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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Microsoft announces more Copilot features within Teams.
- AI agents will assist in Teams meetings and messaging channels.
- These features solidify companies adopting agentic AI tools to increase employee productivity.
Productivity-centered AI tools for enterprises are becoming commonplace — a recent study hailed Microsoft as one of the most dominant sources of AI-powered productivity tools within the workplace. Now the company is releasing even more AI agents for Microsoft Teams, from automated real-time collaborative note-taking to AI-generated audio meeting recaps.
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With the new tools, Microsoft is integrating Copilot, its AI-powered productivity assistant, into every aspect of Teams. In a blog post, Microsoft said it plans to deploy an AI agent for all of a team’s work needs to assist in running more efficient meetings, delegating tasks, and updating employees on a project’s status.
Microsoft’s AI agents reside within Teams meetings, Teams communication channels, and Viva Engage. Users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license can expect a similar experience with the AI productivity tool in Teams as they’ve previously used in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app.
An assistant for Teams meetings
Facilitator is the AI agent within Teams meetings. Its job is to make meetings more productive, using a conversational interface to assist participants with understanding the meeting’s key points and takeaways.
The agent can create a meeting agenda from the meeting invite; If there is no invite, Microsoft said Facilitator can create one based on the meeting’s opening discussion. This agent can display agenda topics to all participants to keep the meeting’s discussion points on track.
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Additionally, Facilitator takes real-time notes that all participants can edit, assigns tasks mentioned within the meeting, creates documents, and can capture key points of spontaneous discussions via a user’s mobile device. Facilitator also responds to in-meeting questions, either about the meetings or by using the internet to find an answer.
Handling tasks in Teams channels
Copilot can assign an agent to a specific Teams channel, using the channel’s name and description to assist with relevant tasks. An agent can create status reports for projects using resources like channel conversations and meeting summaries. Users can edit the report before publishing it.
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Agents can also search for information within a Teams channel. Ask the agent which data you’re searching for; it can search messages, threads, meetings, plans, or the internet.
Automating work in Viva Engage
Viva Engage is a social network within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, and many companies use it to build community amongst employees. Many employees participate in or run social communities at work, but more critical tasks sometimes sideline the associated work.
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Agents within a Viva Engage community can answer questions and learn over time how to best support a specific community. These agents should allow for constant engagement and information sharing without requiring human employees to dedicate too much time to administrative tasks, like posting announcements or monitoring messages.
Microsoft’s move to integrate more Copilot features into its 365 ecosystem indicates a greater trend of incorporating AI-powered productivity tools into the enterprise. Enterprise AI uses AI tools to power decision-making and achieve goals, with the intent of improving business operations.
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These Microsoft Copilot tools are aimed at employee end users, who may use the tools to automate tasks, reduce errors, and receive personalized support. Microsoft competes heavily with Google, as its Gemini-powered Google Workspace suite of productivity tools offers similar experiences.