Microsoft has introduced several new features to its AI-powered Copilot assistant for enhancing office productivity, further advancing its AI strategy for business users.
Over the past year, the company has been articulating how Copilot leverages AI technology to boost customer productivity. During the earnings call discussing the full-year and Q3 2024 results, CEO Satya Nadella noted that nearly half of the Fortune 500 companies are utilizing Copilot. “We’ve observed a rapid increase in adoption across various industries and regions, with organizations like Amgen, BP, Cognizant, Koch Industries, Moody’s, Novo Nordisk, Nvidia, and Tech Mahindra acquiring more than 10,000 seats,” he explained. “We are also witnessing a significant rise in usage by early adopters, including a nearly 50% increase in Copilot-assisted interactions per user in Teams, effectively linking group activities with business processes and organizational knowledge.”
The newly introduced features aim to build on this positive trend. One notable addition is the Copilot in Excel with Python capability, which facilitates Python code generation. According to Microsoft, this allows users to create advanced analytical functions using plain language without any coding. “Simply pose your queries in everyday language to enable predictive modeling and text analysis,” stated Brenna Robinson, General Manager of the Microsoft small and medium business team, in her blog. “You can iterate with Copilot directly in Excel to create heat maps and word clouds.”
Robinson also mentioned the upcoming integration of Copilot in Outlook, introducing a feature called “Prioritize My Inbox” to help users manage their inboxes more effectively. “Copilot will take into account your role within the organization and past email interactions to highlight the messages that matter most to you, enabling you to spend less time sorting through emails and more time on what’s crucial,” she explained. This feature is anticipated to be available in a public preview by late 2024.
Additionally, Microsoft is rolling out Business Chat (BizChat), which requires a $30 per user per month subscription to Microsoft 365 Copilot, available only as an add-on to a Microsoft 365 subscription. Robinson noted that BizChat merges web-based insights with Microsoft Graph to deliver users a comprehensive view across documents, presentations, emails, calendars, notes, and contacts. “Like a personal assistant, it has an in-depth understanding of you, your role, your priorities, and your organization,” she said, adding that it can help find files (even those you might have forgotten), connect relevant information across your content, and integrate with the applications you use to manage your business.
Robinson also highlighted a feature within BizChat called Copilot Pages, which allows for AI-generated content collaboration in Microsoft Word documents that can be shared among team members. “You and your team can collaborate in real-time by asking Copilot additional questions and enriching the content,” she noted. “Copilot Pages will be generally available later this month and will also be included in the free Microsoft Copilot offering.”