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...

Microsoft 365 Copilot Frontier: Finally available world wide.

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Microsoft 365 Copilot Frontier program:

Back in March, Microsoft the release of two new and promising agents: The researcher and The analyst agents. Initially these two agents were launched in the U.S. as part of what has been called the "Frontier" program. Frontier is designed to give Microsoft 365 Copilot-licensed users access to experimental, high-impact features that are still in development—allowing users to shape the future of AI in the workplace. This early-access initiative is now available worldwide, offering organizations a first look at cutting-edge AI capabilities before they become mainstream.

The Researcher and Analyst agents are built on OpenAI’s advanced models and integrated deeply with Microsoft 365 Copilot. Here is a short description of their features:

Researcher (Frontier)

Think of Researcher as your AI-powered research assistant. It combines OpenAI’s deep research capabilities with Microsoft’s orchestration and search tools to help users tackle complex, multi-step research tasks. Whether you're pulling insights from internal documents, third-party data, or the web, Researcher can synthesize it all into coherent, actionable outputs.

Analyst (Frontier)

Analyst is optimized for advanced data analysis. It uses OpenAI’s o3-mini model and chain-of-thought reasoning to iteratively solve problems—just like a human analyst would. It can even run Python code in real time, allowing users to view and verify the logic and outputs behind the scenes. This transparency is a game-changer for data-driven teams. 

How to make sure they are available to your users (or not):

  1. Go to Microsoft 365 Admin Center → Copilot → Settings
  2. Under User Access, select "Copilot Frontier"
  3. Set access to “All Users” or “Specific Users under "Web and Mobile apps" (Microsoft 365 Insiders can also benefit from getting new features directly to their desktop apps)
  4. Go to Microsoft 365 Admin Center → Copilot → Agent & Connectors
  5. Search for "Frontier" and make sure both agents are set available for your users (You may also deploy the app directly from this view.
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