Microsoft Copilot: 7 Must-Know Features

Key insights

• GPT-5.2 and Copilot Chat: The new GPT-5.2 model boosts answer quality and context handling, so prompts get more accurate, concise replies.
  It also makes follow-up questions work better by understanding earlier chat turns.
• Persistent Context (ContextIQ 2.0): Copilot now remembers project history, preferences, and tone across apps so you don’t repeat details.
  That memory helps Copilot give consistent summaries, formats, and recommendations based on past work.
• Agents and Multi-Agent Workflows: Built-in agents (like Claude Agent and Agent 365) automate multi-step tasks such as document creation, approvals, and finance checks.
  You can combine agents to generate reports, charts, or full documents with fewer manual steps.
• People Agent and Copilot Search: The People Agent helps you find and understand colleagues faster by surfacing roles, projects, and recent work.
  Copilot Search lets you search past chats and find earlier answers, saving time when you need follow-up details.
• Explain in PowerPoint: The new Explain feature breaks down complex slides into simple takeaways and suggested edits.
  Use it to get instant slide summaries, speaker notes, or clearer visuals without manual rewrites.
• Governance and Copilot Studio: Admin tools like the Copilot Control Hub offer audit trails, sensitivity filters, and compliance controls for safe rollouts.
  Copilot Studio adds custom-agent building, analytics, and marketplace options, while basic Copilot capabilities appear in core apps for many users.

Video Snapshot: What Scott Brant Demonstrates

In a recent YouTube walkthrough, Scott Brant outlines seven new updates to Microsoft 365 Copilot rolling out in early 2026. He focuses on practical demonstrations that show how the assistant now blends faster models and new agent capabilities to support everyday work. Moreover, Brant highlights hands-on uses across chat, documents, and presentations to help viewers see immediate value.

Specifically, the video covers the new GPT-5.2 model inside Copilot Chat, the ability for Copilot to use past chat history, the introduction of the Claude Agent and the People Agent, search across chat history via Copilot Search, agents that generate documents and charts, and a new Explain feature in PowerPoint. As a result, viewers can judge which capabilities matter most to their teams. At the same time, Brant reminds users that availability depends on licensing and tenant settings.

Key Feature Highlights and Practical Uses

First, the upgrade to GPT-5.2 powers more nuanced and context-aware replies inside Copilot Chat, which means shorter prompts can yield smarter answers. Then, the persistent chat memory helps Copilot follow up on past threads, saving users from repeating background details and enabling smoother multi-step conversations. Consequently, tasks like drafting a report or refining an email sequence become faster and less repetitive.

Next, the new multi-agent capabilities let specialized agents automate common workflows, and the inclusion of the Claude Agent offers an alternate model for certain tasks, giving teams flexibility in response style and accuracy tradeoffs. Likewise, the People Agent helps locate colleagues and summarize their roles or recent activity, which can speed collaboration and onboarding. Meanwhile, the new Explain feature in PowerPoint provides quick, plain-language summaries of complex slides, improving comprehension during meetings and review sessions.

Tradeoffs: Performance, Cost, and Control

While these features boost productivity, they also introduce tradeoffs that organizations must balance. For instance, more advanced models and persistent memory improve results but increase compute demands and potentially cost, so teams must weigh richer functionality against budget constraints. Additionally, choosing between models like GPT-5.2 and the Claude Agent involves a tradeoff between style, speed, and how each model handles sensitive or technical content.

At the same time, persistent context and multi-agent automation raise governance questions: storing conversation history helps continuity, yet it demands stricter access controls and clear retention policies. Therefore, IT leaders should plan for auditing, compliance, and cost management before broad deployment. In short, the best approach balances capability, expense, and organizational risk tolerance.

Implementation Challenges and Mitigation

Adopting these Copilot features presents practical challenges that go beyond technical setup. For example, integrating agents into real workflows requires thoughtful design so they act reliably, and ensuring data access is both useful and secure can be complex when agents need documents or directory data. Moreover, training users to trust and verify Copilot outputs takes time, since automated summaries sometimes omit nuance or include errors.

However, teams can mitigate these risks with staged pilots, role-based permissions, and human-in-the-loop reviews for high-stakes tasks. Administrators should use governance tools to monitor agent activity and maintain audit logs, while change managers should run quick training sessions so employees learn where Copilot helps most and when to verify results. Consequently, organizations can accelerate value while maintaining oversight.

Recommendations and Next Steps

Organizations that want to benefit from these updates should start with small, focused pilots that test the new capabilities in real scenarios. For example, pilot the People Agent within a single team to measure time saved on onboarding, or trial the document-generation agents for a repeatable reporting task to estimate accuracy and cost. Then, gather feedback and metrics before scaling to more users.

Finally, establish clear policies around chat history, data access, and model selection, and provide quick reference guides to help staff use the new features safely. By combining cautious pilots, governance, and short training sessions, teams can reap the productivity gains shown in Scott Brant’s video while managing the technical and organizational tradeoffs that come with advanced Copilot capabilities.

Keywords

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