diff --git a/pkg/clusteragent/admission/mutate/agent_sidecar/agent_sidecar.go b/pkg/clusteragent/admission/mutate/agent_sidecar/agent_sidecar.go
index 7bdaeea8d61f5..41a3b8de830d2 100644
--- a/pkg/clusteragent/admission/mutate/agent_sidecar/agent_sidecar.go
+++ b/pkg/clusteragent/admission/mutate/agent_sidecar/agent_sidecar.go
@@ -10,8 +10,10 @@ package agentsidecar
 
 import (
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	dca_ac "github.com/DataDog/datadog-agent/pkg/clusteragent/admission/mutate"
 	"github.com/DataDog/datadog-agent/pkg/config"
+	apiCommon "github.com/DataDog/datadog-agent/pkg/util/kubernetes/apiserver/common"
 	"github.com/DataDog/datadog-agent/pkg/util/log"
 	authenticationv1 "k8s.io/api/authentication/v1"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
@@ -61,6 +63,10 @@ func getDefaultSidecarTemplate() *corev1.Container {
 		ddSite = config.DefaultSite
 	}
 
+	containerRegistry := config.Datadog.GetString("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.container_registry")
+	imageName := config.Datadog.GetString("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.image_name")
+	imageTag := config.Datadog.GetString("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.image_tag")
+
 	agentContainer := &corev1.Container{
 		Env: []corev1.EnvVar{
 			{
@@ -92,7 +98,7 @@ func getDefaultSidecarTemplate() *corev1.Container {
 				},
 			},
 		},
-		Image:           "datadog/agent",
+		Image:           fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s:%s", containerRegistry, imageName, imageTag),
 		ImagePullPolicy: corev1.PullIfNotPresent,
 		Name:            agentSidecarContainerName,
 		Resources: corev1.ResourceRequirements{
@@ -107,5 +113,33 @@ func getDefaultSidecarTemplate() *corev1.Container {
 		},
 	}
 
