Microsoft has announced an expansion of its AI features in the upcoming 365 Copilot Wave 2, set to roll out throughout the fall. This announcement was made during demonstrations on September 16. Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of AI at Work, stated that “Copilot is the new UI for AI.” The demonstration highlighted the capability of using natural language to control applications from anywhere on the page, rather than just focusing on individual new features.
Copilot now operates on OpenAI’s GPT-4 large language model, with plans to integrate the new OpenAI o1 model in the future, according to Spataro. Currently, Microsoft reports that 400 million users are utilizing Copilot, with daily user growth doubling quarter-over-quarter—the fastest adoption rate seen in the Microsoft 365 suite.
Key features and capabilities in Copilot Wave 2 include:
- Copilot Pages: A connector between the browser version of Copilot search and an online canvas.
- Copilot in Excel: Features like XLOOKUP, PivotTables, and Python coding integration.
- Narrative Builder in PowerPoint: A tool that generates first drafts of presentations based on user prompts.
- Brand Manager in PowerPoint: Enables work within company brand templates.
- Copilot in Teams: Allows access to meeting chats in addition to audio.
- Outlook’s “Prioritize My Inbox”: Helping users prioritize their emails.
- Enhanced Copilot in Word: The AI can extract information from external files and provides a floating prompt box in the document.
- Copilot in OneDrive: Facilitates queries about documents and file comparisons.
- Copilot Agents: These can be created in Microsoft Business Chat or SharePoint, automating various business processes.
Copilot Pages are set to be available by the end of September, including for users of the free Microsoft Copilot with a Microsoft Entra account. The Copilot in Excel with Python is currently in public preview, while Copilot in Teams is accessible now. The “Prioritize My Inbox” feature in Outlook and Copilot in OneDrive are expected to launch by the month’s end. An agent builder is also set to roll out in Business Chat over the coming weeks, with a preview of agents in SharePoint expected by early October.
Copilot Pages will appear as a column adjacent to the Copilot search engine, allowing users to tag colleagues and request Copilot to enhance shared pages with more documentation or company details. Microsoft Office AI Product Manager Hadley Griffin during the presentation stressed that business users should consider AI-generated PowerPoint presentations as initial drafts rather than final outputs. While Copilot can add speaker notes and animations, Griffin emphasized the importance of treating these generative features as tools to aid rather than replace human efforts.
Spataro’s remarks were vividly demonstrated in the new prompting methods for Copilot in Microsoft Word, showcasing the ability to add charts via AI prompts with a dialogue box hovering in the document. This feature increases flexibility, allowing users to effortlessly include images, charts, and text. The AI automates the task of reading file information and navigating menus.
However, the advent of generative AI adoption may not always be as seamless as suggested, with some organizations facing challenges in establishing clear objectives or realizing returns on their AI investments.
