Big wave of innovations: Microsoft 365 Copilot continues to grow rapidly

Microsoft is setting a fast pace when it comes to integrating AI into its products. A new “Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program” has now been announced that will significantly expand access. With the launch there are also important updates in terms of functions.

600 companies get access to new AI office tools

With powerful new Generative AI capabilities in its core apps, Microsoft believes it has an almost compelling business offering. The argument is also based on the widespread digital overload that goes hand in hand with the flood of e-mails, documents and other data in many companies. “The pace and volume of work have increased exponentially, exceeding the ability of humans to keep up,” says Jared Spataro, CVP, Modern Work and Business Applications. “Next-gen AI will do the work for us and have our backs so we can focus on what’s important.”

After only around 20 companies were previously able to participate in the Microsoft 365 Copilot test program, Microsoft is now taking the next big step in terms of distribution. In the second wave of invitations, 600 more global customers will get access to the new Office tools with AI capabilities. The group only speaks of a “paid preview of the invitation”, how the companies are selected and what they have to pay for the Copilot Early Access is currently unknown.

index and more

As the AI expands, it also learns many new powerful tricks. The announcement of the “Semantic Index for Copilot” is important for corporate customers. This allows the AI to develop a significantly more complex understanding of the linking of data, documents and employees. Microsoft cites the question of a sales report as an example. The new index allows Copilot to understand that “sales reports are created by Kelly of the finance team and are laid out in Excel” rather than just searching through documents with those words in the filename or body.

Updates for users of the Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access program:

As previewed, Microsoft has integrated DALL-E, OpenAI’s image generator, into Copilot for PowerPoint. In this way, user-defined images can be created directly in the program to match the content.
Copilot in Outlook now provides “suggestions on clarity, mood, and tone” when composing emails.
Copilot can now manage and add to “plans, ideas, lists, and other information” in OneNote.
Copilot in Viva Learning is designed to create “personalized learning journeys” and improve discovery of relevant learning resources and timing for assigned training.

Summary

Microsoft offers companies an “irresistible offer”.
600 more customers get access to new office tools with AI.
AI learns new tricks, including “Semantic Index” for linking data, documents & employees.
OpenAI DALL-E image generator integrated into PowerPoint.
Copilot in Outlook provides “suggestions on clarity, mood & tone”.
Copilot in OneNote manages & adds to plans, ideas, lists & info.
Copilot in Viva Learning creates “Personalized Learning Journey”.

See also:

Microsoft, Office, Ki, AI, Chatbot, Microsoft 365 Copilot
Microsoft