Microsoft Introduces Agent Mode for Office Apps
Microsoft launched a new Agent Mode in its Office applications today, enabling users to create complex spreadsheets and documents simply by providing prompts. This mode is complemented by the introduction of an Office Agent in the Copilot chat, which can generate PowerPoint presentations and Word documents from a conversational chatbot, reports 24brussels.
The Agent Mode aims to enhance productivity by simplifying tasks traditionally reliant on expert knowledge. “In the same way vibe coding has transformed software development, the latest reasoning models in Copilot unlock agentic productivity for Office artifacts,” said Sumit Chauhan, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Office Product Group.
Designed to make the advanced features of Excel and Word accessible to all users, this mode goes beyond basic assistive responses, offering outputs suitable for professional settings. “It’s work, quite frankly, that a first-year consultant would do, delivered in minutes,” Chauhan noted.
Using OpenAI’s GPT-5 model, the Agent Mode breaks down complex tasks into actionable steps, functioning similarly to an automated macro. This transparency allows users to track document creation in real time, enhancing understanding of the process.
Microsoft has approached the integration of AI features cautiously, especially given the importance of the data managed by Excel in global business operations. “[Agent Mode] lets you build sheets that are auditable, refreshable, and verifiable,” Chauhan said, emphasizing the rigor in validating the outputs of its sub-agents.
In testing, Microsoft reported that the Agent Mode in Excel achieved an accuracy rate of 57.2 percent, according to SpreadsheetBench, a benchmark for assessing AI models. While this performance surpassed that of competitors such as Shortcut.ai and Claude Files Opus 4.1, it remains below the human accuracy rate of 71.3 percent.
In Word, the new mode expands on existing AI functionalities by introducing a more collaborative and engaging document creation process. “Agent Mode in Word turns document creation into vibe writing, an interactive, conversational experience,” Chauhan stated, allowing Copilot to suggest edits and clarify content requirements dynamically.
Users can utilize this feature to create monthly reports by extracting and summarizing data from previous months, enabling a more efficient workflow. “Copilot makes suggestions to keep the process flowing, so writing feels more like a dialogue than a task,” Chauhan added.
The Office Agent extends the capabilities of Copilot beyond standard Office applications, allowing users to generate comprehensive PowerPoint decks or Word documents directly through chat prompts. “PowerPoint is one of the most used tools for creating presentations, but over the last two years, AI has often fallen short when creating slides,” Chauhan remarked, asserting that the Office Agent addresses these limitations.
With its ability to conduct web-based research and provide live previews of slides, the Office Agent is positioned to strengthen Office’s competitive edge against a growing array of AI document creation tools.
“Productivity is our DNA, we’re Office,” Chauhan affirmed. “While others will try to replicate us, there is no substitute for the real thing.”
The Office Agent further signifies the integration of Anthropic AI models within Microsoft’s 365 applications. The company previously adopted OpenAI’s frameworks to enhance various tools and is now leveraging Anthropic’s API for Copilot chat, which operates on Amazon Web Services. This strategy hints at the potential for deeper collaboration with Anthropic moving forward.
Despite the ongoing reliance on OpenAI’s models within Microsoft Office, Anthropic’s technology is progressively becoming a significant component of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. “We are looking at the entire family of models, wherever cutting edge work happens,” Chauhan concluded.
Both Agent Mode for Excel and Word went live today for users enrolled in the Frontier program for Microsoft 365 Copilot customers or Microsoft 365 Personal / Family subscribers. Initially available only via web versions, desktop support will follow shortly.
