Microsoft Expands Copilot With AI Agents and Natural-Language Coding Tools

Microsoft is widening Copilot from a conversational assistant into a broader platform for workplace automation, adding capabilities that let users delegate complex tasks, build applications through natural-language instructions and work directly with Office files inside the experience.

The company said the update is intended to shift users from asking AI questions to handing off and completing work. Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella described Copilot on social media as a new "OS for work" spanning models, form factors and tasks, bringing together Autopilot, Code, Home and Office, along with Copilot integration in Teams and an upcoming Today experience.

The refreshed Copilot app introduces three main elements. Home combines Chat and Cowork; Code lets users build applications and workflows using natural language; and Autopilot is a persistent AI agent that can continue working on tasks without repeated prompting. Home and Code will begin rolling out through the Frontier programme in the coming weeks, while Autopilot moves to private preview at the end of September.

Office in Copilot brings Word, Excel and PowerPoint directly into the platform, allowing users to create and update editable documents, spreadsheets and presentations within Copilot. Microsoft said work will remain synchronised between Copilot and the Office applications.

Code is aimed at non-developers, enabling them to create applications, dashboards, trackers, automations and workflows through natural-language instructions. It will run in a sandboxed environment and can be hosted securely within an organisation's tenant.

Autopilot is designed to function as a digital teammate, monitoring channels, following up on threads, managing recurring work and resuming projects without waiting for a fresh prompt. It operates inside an organisation's tenant with its own identity, memory and workspace, supported by permissions, audit and governance controls.

The Today feature is positioned as a proactive command centre spanning email, calendars, Teams threads, meetings and tasks. It is expected to enter private preview in October, while Copilot in Teams is slated for private preview by the end of September.