Copilot Integrated into Microsoft 365 Apps

Previously a premium add-on, Copilot Chat is now integrated into Microsoft 365, accessible in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote without an extra license.

The long-awaited integration has become a reality as Microsoft embeds Copilot Chat into the core of Microsoft 365 apps. Users will notice a chat pane alongside their documents, spreadsheets, emails, and notes, with no need for a 'Copilot add-on' license for most standard Microsoft 365 plans.

Copilot Chat is content-aware, understanding the user's current work context, such as a Word document or Excel sheet, and tailoring responses to reduce the need for copy-pasting or switching to separate AI tools.

Behind this convenience, Microsoft maintains a tiered approach. The 'premium' Copilot tier remains relevant, offering licensed users deeper reasoning across their work data landscape, including emails, chats, shared documents, AI agents, advanced search, and priority access to new features.

Microsoft is also introducing Agent Mode and Office Agent. In Excel, Agent Mode can auto-generate modeling workflows, analyze datasets, detect errors, and iterate until validated results are achieved. Microsoft claims a 57.2% accuracy on 'SpreadsheetBench' tests.

In Word, Agent Mode allows for a conversational document workflow, where users can instruct Copilot to draft, refine, ask clarifying questions, and apply polished styling. Office Agent can convert chat prompts into formatted Word documents or PowerPoint decks.

For business and IT leaders, the implications are significant. Enterprises must now consider not if, but how best to adopt, govern, and extract value from these integrations without overestimating AI's capabilities.