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Microsoft

Microsoft has announced an update to Copilot, the company’s all-in-one AI assistant. “Wave 2,” as Microsoft calls it, is a series of updates that gives Copilot more capabilities within popular Office applications, Copilot agents for businesses, and even a new feature called Copilot Pages.

Let’s begin with Pages first. Microsoft refers to it as a “dynamic, persistent canvas” that’s designed for “multiplayer” collaboration, seamlessly integrated into Copilot. Microsoft has been actively integrating Copilot into virtually every imaginable application, but think of Pages as a means to enable you to accomplish more without ever having to leave Copilot itself. Microsoft 365 Copilot | Copilot Pages

It serves as a quick and convenient place to extract content from Copilot and save it in a readily accessible location. Moreover, collaborators can effortlessly join in and contribute to the same Page. In some ways, it may seem redundant to what can be achieved elsewhere, but for Microsoft, it’s a strategy to entice people to spend more time with Copilot, which represents the company’s significant bet on AI. Pages takes ephemeral AI-generated content and makes it durable, allowing you to edit, add to it, and share it with others.

Copilot Pages is a free update for Microsoft Copilot, but it requires access to a Microsoft Entra account. Microsoft states that it will roll out “in the coming weeks,” and they did not comment on whether the feature will be extended more broadly. In addition to Pages, Microsoft is also upgrading Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive. These are minor tweaks, but Microsoft has included every app in the Wave 2 update. Here’s a breakdown of what’s new in each app:

• Word: You can quickly reference web data and work data from other apps and documents, including information from emails and meetings. There’s a new “on-canvas” start experience that centers Copilot. You can now even use Copilot inline while writing. Coming in late September 2024.
• Excel: The programming language Python now functions within Copilot in Excel, enabling you to access “advanced analysis” using natural language. Excel can now handle data that isn’t formatted as a table, including text or numerical data. There are also some new skills for Excel professionals, such as support for more formulas and conditional formatting. The Python functionality is currently in public preview.
• PowerPoint: A new feature called Narrative Builder expands on the concept of creating entire presentations solely from prompts. You can now customize the outline for your presentation and even align it with specific branding using approved graphics from a company’s SharePoint.
• Teams: Building on what Copilot already does in Teams, Copilot will now be able to “reason” over the meeting transcript and chat, allowing you to ask it questions about what you may have missed.
• Outlook: A new feature called “Prioritize my inbox,” which utilizes AI to reorder your inbox based on what’s important, such as answering emails from specific individuals in your organization or emails in ongoing threads. Coming in late 2024.
• OneDrive: Copilot can now “reason” over your files and find information within them. Think of it as an advanced AI-powered search function for OneDrive.

Finally, Microsoft is announcing Copilot agents and agent builder, a new feature of Copilot Studio. This isn’t accessible to most people, but for large organizations, these Copilot agents can be designed to perform work autonomously. Here’s how Microsoft describes what they can do: “They range in capability from simple, prompt-and-response agents to agents that replace repetitive tasks to more advanced, fully autonomous agents.”

That description certainly sounds intriguing and useful, but many of us will likely never experience how these agents operate in their current form. Still, once developers and large organizations get their hands on these AI agents, they could potentially revolutionize the game.