How Microsoft Copilot's new AI agents boost your productivity
What's the story
Microsoft has launched the 365 Copilot Wave 2 spring release, bringing several new features designed to boost users' productivity and creativity.
The company hopes to empower businesses by integrating data-driven intelligence into its suite of productivity applications.
The new capabilities include advanced research and data analysis tools—powered by existing OpenAI models, a Skill Discovery agent, an AI image generation tool, and a collaborative notebook feature.
New features
Researcher and Analyst agents
The 365 Copilot Wave 2 introduces Researcher and Analyst agents.
According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Researcher agent enables users to gather and summarise information from both web sources and internal enterprise data, making it easier to generate "super insightful" reports on any topic.
Meanwhile, Analyst is built to handle raw data from multiple sources, converting it into actionable insights, forecasts, and clear visualisations.
They are now available via the new Agent Store, which also features agents from partner companies.
Innovative tools
Skill discovery agent and AI image generation
In the Wave 2 release, Microsoft has also introduced a Skill Discovery agent.
This tool utilizes the People Skills data layer to help leaders build skills-based teams and employees find each other based on their desired capabilities.
Plus, the new Create feature allows users to create AI images that comply with company-approved brand guidelines.
According to Nadella, you can "turn a PowerPoint into an explainer video, or generate an image from a prompt in Copilot with just a few clicks."
Notebook feature
Copilot Notebooks: A NotebookLM-like collaborative workspace
With the Copilot Notebooks feature, users can bring together different elements of their workflow into a single notebook. This includes spreadsheets, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and even meeting notes.
From here, users can search this work with Copilot's conversational chat interface.
Microsoft calls Copilot Notebooks a "collaboration partner," much like Google's NotebookLM, adding another layer of collaboration to Microsoft 365.
User experience
Enhanced accessibility and personalization features
Microsoft has also released a new shortcut for easy access to Copilot on Windows 11 PCs. Users can now access Microsoft Copilot Chat by clicking the Copilot key and using the Win+C shortcut.
Notably, during its 50th anniversary celebration earlier this month, Microsoft unveiled new features, including Copilot Search and Memory, which are now being rolled out to Microsoft 365 users.
These enhancements are aimed at improving user experience by providing more personalized and easily accessible tools.
Scenario
Take a look at Copilot Search and Memory
The 365 Copilot Search lets users ask questions in a conversational manner about their organization's apps and data.
This feature now integrates with third-party platforms like Google Drive, Slack, and ServiceNow—going beyond Microsoft's own ecosystem.
While it doesn't search the web in real time like Copilot Search, it retains the same natural language capabilities, grounding responses in the user's Microsoft 365 data.
Additionally, the new Memory feature enables Copilot to remember key user details to deliver more personalized, contextually-relevant responses.
Twitter Post
Microsoft CEO shared insights on the latest updates
1/ Big day for Microsoft 365 Copilot: I’m really excited about our latest update.
— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) April 23, 2025
Copilot has truly become the UI for AI – and for me, it’s the scaffolding for my workday.
Here are four new features I’ve especially been enjoying.
More updates
Microsoft updates Copilot Studio with new features
Microsoft has also introduced new features in Copilot Control System aimed at helping IT administrators better govern AI agents.
For instance, the updated Data Security Posture Management for AI with Purview offers a unified dashboard, allowing admins to monitor and control AI apps and agents more effectively.
The new Agent Management feature within Microsoft 365 admin center enables IT teams to restrict agent access for specific users.
The Copilot Studio Agents Report provides visibility into employee usage of AI agents.