Prompt a task, let AI do the work: Microsoft adds Agent Mode to 365 apps

The tech giant's latest features draw on both OpenAI and Anthropic models, marking a shift from its earlier approach of relying solely on OpenAI for AI offerings

Microsoft just made its 365 Copilot more interactive with a new update introducing ‘vibe working’. With the new Agent Mode and Office Agent updates, users can now prompt their tasks in plain language and let AI handle the heavy lifting — from building spreadsheets to drafting documents and creating presentations.

 

Announced in a blog post on Monday, Microsoft highlighted its ‘vibe working’ specs with Agent Mode in Excel and Word, and Office Agent in Copilot chat. Explaining Microsoft’s push for human–AI collaboration in productivity, Sumit Chauhan, corporate V-P, office product group at Microsoft said, “Agent Mode in Excel and Word delivers best-in-class, artificial intelligence (AI)-generated spreadsheets and documents right in the apps millions of people rely on every day at work.” The feature will come to PowerPoint soon, he said. Meanwhile, Office Agent is available in Copilot chat for PowerPoint and Word, with Excel coming later.

 

New features use OpenAI, Anthropic

According to the company, Agent Mode and Office Agent use OpeanAI and Anthropic models. The move comes as Microsoft has been diversifying its AI offerings. 

 

As reported earlier by Business Standard, Microsoft was in talks to integrate some of Anthropic's technology in its Office 365 apps, as developers working on Microsoft Office’s AI features believe that Anthropic outperforms OpenAI in various tasks. The move also marks a shift as the tech giant has so far relied on OpenAI for its AI offerings.

What can Agent Mode do?

In an elaborate blog post, the company explained what the ‘Agent Mode’ can do and also suggested a few prompts that users can try to create different spreadsheets, documents and handle data sets.

 

Microsoft says Agent Mode makes expert-level data modelling accessible to everyone. It can generate outputs, test and correct results, and iterate until verified — essentially acting like a built-in Excel expert guided by the user.

 

Let’s take a look at the key features of Agent Mode and how it can be accessed and used across different Office apps.

Agent Mode in MS Excel

• Makes advanced spreadsheet tasks easier for non-experts
• Built on Excel artifacts and OpenAI’s reasoning models
• Can generate, evaluate, and correct outputs until results are verified
• Selects formulas, creates new sheets, builds visualisations
• Demonstrated strong performance in Microsoft’s internal SpreadsheetBench tests

Prompt examples

• ‘Create a financial monthly-close report for a small business’
• ‘Build a loan calculator with amortisation schedule’
• ‘Produce a household budget tracker with conditional formatting and charts’

Agent Mode in MS Word

• Turns document creation into a conversational, interactive process
• Users describe what they need, and Copilot drafts, refines, and asks clarifying questions
• Applies Word’s native styles and polished formatting automatically
• Helps speed up iteration and idea generation

Prompt examples

• ‘Update monthly reports with new data’
• ‘Polish an executive summary with highlighted findings’
• ‘Apply style or branding updates across a document’

Office Agent in Copilot chat

• The Office Agent extends agentic workflow to chat prompts and is powered by Anthropic models
• Can create PowerPoint presentations and Word documents
• Provides live slide previews and chain-of-thought style explanations
• Runs code and quality checks before handing off for final edits

Prompt examples

• ‘Create a deck on the top five athleisure market trends’
• ‘Draft a pop-up kitchen plan for a restaurant chain’
• ‘Prepare a report on social media advertising trends in the coffee industry’