The rise of AI-powered tools in Microsoft 365 has transformed how organizations interact with information. Instead of relying solely on manual searches, custom queries, or repetitive workflows, employees can now delegate many of these tasks to Microsoft 365 Copilot and its family of specialized agents. These tools bring intelligence directly into the everyday applications used by information workers and IT teams, helping bridge the gap between raw data, business processes, and actionable insights.

At its core, Copilot is not just a chatbot. It’s a set of role-specific assistants integrated into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. For example, Microsoft’s Researcher agent helps discover, filter, and summarize large volumes of content. The Analyst agent extends this capability to structured data, integrating with tools like Excel and Power BI. Additionally, prebuilt or custom agents handle specialized functions ranging from simple queries to more advanced service management tasks — often in a more automated or workflow-oriented manner than Copilot alone. Together, they offer organizations flexible options for applying AI where it delivers the most value.

Understanding the differences between Copilot and agents is essential, as they operate at different levels of scope and complexity. Copilot instances are tightly integrated into Microsoft 365 applications and Microsoft Graph, making them ideal for interactive, user-driven tasks. Agents, on the other hand, can be designed for repeatable workflows, department-specific processes, or integrations with systems outside Microsoft 365.

The following sections describe concrete examples to help determine whether a request is best handled by Copilot, an existing agent, or a custom-built agent.

Use Cases for Microsoft 365 Copilot

Microsoft 365 Copilot integrates directly into the applications employees already use daily, such as Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams, and more. In these apps, Copilot accelerates common tasks like writing, summarizing, analyzing, and formatting content. But Copilot also exists as Copilot Chat, which provides a conversational interface to organizational data via Microsoft Graph. Copilot Chat is not tied to a specific document or application; it allows users to ask broader, cross-application questions and receive answers spanning multiple data sources.

For IT administrators, this distinction is important. In-app use cases optimize productivity within a single workflow (writing, presentation creation, spreadsheet analysis). Copilot Chat, on the other hand, becomes a “knowledge discovery” layer across the tenant, helping employees navigate the complexity of SharePoint libraries, Teams conversations, Outlook threads, and more. Both are important, but they solve different problems.

Here are examples showing where Copilot in applications is most effective, and where Copilot Chat provides unique value:

• Content Creation and Drafting (Copilot in Applications):
  In Word or Outlook, Copilot can generate first drafts of proposals, reports, or emails.
  Example: A project manager might ask Copilot in Word: “Write a project status report based on yesterday’s meeting notes.”
  This uses the application context (Word interface and recent files) rather than a cross-tenant query.
  Administrators must ensure transcription and document storage policies are properly configured so Copilot can access the correct meeting notes.
• Meeting Summaries and Insights (Copilot in Applications + Copilot Chat):
  In Teams, Copilot can summarize a meeting transcript and suggest actions (within the app).
  But a user could also open Copilot Chat and ask: “Summarize all meetings I had this week about the Contoso rollout.”
  Copilot Chat aggregates multiple meetings, discussions, and emails, offering a broader view.
  For administrators, enabling this cross-meeting and cross-application summarization in Copilot Chat requires configuring transcription policies and ensuring Graph indexing is complete.
• Data Exploration in Excel (Copilot in Applications):
  A sales manager might ask Copilot in Excel: “Show me a chart of product growth by year.”
  Copilot generates the visualization directly in the workbook, without needing pivot tables or formulas.
  This request is highly contextual to the workbook itself, making it an in-app scenario.
• Cross-Application Knowledge Search (Copilot Chat):
  A user might ask Copilot Chat: “Show me the latest customer feedback on our mobile app.”
  Instead of searching one repository at a time, Copilot Chat queries Outlook emails, Teams chats, and SharePoint files together.
  For administrators, supporting this cross-application search in Copilot Chat means ensuring Microsoft Search is properly configured so only content the user has access to is included in results.
  If your organization connects other data sources (like ServiceNow, Salesforce, etc.), Microsoft Graph connectors must be properly configured so Copilot Chat can retrieve this information securely.
• Presentation and Visualization Support (Copilot in Applications):
  In PowerPoint, Copilot can create presentations from Word documents or Excel data.
  Example: A department head might say: “Create a five-slide presentation summarizing Q2 performance using the financial report and marketing update.”
  Copilot assembles a draft presentation in PowerPoint, which the user can then refine.
  This request is tied to the in-app experience, not Copilot Chat.

