Strengthening its push into enterprise AI, Microsoft has introduced Copilot Cowork, a new agentic AI tool designed to automate workplace tasks across business applications. The solution is built using AI models from Anthropic and powered by Microsoft’s Work IQ intelligence layer.
Copilot Cowork aims to transform the capabilities of Microsoft’s Copilot from simple chat-based assistance to action-driven automation. The tool can gather context from the Microsoft 365 suite and execute tasks without requiring connectors or complex integrations with enterprise systems.
The company announced the new tool through an official newsroom update. Copilot Cowork was developed in collaboration with Anthropic, whose earlier release of Claude Cowork had gained significant attention. While the underlying technology is similar, Microsoft’s version integrates directly with Microsoft 365 applications and the Work IQ intelligence layer.
Unlike Claude Cowork, Microsoft’s Copilot Cowork operates as a multi-model system. This approach allows users to work with different AI models depending on their familiarity and requirements.
Currently, Copilot Cowork is being tested with a limited group of participants and is available as a research preview. Microsoft said it plans to expand availability through its Frontier programme later this month.
With Copilot Cowork, users can simply enter a prompt describing the task they want to complete. The AI then converts the request into a structured plan and performs the steps in the background. Users can track progress through visible checkpoints and can pause or modify tasks using additional prompts. The AI can also ask for clarification if needed during execution.
The system can autonomously perform several workplace activities. These include reviewing and rescheduling meetings, generating documents, compiling data into reports and presentations, and sending emails once tasks are completed.
Microsoft said the enterprise AI tool includes built-in security and governance measures. Compliance policies, identity authentication, and permission checks are enabled by default. All actions and outputs are auditable.
“Cowork runs in a protected, sandboxed cloud environment, so tasks can keep progressing safely as you move across devices. This is what makes execution durable at enterprise scale,” the company said.
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