Microsoft Copilot: a plain-English definition

Full explainer: What is Microsoft Copilot? covers this in more depth, with examples and current plans.

What it means at work

Microsoft’s documentation says Copilot experiences differ by license. Copilot Chat (Basic) is the standalone baseline experience included with eligible Microsoft 365 licenses, and it can use organizational content, but you must explicitly provide that content with your prompt. The Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on (listed as Premium) adds priority access for better performance and availability. It also provides grounding of responses in organizational data (emails, files, meetings, calendars, teams, or organizational relationships) through Microsoft Graph. Microsoft lists access scoped by user permissions among what powers all Copilot experiences. A middle tier, Microsoft 365 Copilot (Basic), gives standard access inside the apps without the add-on, and Microsoft says standard access is subject to service capacity and might vary throughout the day.

What it does in each app

Microsoft’s list of in-app features:

• In Word, Microsoft lists Copilot features to draft, rewrite, and summarize documents.
• In Excel, Microsoft lists Copilot features to analyze data, generate insights, create formulas and visuals.
• In PowerPoint, Microsoft lists Copilot features to create presentations from prompts or existing content.
• In Outlook, Microsoft lists Copilot features to draft emails and summarize threads.
• In Teams, Microsoft lists the ability to capture action items with Copilot.

Microsoft says chat experiences in Microsoft 365 apps vary depending on your tenant configuration and license.

An example

Before a client call, you ask Copilot in Outlook to summarize a long thread and list open questions. It answers from the email you have open.

A common misconception

Copilot is not one product with one feature set. What you see depends on your license and your organization’s settings, and the name also covers GitHub Copilot for coding. If a feature from a tutorial is missing, check your license first.

Sources

• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot overview: “is the standalone baseline experience included with eligible Microsoft 365 licenses”
• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot overview: “Copilot Chat can use organizational content, but you must explicitly provide that content with your prompt”
• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot overview: “Priority access for better performance and availability”
• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot overview: “Grounding responses in organizational data … through Microsoft Graph”
• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot overview: “Access scoped by user permissions”
• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot overview: “Standard access is subject to service capacity and might vary throughout the day”
• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot overview: “Word: Draft, rewrite, and summarize documents”
• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot overview: “Excel: Analyze data, generate insights, create formulas and visuals”
• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot overview: “PowerPoint: Create presentations from prompts or existing content”
• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot overview: “Outlook: Draft emails, summarize threads”
• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot overview: “and capture action items”
• Microsoft, Microsoft Copilot overview: “Chat experiences in Microsoft 365 apps vary depending on your tenant configuration and license”