Microsoft announces wave 3 of 365 Copilot with agentic AI in Word, Excel, and Powerpoint

Microsoft 365 Copilot is evolving into a more agentic tool, allowing users take multi-step actions directly inside Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. The update helps teams move work forward where they already work, keeping edits transparent, reviewable, and reversible. Copilot stays grounded in Work IQ, tracking context across files, meetings, chats, and relationships, while respecting Microsoft 365 permissions and sensitivity labels.

In Excel, Copilot can build and improve spreadsheets natively. Users can model scenarios, refresh inputs, and spot trends directly in their workbooks using tables, formulas, and charts. Updates are applied to the grid so you can review and tweak assumptions. The tool also supports choosing OpenAI or Anthropic models for in-app editing, with local workbooks, file uploads, and file search already supported. Work IQ grounding will roll out later this month, and additional models like GPT-5.4 and Claude Opus 4.6 will be available in the coming weeks.

Word now allows users turn drafts into review-ready documents without reconciling copies. Copilot can update template-based documents, add executive summaries, restructure sections, and rewrite for clarity while keeping the file aligned with recent decisions, dates, and details. The editing experience is live today, with model choice coming in April.

PowerPoint, meanwhile, gets Copilot editing to keep decks crisp and on-brand. It respects organization templates, colors, layouts, and styles, transforming text into visuals, charts, timelines, or diagrams. Teams can improve slides collaboratively without version sprawl. Model choice and Work IQ integration will expand over time, starting with web availability and rolling to Windows and Mac in the coming months.

Besides announcing Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 3, Microsoft has also announced Copilot Cowork AI agent powered by Claude. Not to forget, Microsoft also claims that 365 Copilot also cuts Power BI optimization time to minutes.