Microsoft Build 2024, held recently, showcased many innovations designed to enhance productivity and collaboration. Among these announcements, three standout features are poised to revolutionise the way we work: "Copilot in SharePoint," "Team Copilot," and "Copilot Agents." Today, we will focus on these exciting developments and their potential impact on modern workplaces.
Copilot in SharePoint
One of the highlights of Microsoft Build 2024 is the introduction of custom copilots in SharePoint. This feature allows users to create copilots directly from the right-click menu in SharePoint, selecting specific documents or folders to generate a copilot tailored to their needs. These custom copilots leverage the power of AI to provide real-time answers and insights, streamlining workflows and enhancing collaboration.
With the ability to create these copilots on the fly, users can quickly deploy them across various Microsoft 365 applications, including Teams and Outlook. This seamless integration ensures that valuable information is easily accessible, fostering better knowledge sharing and more efficient team collaboration.
Team Copilot
The second major announcement is the expansion of Copilot's capabilities with "Team Copilot." No longer just a personal assistant, Team Copilot is designed to act as a valuable team member, participating in meetings, chats, and project management tasks. This means Copilot is now a collaborative team player in Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Loop, and Microsoft Planner.
Key Features of Team Copilot:
- Meeting Facilitator: Team Copilot manages agendas, takes coauthor-able notes, and ensures productive discussions during meetings.
- Group Collaborator: In Teams chats, Team Copilot surfaces important information, tracks action items, and addresses unresolved issues, making collaboration more effective.
- Project Manager: For project management, Team Copilot creates and assigns tasks, tracks deadlines, and notifies team members when their input is needed, ensuring smooth project execution.
These capabilities are set to be available in preview later in 2024 for customers with a Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 licence, providing an opportunity to experience these innovations firsthand.
Copilot Agents
Expanding beyond the capabilities of personal and team assistants, Microsoft introduced "Copilot Agents." These custom copilots are designed to automate long-running business processes, reason over actions and user inputs, and leverage memory for context. Built within Microsoft Copilot Studio, these agents can work independently under user direction, learning from feedback, and requesting help when needed.
Key Features of Copilot Agents:
- Automate Business Processes: Efficiently automate complex and lengthy business processes.
- Contextual Reasoning: Understand and act based on user inputs and context.
- Memory Utilisation: Use memory to bring in relevant context for tasks.
- Learning and Adaptation: Learn from user feedback and improve over time.
- Exception Handling: Record and address exception requests, asking for help when necessary.
Conclusion
Microsoft Build 2024 has introduced transformative features that promise to make work better. Copilot in SharePoint, Team Copilot, and Copilot Agents are just the beginning of a new era of AI-driven productivity tools. By integrating these capabilities into your daily workflows, you can enhance collaboration, streamline processes, and boost overall productivity. While there is no confirmed release date for these features, we look forward to exploring them more as they become available.
For more information on how these new features can benefit your organisation, contact Perspicuity LTD. Our team of experts is here to help you navigate and implement the latest advancements in Microsoft 365.