Ignite 2025: Microsoft 365 Copilot Adds New Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Agents, and More

Microsoft announced major updates to Copilot and its Microsoft 365 apps at its Ignite conference this morning. Most of the new features will be available for customers with Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses through the company’s Frontier early access program. Still, the company will also add new Copilot Chat features for users who don’t have a paid subscription.

First of all, Microsoft is introducing new Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot. The new AI agents will make it possible to create Office documents right from a chat conversation, with the agents handling research and formatting tasks before users continue editing the documents in the Microsoft 365 apps.

Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are also getting a new Agent Mode that can intelligently edit and format content in the productivity apps. Agent Mode is now generally available in Word for Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft 365 Premium subscribers, and it’s available in early access through the Frontier Program in Excel and PowerPoint.

In Outlook, Microsoft 365 Copilot now suggests one-tap prompts to help users triage their inbox, surface urgent emails, and more. Users can also schedule a meeting directly from the chat conversation. Moreover, for users who’d like to get email summaries, draft emails, and more hands-free, the beta version for iOS and Android can now do this by listening to voice commands.

Microsoft 365 Copilot is getting other new features, including the ability to create Copilot Pages and SharePoint pages and lists. Microsoft is also integrating OpenAI’s Sora 2 model to let users create short AI-generated video clips with sound and music.

To make its various AI features more accessible for small and midsize businesses, Microsoft will also launch a new Microsoft 365 Copilot Business offering. It will launch in December and be priced at $21 per user per month. Lastly, starting in March 2026, Agent Mode in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint will become available for users without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.