Microsoft is making it easier to have AI do your drudge work — even when you're not there. The company has launched a redesigned Copilot app that finally ties into Office and streamlines the whole experience, including the do-it-while-you-sleep Autopilot feature.
The revamp starts with a Home section that not only unifies Chat (for quick tasks) and Cowork (a work agent), but can handle tasks in Office. You can have Copilot write a brief in Word, create a budget in Excel, or design a PowerPoint presentation. Microsoft claims formatting, versioning, and context will remain intact, even as you collaborate with others.
Autopilot (formerly Scout) gets its own section. The agentic tool automatically runs recurring work, follows up on conversations, and complete multi-step projects. As it's hosted in the cloud, you can leave it alone while you're in a meeting or even asleep.
The function has its own computing space and understands how your company works. It appears across apps like Outlook and Teams, and keeps you updated on what it's doing.
Code, meanwhile, is for building your own tools. You can use prompts to write not just apps, but automated workflows, dashboards, and trackers. It's aware of your context and is sandboxed, so it shouldn't run loose on your network.
The Code feature will reach Frontier program members by the end of September, and expand to more people in the "coming weeks." Microsoft 365 Premium and Pro users will see a preview version later in the year.
Microsoft is also previewing a handful of Copilot features that could again do work when you've barely started the work day.
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