Microsoft has announced a major update to Microsoft 365 Copilot, introducing Agent Mode in Office apps and Office Agent in Copilot chat. The update brings “vibe working” to productivity tools, powered by the latest reasoning models, enabling AI to orchestrate multi-step tasks while users steer the outcome.

Agent Mode in Excel and Word

Agent Mode enhances the capabilities of Excel and Word, with PowerPoint support coming soon.

Excel Agent Mode:

Excel’s full potential has historically been available only to power users. Now, Agent Mode democratizes advanced modeling by allowing Copilot to “speak Excel” natively. It can generate formulas, build models, create visualizations, evaluate results, and even iterate until accuracy is achieved—acting like an Excel expert assistant.

• Example prompt: “Run a full analysis on this sales data set. I want to understand insights to help me make decisions. Make it visual.”

Other use cases include financial analysis reports, loan calculators, and household budget trackers.

Word Agent Mode:

Document creation becomes conversational. Instead of starting with a blank page, users can prompt Copilot with requests like:

• “Summarize recent customer feedback and highlight key trends.”

  Copilot drafts, refines, asks clarifying questions, and applies Word’s native formatting—turning writing into an iterative dialogue.

Office Agent in Copilot Chat

Work often begins in chat, and Office Agent makes it possible to create PowerPoint presentations and Word documents directly from Copilot chat.

Unlike previous AI slide-generation tools, Office Agent conducts research, reasons over data, shows its process, and delivers well-structured presentations or documents. Users can collaborate with Office Agent to refine outputs or open them directly in Office apps for final polish.

Example use cases include:

• Drafting an 8-slide business plan for a pop-up restaurant.

• Creating a retirement savings awareness deck for employees.

• Producing a report on social media advertising trends in a specific industry.

Availability

• Agent Mode in Excel and Word: Available today in the Frontier program for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed customers and Microsoft 365 Personal/Family subscribers. Works on the web, with desktop support coming soon.

• Office Agent in Copilot Chat: Available in the Frontier program for Microsoft 365 Personal/Family subscribers in the U.S. (English only, web-based).

To try Agent Mode in Excel, install the Excel Labs add-in and choose Agent Mode.

The Future of Vibe Working

Microsoft emphasizes that this is just the start. Vibe working—where humans and AI collaborate interactively on complex tasks—is expanding across Microsoft 365 Copilot experiences.

Try Copilot Chat today and start exploring the new agentic productivity features.