Microsoft 365 Copilot Gets Smarter with New AI-Powered Enterprise Search Experience

Microsoft has announced several new features coming to Microsoft 365 Copilot in May, including a new AI-powered enterprise search tool. This new search experience makes it easier for employees to quickly find information across multiple apps and data sources within their organizations.

“Copilot Search is a new AI-powered enterprise search that helps you find what you need instantly with rich, context-aware answers from across your organization’s apps and data. It connects to first- and third-party apps—from ServiceNow to Google Drive, Slack, Confluence, Jira, and more—so you get fast, relevant results at work no matter where your data lives,” explained Jared Spataro, CMO, AI at Work, Microsoft.

Agent Store

Microsoft also announced today that the new Researcher and Analyst agents have started rolling out to commercial customers through the Frontier program. These new reasoning agents, Researcher and Analyst, use OpenAI’s models to perform multi-step research and complex analysis independently.

The Researcher agent is designed to enhance users’ ability to gather and analyze information. It can integrate data from their organization with external sources like Salesforce, ServiceNow, Confluence, and more. Additionally, the Analyst agent leverages the o3-mini reasoning model, and it can run Python code in real-time to answer complex data queries.

Microsoft has announced a new Agent Store that lets users find, pin, and use various AI agents. This store includes pre-built agents (such as Researcher and Analyst), custom agents, as well as agents from partners (such as Jira, Monday.com, and Miro).

Memory and personalization capabilities

Microsoft 365 Copilot is also getting new memory and personalization features next month. This update will allow the Copilot AI assistant to analyze chats, job profiles, custom instructions, and other interactions to learn how users work. Microsoft 365 Copilot can use this information to provide more relevant and personalized assistance. The memory and personalization features are private and accessible only to the user. Users can also manage and restrict the data Copilot retains to maintain confidentiality.

Copilot Notebooks and other updates

With Copilot Notebooks, Microsoft is making it possible to turn notes, documents, and data into actionable insights. This feature constantly scans users’ source material and updates in real time as data evolves.

Microsoft 365 Copilot is getting a new Create tool that leverages OpenAI’s GPT-4o AI image generator to help employees enhance design and content creation. Organizations can use this feature to generate a wide range of content, including social media assets, marketing copy, newsletter banners, videos, and more.

The new Skill Discovery agent will help leaders create dynamic teams based on skills and enables employees to connect with colleagues who have the necessary expertise. Microsoft will also let users access Copilot Chat by pressing the Copilot key and using the Win + C shortcut on Windows 11 PCs.

Enhancements to the Copilot Control System

In November 2024, Microsoft launched the new Copilot Control System to help administrators manage and secure the use of Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Chat, Microsoft Copilot Studio, and other agents across their organizations. Now, Microsoft has announced a couple of new capabilities to enhance the Copilot Control System.

The new Apps and Agents Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI with Purview provides IT administrators with a comprehensive dashboard. It offers a centralized hub to view and manage all AI apps and agents within the organization. Administrators have full control over how data is classified to protect sensitive information. They can also enforce protection policies and manage who has access to specific data.

Microsoft has also announced the general availability of the new Agent Management experience within the Microsoft 365 admin center. This feature allows IT admins to enable, disable, or block agents for specific users or groups.

Last but not least, the new Copilot Studio Agents Reports in Copilot Analytics help enterprise admins understand the effectiveness of AI agents and make informed decisions about their deployment and management. This report also includes metrics on how AI-assisted actions are enhancing productivity and return on investment (ROI).