New Year, New Momentum: Here are three Copilot updates to get you started into 2026

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It's a new year, so I thought I'd start the year by mentioning three features already released, or soon going to be released. One of the features improves the workflow of sharing files with comments, the other improves the application specific Copilot, and the last feature makes it easer to find the nest available timeslot for a 1:1 meeting. As with all of my other posts, timelines can shift, and the timelines in this post is as written in the Message Center at the time of posting. AI-Summary experience when sharing files. With this new feature, copilot intent to help users share files with clearer context in just a few steps. Users will get the capability to generate a concise summary of a file and include it when sharing from the File Explorer share dialog or the OneDrive activity center. This will make it easier to share the context of a file and giving the receiver a faster understanding of what a document or file contains before they open it. General Availability announced...

Copilot: Self-Service Purchase coming soon

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According to the message center Microsoft will roll out the new license request feature and self-service purchase option for Microsoft 365 Copilot by the end of March. These features will be available to users with various Microsoft 365 plans, including E1, E3, E5, and standalone products. Both features will be integrated within Microsoft 365 apps, such as Copilot Chat.

The License Request feature I find quite beneficial, as it empowers end-users to justify their usage and request access. At least as long as the organization is already rolling out Copilot to their employees. However, the Self-Service Purchase option may raise concerns for organizations that are not yet prepared to deploy Copilot. It is advisable for all organizations to review their self-purchase settings and make decisions to allow or deny access based on their readiness state.

License Request: This feature allows users to request a Microsoft 365 Copilot license directly from their admin. It helps efficiently assign unused licenses or purchase additional ones based on user requests. Global admins, license admins, and user admins can manage these requests seamlessly in the Microsoft 365 admin center, with options for standard or custom messaging.

Self-Service Purchase: Users can purchase Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses directly with their credit cards. If your organization has previously disabled self-service purchase for Microsoft 365 Copilot, those settings will be honored. To check the org status, sign into the Microsoft 365 admin center as a global admin, go to "Settings" > "Org settings" > "Self-service trials and purchases". From here you select the product you want to control.