Microsoft Copilot extends AI capabilities to all Office applications

Microsoft announces another wave of new tools - which includes more than 700 updates and over 150 new features - aimed at improving everyday work life. The new suite of tools offers, among other things, the ability to work with Copilot as if it were a "colleague," create interactive pages from conversations, enable dynamic storytelling in Power Point, and even enable deeper data analysis without requiring Excel expertise.

Copilot for Excel

For those who work with data and want to get real value from it, the answer is Microsoft Excel, the environment for all business data. Now with the introduction of Copilot to Excel, users are given the ability to work with data that hasn't even been formatted as a table, as well as working with text in addition to numerical data. At the same time, for the first time Microsoft is combining the power of Python - one of the most popular programming languages for data processing - with Copilot in Excel. The capabilities of artificial intelligence combine with the power of the programming language to offer deeper data analysis without requiring expertise in Python or Excel. Essentially, anyone can work with Copilot to perform advanced analytics such as forecasting, risk analysis, machine learning and visualization of complex data using natural language and without requiring programming knowledge. It's like adding a dedicated data analyst to your team.

Copilot for PowerPoint

Until today, no one could go from an idea to an impressive presentation with a single prompt. Now with Narrative Builder - a narrative creation tool - in Microsoft PowerPoint, users can leverage Copilot as a partner, working with it to create a highly satisfying first draft in minutes while of course maintaining overall control of the creative process. Copilot starts with each user's prompt, and creates a menu of topics to be edited and refined to create the first draft. The user can then add files from which Copilot can pull content, and alongside the Brand Manager, the user is able to leverage the corporate identity and ensure a consistent result when it comes to branding, with approved materials and images that properly communicate the company's style.

Copilot for Teams

In Teams meetings today, there are two important conversations: the one that is spoken and the one that takes place in parallel in the Chat. Copilot in Teams can now join these two conversations and summarise what is heard - the 'minutes' of the meeting - and what is written in the Chat, giving a complete picture of what was discussed. Users can ask Copilot if there were any questions they missed in a meeting or request a summary of meetings they were unable to attend and this within seconds, as scanning what was said and what was typed can provide information on unanswered questions or the main topics of the meeting.

Copilot for Outlook

Everyone nowadays is asked to manage an exorbitant number of emails every day. Now with Prioritize My Inbox, Copilot in Outlook helps users to instantly access the most important messages based on their content and history as well as the user's history. For example, the new tool enables access to e.g. messages that the user has responded to in the past, and identifies their role and context, as well as who they report to or collaborate with.

Copilot for Word

Microsoft Word users often need to import content from other files and applications. Searching for and incorporating this information is usually time-consuming and can interrupt the writing process. Copilot in Word can quickly look up any information from the web such as data from Word, PowerPoint and PDF files, encrypted documents as well as emails and Teams meetings. In addition, it can integrate this information directly into the workflow so users can quickly create a good draft. As part of Copilot's continued improvement as an assistant to any task, there is now the ability to prompt for dynamic lead in the creative process as well as the ability to work in parallel with Copilot online while users focus on specific sections of the file they are editing.

Copilot In Numbers

• Copilot is already helping from the smallest to the largest companies around the world. Gathering feedback from the first 1000 customers using Copilot, with the aim of exploring the impact of the tool as well as areas for improvement, it has already made over 700 updates and over 150 new features. Copilot responses are twice as fast on average, and the quality of responses has improved by 75%. Cumulatively, Microsoft has created the biggest and best feedback channel in AI in a continuous effort to improve based on user input.
• Over the past 18 months, working with Copilot has become a daily habit for people globally, helping them complete tasks faster, conduct more targeted meetings, collaborate more effectively and streamline their business processes.
• Over 60% growth in Copilot customers per quarter, and the number of people using Copilot every day at work doubled.

Copilot's impact is even more evident through our network of partners who make use of the assistant. It was recently announced that Vodafone has invested in Copilot for 68,000 employees. Amgen is already using it to accelerate research into rare diseases. Teladoc reports that customer service staff are already saving 5 hours a week by leading on draft answers to frequently asked consumer questions. Finastra is getting from concept to content production 75% faster while similarly at Honeywell they are already saving an average of 1 ½ hours per week by using Copilot on specific tasks.