Microsoft says it is bringing the power of next-generation AI to its workplace productivity tools with Microsoft 365 Copilot.

The company said that Copilot combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with business data and the Microsoft 365 apps “to unleash creativity, unlock productivity and uplevel skills”.

The company said Copilot is still in testing with selected customers. Specifics on pricing and licensing will be announced later this year.

Copilot will be embedded in the Microsoft 365 apps Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams and others.

A new product is Business Chat, which works across the LLM, the Microsoft 365 apps, and a customer’s calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings and contacts.

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With natural language prompts like ‘tell my team how we updated the product strategy’, Microsoft say that Business Chat will generate a status update based on the morning’s meetings, emails and chat threads.

“Copilot combines the power of large language models with your data and apps to turn your words into the most powerful productivity tool on the planet,” said Jared Spataro, corporate vice president, Modern Work and Business Applications at Microsoft.

“By grounding in your business content and context, Copilot delivers results that are relevant and actionable. It’s enterprise-ready, built on Microsoft’s comprehensive approach to security, compliance, privacy and responsible AI. Copilot marks a new era of computing that will fundamentally transform the way we work.”

Spataro explained that:
• Copilot in Word writes, edits, summarises and creates right alongside people as they work.
• Copilot in PowerPoint enables the creation process by turning ideas into a designed presentation through natural language commands.
• Copilot in Excel helps unlock insights, identify trends or create professional-looking data visualisations very quickly.
• Copilot in Outlook can help synthesise and manage the inbox to allow more time to be spent on communicating.
• Copilot in Teams enables real-time summaries and action items directly in the context of the conversation.
• Copilot in Power Platform will help developers of all skill levels accelerate and streamline development with low-code tools with the introduction of two new capabilities within Power Apps and Power Virtual Agents.

Microsoft recently announced Dynamics 365 Copilot as the world’s first AI Copilot in both CRM and ERP to bring the next-generation AI to every line of business.