News

Copilot Front and Center at Microsoft Ignite 2024

• By Chris Paoli
• November 19, 2024

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella kicked off this year's Ignite conference with a keynote speech focused on the company's efforts to evolve Copilot.

He kicked off the annual IT conference by defending the current state of AI, saying the technology and adoption is still evolving and has yet to plateau. Microsoft's commitment to the technology, especially Copilot, remains strong and focused on three key areas.

"Today, I want to focus on AI and this transformational power as it drives growth in business," said Nadella. "It improves efficiency. It improves operating leverage. To do that, we are building our three platforms: Copilot, Copilot devices, and Copilot and AI stack. That’s it. Those are the three platforms."

Copilot Actions
Today saw the announcement of many new and enhanced features to Copilot in Microsoft 365 to help enterprises simplify and automate across their workflow. First up is Copilot Actions (in private preview), which gives enterprise end users the ability to set automation tasks that will run with zero interaction.

"For example, you can automatically receive a summary of your most important action items at the end of each workday, create an action to gather inputs from your team for a weekly newsletter you send each Thursday or automate customer meeting prep with a recurring action that summarizes your last few interactions ahead of your next sync," wrote Microsoft in a blog announcement

Copilot Agents
Microsoft also unveiled new AI "agents" for Microsoft 365 Copilot, including the general availability of the previously announced agent builder feature in SharePoint. This functionality allows users to create custom chatbots tailored to answer queries about specific files stored within the content management platform. Additionally, to enhance data management and security for Microsoft 365 Copilot, the company announced that the SharePoint Advanced Management add-on -- previously priced at $3 per user per month -- will be offered at no additional cost starting early next year.

To manage the new agents, Microsoft also announced the Copilot Control System, which will allow IT teams to manage access to Copilots and agents, measure adoption, and assess ROI. Tools like Viva Insights, part of the new Copilot Analytics, provide actionable data on business impact. Further, SharePoint Advanced Management will be included in the Copilot Control System to govern and apply organizational data security policies to Copilot.
Other Copilot announcements:

• Enhanced interpretation tools in Teams and PowerPoint, which can translate visual presentations and meetings in over 40 languages.
• Increased prompt query in Teams that will allow for responses to take in account visual elements, like graphs and slide presentations.
• Copilot in Outlook can analyze your calendar to set focus time or one-on-one meetings with colleagues.
• Employee Self-Service Agent in Business Chat will answer HR-related questions and facilitate requested IT work orders from employees.