Use Cases for the Researcher Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot

The Researcher agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot specializes in helping manage unstructured information such as emails, Teams chats, Word documents, SharePoint files, and more. Most organizations have an overwhelming amount of this type of content, making it difficult to locate the right information at the right time. Researcher reduces this friction by applying semantic search, summarization, and contextual filtering to surface the most relevant content.

• Knowledge Discovery:
  For example, imagine an IT administrator tasked with preparing a briefing on past network outages. Instead of manually searching through incident logs, SharePoint folders, and archived Teams messages, Researcher can surface a list of incidents grouped by similarity. The administrator could then ask it to summarize root causes, highlight recurring issues, and identify the most affected departments. This type of semantic search goes beyond keyword matching — it understands relationships between people, projects, and activities as represented in Microsoft Graph.
• Summarizing Long Content:
  In another scenario, a compliance officer may need to review hundreds of pages of contracts to locate a specific clause. Researcher can condense these documents into a digestible summary while preserving links to the original sources for validation. For administrators supporting compliance teams, content summarization reduces time spent searching for files or clarifying ambiguous language. It also helps prepare executive summaries for leaders who want a high-level view without diving into the details.
• Cross-Application Contextual Insights:
  Since Researcher operates across multiple Microsoft 365 applications, it can assemble a unified view of project progress even when information is scattered. For example, by extracting requirements from Word documents, timelines from Planner, and risks discussed in Teams. This supports business users who need a consolidated project status report but lack the technical skills to connect all the data themselves.

Use Cases for the Analyst Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot

While the Researcher agent handles unstructured data, the Analyst agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot focuses on structured information such as tables, spreadsheets, and dashboards. For IT administrators supporting finance, operations, or data teams, this distinction is important. Analyst simplifies the process of transforming raw numbers into visualizations, statistical analyses, and recommendations — tasks that often overwhelm non-technical business users.

• Data Analysis in Excel:
  Imagine a department head who has accumulated years of budget spreadsheets but doesn’t have time to create pivot tables or run regression analyses. The Analyst agent can clean the data, identify anomalies, and generate forecasts using natural language queries.
  Example: “Which quarter had the largest variance between forecast and actual spending?”
  Instead of training the department head on advanced Excel features, the IT team can rely on Analyst to bridge the knowledge gap.
• Integration with Power BI:
  Another common scenario is when leadership requests on-demand dashboards. The Analyst agent can query Power BI datasets and automatically generate charts and insights — without requiring users to write DAX formulas or understand backend calculations.
  Example: The operations team asks for a breakdown of shipping delays by region. Analyst can extract this from the Power BI model, generate a suitable visualization, and even suggest drill-downs like “by vendor” or “by transport mode.”
  This reduces reliance on BI developers for simple but urgent requests.
• Automated Insight Generation:
  The Analyst agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot doesn’t stop at data visualization — it can also generate narrative explanations.
  Example: “Sales in the Midwest dropped by 12% last quarter, primarily due to decreased orders from two key clients.”
  Executives using the Analyst agent spend less time interpreting dashboards and more time taking action.
  The Analyst agent also ensures consistency across the organization. Each team receives insights in a standardized format and style, reducing the risk of misinterpretation and aligning reports with company policies.

Use Cases for Prebuilt Agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot

Prebuilt agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot are ready-to-use assistants provided by Microsoft and its partners, which anyone in your organization can use without building anything from scratch. These agents are designed to help users with common tasks and business scenarios — from writing and brainstorming to career planning and idea generation. For IT administrators, prebuilt agents require minimal maintenance: they are preconfigured, secure, and maintained by Microsoft, eliminating the need for organizations to develop or manage the underlying logic.

