Microsoft launches new capabilities in Copilot

Microsoft has unveiled an expanded version of its Copilot app, introducing three new capability areas and a revised commercial model that the company says creates significant growth opportunities for partners across advisory, development, managed services and AI governance.

The updated Copilot app now includes Home, Code and Autopilot.

Home brings together Chat and a new Cowork mode - where work is delegated and returned as a completed result - alongside full access to Word, Excel and PowerPoint within the app. Code turns natural-language prompts into apps, dashboards, automations and workflows.

Autopilot, previously called Scout, is described by Microsoft as a cloud-hosted digital teammate with its own identity, memory and workspace that can continue work independently within an organisation's permissions and boundaries.

Microsoft is also introducing platform additions including Microsoft IQ - which grounds Copilot in organisational context across Microsoft 365 - and Copilot Managed Runtime, a governed hosting infrastructure that supports apps built in Cowork, Code and Copilot Studio.

Work IQ, which extends context to Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, is in public preview. Fabric IQ, connecting customer data from Microsoft Power BI's more than 20 million semantic models into Chat and Cowork, is generally available now.

A new plugin registry, expected to reach general availability by the end of the month, will bring Microsoft, partner and custom-built plugins into a single catalogue, simplifying governance and discovery.

As user subscriptions remain the foundation for everyday Copilot value, a new routing mechanism Microsoft calls Auto weighs accuracy, speed and cost to direct requests to the most appropriate model.

Usage-based billing will aim to provide access to advanced capabilities including frontier models and longer-running agentic work in Cowork, Code and Autopilot.

Starting 2 November 2026, usage-based billing will be enabled by default for new Microsoft 365 Copilot Business licences - including stand-alone licences and bundles - purchased through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) programme.

Microsoft said the change is intended to reduce billing friction and make it easier to activate experiences such as Copilot Cowork, Work IQ APIs and GitHub Copilot Harness in Copilot Studio.

FinOps for AI, which Microsoft said will also support custom agents built in Copilot Studio from October, lets organisations set budgets, usage limits and model-access policies, and allows users to monitor their own consumption against those limits.

For channel partners, Microsoft is offering a Copilot Cowork CSP Activation Incentive for eligible indirect resellers and direct bill partners who drive qualifying Cowork activation and usage. The company has also released a "Copilot in 30" activation kit, designed to help partners run a 30-day trial of Microsoft 365 Copilot Business licences with customers.

The new Copilot is rolling out through the Frontier programme, with Microsoft saying capabilities will continue to arrive on an ongoing basis.