for comparable program telemetry. Microsoft does not provide a complete AitAgent version matrix, so the specified task may be absent from current installations.
Microsoft documentation
Microsoft Learn: Optimizing Windows configuration for VDI desktops