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Hi {{first_name|everyone}}, Microsoft is turning Copilot from a chat window into something that can build apps and keep working on a job after you've logged off.
Then we've got a couple of quick news on AI agents wandering where they shouldn't and the new tools built to rein them in, a 1990s fashion editorial rebuilt with AI, and a quick note from today's sponsor, who'll handle your company newsletter from writing to sending. Here's the full rundown.
🤿 DEEP DIVE
Copilot Isn’t Just a Chat Anymore
Microsoft is reorganizing Copilot around a pretty simple idea.
Sometimes you want an answer. Sometimes you want something built. And sometimes you want to hand over a job and have it keep moving without you.
The new Copilot splits those kinds of work across Home, Code and Autopilot.
Home is where the everyday work starts
Home brings Chat and Cowork into one place.
Chat handles the quick stuff like questions, lookups and drafts. Cowork is for larger jobs you delegate end to end, like producing an RFP response, customer briefing or financial close package.
Microsoft says that eventually you won’t have to decide which one to use. You’ll just say what you need, and Copilot will route the task to Chat, Cowork or Code.
There’s another fairly big change tucked into Home too. Word, Excel and PowerPoint are being built directly into Copilot.
So instead of generating something in chat and then rebuilding it in Office, Copilot can create or update the actual editable document, workbook or presentation. Those files stay synced with the Office apps and can be edited collaboratively.
Then there’s Code
This is Microsoft trying to make building small software tools feel more like normal knowledge work.
Describe an app, tracker, dashboard, automation or workflow in natural language, and Code builds it. That could be a desktop widget, an interactive dashboard or a cloud-hosted internal app.
It uses the same underlying technology as GitHub Copilot, runs in a sandboxed environment and can be hosted inside a company’s Microsoft 365 tenant.
Microsoft is also introducing Copilot Managed Runtime, which provides the hosting layer for apps created through Cowork, Code and Copilot Studio.
And Autopilot keeps going
Autopilot, previously called Scout, is the persistent part of the story.
Give it a name, role and goal, and it can watch channels, follow up on threads, run recurring work and pick projects back up later without waiting for another prompt.
Microsoft’s supplier-review example is pretty revealing. Autopilot could build the schedule, prepare meetings, follow up afterwards and contact stakeholders for updates.
It has its own identity, memory, computer and workspace inside the organization’s tenant, with permissions, auditing and governance around what it does.
That distinction between the three modes is probably the easiest way to understand the whole announcement.
Home helps with work in front of you. Code builds tools for the work. Autopilot keeps work moving when you’re somewhere else.
Image credit: Microsoft
The quick take
Home combines Chat and Cowork, with Word, Excel and PowerPoint built into Copilot
Code lets people create apps, dashboards, automations and workflows using natural language
Autopilot is a persistent agent that can continue recurring and longer-running work without another prompt
Home and Code are starting through Microsoft’s Frontier program, while Autopilot expands to private preview
Microsoft is also adding FinOps controls for managing usage-based spending across its newer agentic capabilities
🤝 FROM OUR FRIENDS
A quick share we thought you might find useful
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⚒ TOOL SNAPSHOTS
Futuristic tools within AI, no-code, and productivity
Give your AI more of the business context behind the numbers.
Why it’s useful: Handy when you want an AI Analyst or agent to pull in things like CRM deals, support tickets, project activity, or other MCP-connected data instead of answering from metrics alone.
Make a plain screenshot look ready to share.
Why it’s useful: Nice for product updates, docs, social posts, or launch material when you want decent framing and styling without opening a design tool or uploading the image somewhere.
Keep customer conversations from different channels in one place.
Why it’s useful: Makes more sense for teams juggling leads across WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram and other channels, since the conversation history, CRM context, translations, AI replies, and follow-ups can stay together.
🤖 AI MADE THIS
Interesting and inspiring creations made with AI
A 90s fashion editorial rebuilt with Adobe Firefly and Nano Banana
One creator rebuilt a polished 1990s fashion editorial by studying real campaign references, using ChatGPT to analyze the visual language, and generating the final images through Adobe Firefly and Nano Banana. The interesting part is the art-direction process, not just the finished look.
AI used
Adobe Firefly Boards, ChatGPT, and Nano Banana 2, inside Adobe Firefly.
⚡ QUICK HITS
The latest in AI, tech, and productivity worth knowing
Transluce says it found evidence of OpenAI agents trying to access protected databases at Data USA, the University of New Mexico, and Australia’s AIHW while chasing obscure facts for what may have been training or evaluations. OpenAI says it has contacted dozens of affected organizations and expects its broader review to take months.
Nvidia released its Open Agent Safety Platform. This containment system limits what agents can access and monitors what they’re doing. Jensen Huang described it as basically “a browser for agents,” and Nvidia says the setup could have prevented the OpenAI incident in which agents escaped containment and breached Hugging Face.
ℹ️ ABOUT US
The Intelligent Worker helps you to be more productive at work with AI, automation, no-code, and other technologies.
We like real, practical, and tangible use-cases and hate hand-wavy, theoretical, and abstract concepts that don’t drive real-world outcomes.
Our mission is to empower individuals, boost their productivity, and future-proof their careers.
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