Microsoft today announced a couple of "agent mode" features as part of Microsoft 365 Copilot. Microsoft believes that these new agentic features will transform the way documents are created, similar to how live coding transformed software development.
Microsoft Excel already has Copilot integration, which helps users create and understand formulas, analyze data for insights, and more. The new Agent Mode in Microsoft Excel is built on OpenAI’s latest reasoning models and Excel artifacts to democratize data modeling capabilities.
Similar to GitHub Copilot"s Agent Mode, Copilot in Excel"s Agent Mode can generate outputs, evaluate results, fix issues, and repeat the process until the desired outcome is generated. Agent Mode has native Excel capabilities, including the ability to create new sheets and data visualizations when required.
For example, users can provide a prompt like the one below to Agent Mode to improve their personal budgeting:
Create a monthly household budget tracker with categories like Rent, Groceries, Utilities, Entertainment, Transportation, and Savings. Apply conditional formatting and data bars for % Over/Under Budget. Add a summary section showing planned versus actual spending with a donut chart to visualize spending distribution.
Similar to Agent Mode in Excel, Agent Mode in Word can create documents based on prompts. Agent Mode can work alongside users by drafting content, suggesting refinements, and asking clarifying questions along the way.
Finally, Microsoft is bringing Agent Mode to the Copilot chat experience in the name of Office Agent. The new Office Agent in the Copilot chat is powered by Anthropic"s models, which can create PowerPoint presentations and Word documents in a chat-first experience.
Availability:
- Agent Mode in Copilot for Word will be available from today as part of the Frontier program for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed customers and Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscribers. Initially, Agent Mode will be available only on Word on the web.
- Agent Mode in Copilot for Excel will be available from today as part of the Frontier program for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed customers and Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscribers. Initially, Agent Mode will be available only on Excel on the web as part of the Excel Labs plugin.
- Office Agent on the web is available today in the Frontier program for Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscribers based in the United States.