Microsoft's new Copilot Cowork moves beyond chat to execute real-world tasks

In January this year, Anthropic introduced Claude Cowork, which brings agentic capabilities to Windows and Mac. Once a task is assigned, Claude will make a plan and complete it, since it will have full access to local files.

Microsoft today announced Copilot Cowork, powered by the same technology behind Claude Cowork, enriched by the context from WorkIQ. Microsoft highlighted that Microsoft 365 Copilot is built for a multi-model world, allowing it to choose between OpenAI and Anthropic models depending on the need.

Just like Claude Cowork, users will be able to hand off a task to Copilot Cowork; then, Copilot will create a plan and start executing it in the background. Users can track the progress, make changes to the plan, or even stop execution at any time. Users can also initiate multiple tasks simultaneously and manage the progress via a new dashboard.

Microsoft highlighted that Copilot Cowork can be used for various use cases in the enterprise, including the following:

• Calendar cleanup and focus protection: Cowork reviews your Outlook calendar, identifies conflicts and low-value meetings, and suggests changes based on your priorities. Once approved, it can accept, decline, or reschedule meetings and automatically add focus blocks to your schedule.
• Meeting preparation automation: Cowork gathers relevant inputs from emails, meetings, and files, schedules prep time, and generates a full meeting packet, including a briefing document, supporting analysis, and a client-ready presentation saved in Microsoft 365.
• Automated company research: Cowork can compile company insights by pulling earnings reports, SEC filings, analyst commentary, and news. It then produces a cited research memo, an executive summary for email, and an Excel workbook with structured financial data.
• Product launch workflow: Cowork helps teams prepare launches by creating competitive comparison sheets, value-proposition documents, and customer pitch decks. It can also outline milestones, owners, and next steps to keep cross-functional teams aligned.

Microsoft is already testing Copilot Cowork with a limited set of customers in Research Preview. Microsoft is planning to expand the availability of Cowork in the Frontier program in late March 2026.