Microsoft has introduced a series of generative AI (GenAI) based office productivity tools at the recently held “Microsoft 365 Copilot: Wave 2” event, further cementing its leadership position in the team collaboration space. Although Microsoft is playing catch-up with some of the capabilities and generally releasing them long after they were first announced, its comprehensive portfolio positions it as a formidable competitor in the market, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
GenAI-driven enhancements touch a roster of Microsoft 365 apps including Teams, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Word, and OneDrive but some features especially shine.
Copilot Agents (generally available) automate and execute business processes and range in sophistication from basic prompt-and-response agents to fully autonomous agents. A narrative builder in PowerPoint allows users to engage Copilot in an iterative process to quickly build a first-draft presentation triggered by an initial prompt.
Most compelling is Copilot Pages, a digital canvas for creating, editing, and sharing content. Copilot Pages is noteworthy for the flexibility and ease with which it combines information into a single environment to optimize collaboration and thereby increase productivity.
Gregg Willsky, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Technology & Services at GlobalData, comments: “Despite the appeal of the new features, the event suffered flaws. Some features have already been introduced by key competitors. For example, Copilot Pages is essentially the same as ‘Zoom Docs,’ which was launched in August 2024 and meeting summary and ‘catch up’ features announced for Teams have already been offered by Cisco for some time. In addition, the features in general were already revealed at the ‘Ignite’ event held nearly one year ago in November 2023.
“Microsoft intended to generate a big splash by labelling the introductions collectively as ‘Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 2’ and broadcasting the announcement ceremonies on LinkedIn in addition to issuing the requisite press release. However, these pitfalls dramatically undercut the thunder Microsoft had hoped for.”
However, these flaws do not negate the fact that Microsoft continues to push the needle on both the team collaboration and productivity fronts simultaneously. Except for Google, only Microsoft augments its team collaboration offerings with a suite of tools aimed squarely at driving up productivity (in the form of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
Willsky concludes: “By truly marrying team collaboration and productivity functionality, Microsoft delivers a more holistic package and achieves a degree of differentiation that is largely unmatched.”
