Microsoft To Add AI Powered Research Tool to Copilot

Microsoft is adding a “deep research” AI-powered tool to Microsoft 365 Copilot, its AI chatbot app.

We’re bringing the power of reasoning to work. Two new agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot:

Researcher for strategic analysis

Analyst for turning data into insights

Read more: https://t.co/QBzXsGF55V pic.twitter.com/bD9hDQpsfr

— Microsoft 365 (@Microsoft365) March 26, 2025

Researcher depends on OpenAI’s deep research AI model to pull off “complex, multi-step research,” and access to third-party data through connectors to sources like Salesforce or ServiceNow to enable business customers to derive insights from across their tools.

The analyst based on the o3-mini reasoning model from OpenAI, and Microsoft claims that with chain-of-thought reasoning, it is capable of turning raw data into spreadsheets, and also Python code that you can view while it’s running, and operating on the level of a skilled data scientist.

The new tools are scheduled to start rolling out in April to Microsoft 365 Copilot license holders in an early access program, along with new autonomous agent capabilities that are starting to roll out now in Copilot Studio.

According to Microsoft, the new agent flows in Copilot are powerful enough to “automate any task you can imagine” with rule-based workflows that include AI actions.

The LinkedIn announcement describes the situation like an agent flow that directs feedback emails to the correct team, but we’ll have to see it in action to find out how that’s better than adding a checkbox or two, or how well it “low code” experience works, and if it can deliver on the promises AI companies are making about agents.

THE VERGE/ Chidimma Gold