This training has already covered two core prebuilt agents — Researcher and Analyst — highlighted separately because they support the most common scenarios for knowledge discovery and data analysis in Microsoft 365 Copilot. However, it’s important to note that Microsoft 365 Copilot includes a wide range of other prebuilt agents covering various use cases. For example:

• Writing Coach:
  This agent helps users improve their written communication in emails, documents, and presentations.
  Example: A marketing employee might ask Writing Coach to refine the tone of a client email, suggest grammar improvements, or clarify complex sentences.
  It’s also useful for employees who are less comfortable with formal writing or want to maintain a consistent organizational style.
• Career Coach:
  The Career Coach agent supports users in their professional development.
  Employees can ask for advice on improving skills, preparing for interviews, or planning career growth.
  Example: It can suggest relevant LinkedIn Learning courses, provide feedback on resumes, help write cover letters, or prepare for job interviews.
• Ideas Coach:
  This agent supports brainstorming and idea generation processes.
  Example: A product manager might ask Ideas Coach to suggest new features for an existing product, or a team might request creative approaches to solve a workflow issue.
  The agent can generate multiple suggestions, summarize them, and even rank them based on user-defined criteria.
• Other Prebuilt Agents:
  Microsoft offers many other prebuilt agents, such as meeting facilitators, focus assistants, and project management helpers.
  Each agent targets a specific user scenario, reducing the need for employees to build their own solutions.
  Since these agents are prebuilt and maintained by Microsoft or certified partners, organizations can deploy them quickly, ensuring consistent functionality and minimizing support overhead.

Use Cases for Custom Agents Created by Business Users

Not all organizations have developers available to build advanced agents — and not all scenarios require them. With Copilot Studio and associated no-code or low-code tools, everyday business users without programming experience can create their own agents to handle repetitive questions, provide quick answers, or guide colleagues through common processes. These agents don’t perform complex automations, but they reduce friction and free up time for business teams and IT staff. For IT administrators, the goal is not to build the agents themselves, but to establish governance, monitoring, and guardrails to ensure safe innovation.

• Department-Specific Q&A Bots:
  Example: A marketing coordinator might create an agent that answers common questions about brand guidelines:
  “What fonts should we use for PowerPoint presentations?” or “Where is the latest product logo?”
  Instead of constantly replying to emails or Teams messages, the coordinator can direct colleagues to the agent.
  From the IT side, this use case requires ensuring the agent has proper access to the SharePoint or OneDrive folders where official assets are stored.
• Guided Process Support:
  A finance team lead might design an agent that guides employees through submitting travel expenses.
  The agent could provide a structured checklist, such as: collect receipts, confirm expenses comply with policy, and provide a direct link to the submission form.
  The key difference is that this agent doesn’t automate the workflow or interact with backend systems — it simply presents instructions in a consistent, reusable format.
  This eliminates confusion, ensures guidelines are always up to date, and reduces repetitive “how do I…” support tickets.
• Connection to Simple Data Sources:
  Business users can also create agents that pull structured data stored in Excel or SharePoint lists.
  Example: An HR team member might configure an agent that queries the company’s training catalog and answers:
  “Which cybersecurity training is mandatory this quarter?”
  The HR agent doesn’t need to perform analysis or orchestrate multiple systems — it simply provides quick answers to reduce pressure on the HR team.

Use Cases for SharePoint Agents

SharePoint remains one of the most widely used platforms for storing organizational knowledge, and SharePoint agents extend that value by helping users find, manage, and leverage content more efficiently. These agents are specifically designed to work with SharePoint document libraries, lists, and metadata. For IT administrators, SharePoint agents also raise important governance considerations, as access control, retention, and compliance policies directly influence what the agent can display.

• Content Discovery and Navigation:
  A SharePoint agent can help employees quickly locate policies, templates, or project documentation without needing to know the exact folder structure.
  Example: Instead of clicking through multiple libraries, a user could ask, “Show me the latest project charter for the North America rollout.”
  The SharePoint agent can interpret this request semantically and retrieve the document, even if it’s stored in a non-obvious file path.
• Document Lifecycle Assistance:
  SharePoint agents can guide employees through document management processes.
  Example: When a project manager uploads a contract, the agent could remind them to apply the correct metadata, check if a retention label is required, and notify Legal if the document matches certain compliance rules.
  This reduces human error and ensures better adherence to records management policies.
• Workflow Activation:
  SharePoint often serves as a hub for workflows involving multiple stakeholders.
  A SharePoint agent could monitor a project task list and automatically notify team members as deadlines approach or escalate overdue items.
  In another scenario, a SharePoint agent could track updates in a shared knowledge base and send personalized summaries to employees based on their roles.