+	clusterAgentEnabled := config.Datadog.GetBool("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.cluster_agent.enabled")
+
+	if clusterAgentEnabled {
+		clusterAgentCmdPort := config.Datadog.GetInt("cluster_agent.cmd_port")
+		clusterAgentServiceName := config.Datadog.GetString("cluster_agent.kubernetes_service_name")
+
+		_ = withEnvOverrides(agentContainer, corev1.EnvVar{
+			Name:  "DD_CLUSTER_AGENT_ENABLED",
+			Value: "true",
+		}, corev1.EnvVar{
+			Name: "DD_CLUSTER_AGENT_AUTH_TOKEN",
+			ValueFrom: &corev1.EnvVarSource{
+				SecretKeyRef: &corev1.SecretKeySelector{
+					Key: "token",
+					LocalObjectReference: corev1.LocalObjectReference{
+						Name: "datadog-secret",
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		}, corev1.EnvVar{
+			Name:  "DD_CLUSTER_AGENT_URL",
+			Value: fmt.Sprintf("https://%s.%s.svc.cluster.local:%v", clusterAgentServiceName, apiCommon.GetMyNamespace(), clusterAgentCmdPort),
+		}, corev1.EnvVar{
+			Name:  "DD_ORCHESTRATOR_EXPLORER_ENABLED",
+			Value: "true",
+		})
+	}
+
 	return agentContainer
 }
diff --git a/pkg/clusteragent/admission/mutate/agent_sidecar/agent_sidecar_test.go b/pkg/clusteragent/admission/mutate/agent_sidecar/agent_sidecar_test.go
index 55aaa95b69625..dd2a805e37c32 100644
--- a/pkg/clusteragent/admission/mutate/agent_sidecar/agent_sidecar_test.go
+++ b/pkg/clusteragent/admission/mutate/agent_sidecar/agent_sidecar_test.go
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@
 package agentsidecar
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"github.com/DataDog/datadog-agent/pkg/config"
+	apicommon "github.com/DataDog/datadog-agent/pkg/util/kubernetes/apiserver/common"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/resource"
@@ -253,3 +255,146 @@ func TestInjectAgentSidecar(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 }
+
+func TestDefaultSidecarTemplateAgentImage(t *testing.T) {
+	mockConfig := config.Mock(t)
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name          string
+		setConfig     func()
+		expectedImage string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:          "no configuration set",
+			setConfig:     func() {},
+			expectedImage: "gcr.io/datadoghq/agent:latest",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "setting custom registry, image and tag",
+			setConfig: func() {
+				mockConfig.SetWithoutSource("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.container_registry", "my-registry")
+				mockConfig.SetWithoutSource("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.image_name", "my-image")
+				mockConfig.SetWithoutSource("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.image_tag", "my-tag")
+			},
+			expectedImage: "my-registry/my-image:my-tag",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.name, func(tt *testing.T) {
+			test.setConfig()
+			sidecar := getDefaultSidecarTemplate()
+			assert.Equal(tt, test.expectedImage, sidecar.Image)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDefaultSidecarTemplateClusterAgentEnvVars(t *testing.T) {
+	mockConfig := config.Mock(t)
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name              string
+		setConfig         func()
+		expectedEnvVars   []corev1.EnvVar
+		unexpectedEnvVars []string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "cluster agent not enabled",
+			setConfig: func() {
+				mockConfig.SetWithoutSource("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.cluster_agent.enabled", false)
+			},
+			unexpectedEnvVars: []string{
+				"DD_CLUSTER_AGENT_ENABLED",
+				"DD_CLUSTER_AGENT_AUTH_TOKEN",
+				"DD_CLUSTER_AGENT_URL",
+				"DD_ORCHESTRATOR_EXPLORER_ENABLED",
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "cluster agent enabled with default values",
+			setConfig: func() {
+				mockConfig.SetWithoutSource("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.cluster_agent.enabled", true)
+			},
+			expectedEnvVars: []corev1.EnvVar{
+				{
+					Name:  "DD_CLUSTER_AGENT_ENABLED",
+					Value: "true",
+				},
+				{
+					Name: "DD_CLUSTER_AGENT_AUTH_TOKEN",
+					ValueFrom: &corev1.EnvVarSource{
+						SecretKeyRef: &corev1.SecretKeySelector{
+							Key: "token",
+							LocalObjectReference: corev1.LocalObjectReference{
+								Name: "datadog-secret",
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					Name:  "DD_CLUSTER_AGENT_URL",
+					Value: fmt.Sprintf("https://datadog-cluster-agent.%s.svc.cluster.local:5005", apicommon.GetMyNamespace()),
+				},
+				{
+					Name:  "DD_ORCHESTRATOR_EXPLORER_ENABLED",
+					Value: "true",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "cluster agent enabled with custom values",
+			setConfig: func() {
+				mockConfig.SetWithoutSource("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.cluster_agent.enabled", true)
+				mockConfig.SetWithoutSource("cluster_agent.cmd_port", 12345)
+				mockConfig.SetWithoutSource("cluster_agent.kubernetes_service_name", "test-service-name")
+			},
+			expectedEnvVars: []corev1.EnvVar{
+				{
+					Name:  "DD_CLUSTER_AGENT_ENABLED",
+					Value: "true",
+				},
+				{
+					Name: "DD_CLUSTER_AGENT_AUTH_TOKEN",
+					ValueFrom: &corev1.EnvVarSource{
+						SecretKeyRef: &corev1.SecretKeySelector{
+							Key: "token",
+							LocalObjectReference: corev1.LocalObjectReference{
+								Name: "datadog-secret",
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					Name:  "DD_CLUSTER_AGENT_URL",
+					Value: fmt.Sprintf("https://test-service-name.%s.svc.cluster.local:12345", apicommon.GetMyNamespace()),
+				},
+				{
+					Name:  "DD_ORCHESTRATOR_EXPLORER_ENABLED",
+					Value: "true",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.name, func(tt *testing.T) {
+			test.setConfig()
+			sidecar := getDefaultSidecarTemplate()
+			envVarsMap := make(map[string]corev1.EnvVar)
+			for _, envVar := range sidecar.Env {
+				envVarsMap[envVar.Name] = envVar
+			}
+
+			for _, expectedVar := range test.expectedEnvVars {
+				_, exist := envVarsMap[expectedVar.Name]
+				assert.True(t, exist)
+				assert.Equal(tt, expectedVar, envVarsMap[expectedVar.Name])
+			}
+
+			for _, unexpectedVar := range test.unexpectedEnvVars {
+				_, exist := envVarsMap[unexpectedVar]
+				assert.False(t, exist)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/config/setup/config.go b/pkg/config/setup/config.go
index 046a02eb44b50..fe333a2036737 100644
--- a/pkg/config/setup/config.go
+++ b/pkg/config/setup/config.go
@@ -1081,6 +1081,10 @@ func InitConfig(config pkgconfigmodel.Config) {
 	config.BindEnvAndSetDefault("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.selectors", "[]")
 	// Should be able to parse it to a list of env vars and resource limits
 	config.BindEnvAndSetDefault("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.profiles", "[]")
+	config.BindEnvAndSetDefault("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.container_registry", "gcr.io/datadoghq")
+	config.BindEnvAndSetDefault("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.image_name", "agent")
+	config.BindEnvAndSetDefault("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.image_tag", "latest")
+	config.BindEnvAndSetDefault("admission_controller.agent_sidecar.cluster_agent.enabled", "true")
 
 	// Telemetry
 	// Enable telemetry metrics on the internals of the Agent.
diff --git a/releasenotes-dca/notes/enable-dca-in-agent-sidecar-80a2a12b482c1a62.yaml b/releasenotes-dca/notes/enable-dca-in-agent-sidecar-80a2a12b482c1a62.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..167845d130a4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes-dca/notes/enable-dca-in-agent-sidecar-80a2a12b482c1a62.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    Enable `cluster agent` in injected Agent sidecar container by default.
+    Set the default configuration for connecting with the `cluster agent`.