Use Cases for Advanced Custom Agents in Copilot

While prebuilt agents cover many standard scenarios, some organizations require highly customized solutions. Custom agents allow IT teams and developers to design AI workflows tailored to the specific needs of a department or industry. These agents can integrate with APIs, automate multi-step processes, and provide contextual responses far beyond the capabilities of Copilot alone.

• Workflow Automation:
  A custom agent could manage end-to-end expense approval.
  When an employee submits an expense report, the agent could validate the data, check compliance with company policy, and route it to the appropriate approver.
  If approved, it could then trigger an update in the financial system.
  For administrators, building such an agent typically involves using Power Automate connectors, custom APIs, and proper governance to ensure accuracy and compliance.
• Department-Specific Needs:
  For example, a legal department frequently reviews non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
  A custom agent could analyze uploaded contracts, identify risky clauses, and flag them for legal review.
  This saves time for legal professionals while ensuring consistency in review criteria.
  IT administrators play a key role in connecting the agent to the document repository, enforcing data loss prevention policies, and configuring access controls.
• Cross-System Orchestration:
  Another example is supply chain management.
  A custom agent could monitor incoming orders, query inventory systems, and automatically trigger manufacturing workflows if stock levels are low.
  It could also send proactive alerts to managers in case of expected delays.
  For IT administrators, this requires setting up secure integrations between ERP systems and Microsoft 365, while building safeguards to prevent unintended actions.

Choosing the Right Tool (Copilot vs Agent)

Choosing between Copilot and agents is not just a technical decision — it’s about aligning the right tool with the right business problem. Both are powerful, but they excel in different contexts. Copilot is ideal for unplanned, user-driven tasks within Microsoft 365 applications. Agents shine when processes are repeatable, involve multiple steps, or need to connect to systems outside Microsoft 365.

• When to Use Copilot:
  If a business user needs to quickly summarize a report, analyze last month’s sales figures, or compile a project update, Copilot is the right choice. These tasks are typically ad hoc, often driven by an immediate need for information or content.
  IT administrators should view Copilot as the frontline tool for boosting productivity within familiar applications.
• When to Use a Prebuilt Agent:
  If a department is overwhelmed by repetitive requests — such as password resets in IT or leave policies in HR — a prebuilt agent can provide immediate relief.
  Administrators should consider prebuilt agents when request volume is predictable and the workflow is standardized.
• When to Use an Agent Created by a Business User:
  Business users without programming experience can create simple agents in Copilot Studio. These agents are suitable for lightweight, department-specific needs — such as answering common questions about internal team processes or providing quick links to shared resources.
  Example: An HR coordinator might create an agent that answers “How do I update my direct deposit?” or redirects employees to the correct benefits form.
  Administrators should encourage this approach when the solution doesn’t require system integration or complex automation but still reduces repetitive work within a team.
• When to Use a SharePoint Agent:
  SharePoint agents are well-suited for scenarios where content governance, site management, or information retrieval needs to be automated.
  Example: A SharePoint agent could automatically apply sensitivity labels to new documents, answer employee questions about site permissions, or surface policies stored in document libraries without manual searching.
  Administrators should consider SharePoint agents when tasks involve structured content stored in SharePoint, site configuration, or governance flows that are too specific for Copilot but don’t require a fully custom agent.
• When to Use an Advanced Custom Agent:
  Custom agents are appropriate when the workflow is complex, spans multiple systems, involves task automation, or requires organization-specific logic.
  Example: Automating supplier onboarding might require verifying tax forms, updating ERP records, and notifying managers.
  Copilot alone cannot orchestrate this end-to-end process, but a custom agent can.
  Administrators should also assess long-term maintenance and governance requirements before deployment.

Next Unit: Module Assessment