Microsoft's Ignite 2025 developer conference, held earlier this year, focused on enabling the entire "AI lifecycle," from underlying models to end-user applications, to help companies become "frontier firms." At the conference, Microsoft announced a series of major upgrades to Microsoft 365 Copilot, including the introduction of the new "Work IQ" intelligence layer and "Agent Mode," confirmation of integration with diverse models such as OpenAI's GPT-5, Sora 2, and even Anthropic, and the launch of the Microsoft Agent 365 platform specifically designed for managing AI agents.
Importing GPT-5 and Sora 2 enhances Work IQ's contextual understanding.
To meet the needs of different work scenarios, Microsoft announced the integration of its latest models into Copilot, including GPT-5, the Computer-Using Agent (CUA) with computer operation capabilities, and the next-generation AI video creation model Sora 2. In addition, Microsoft has also made the Anthropic model available for users to choose from, breaking the limitation of relying solely on OpenAI.
The new "Work IQ" is seen as an upgrade to Copilot's brain. It can deeply understand the user's work context (such as emails, documents, and meetings) and integrate personal work habits and collaborative relationships. Through Work IQ, Copilot is no longer just a passive responder, but can proactively predict the next action and suggest the most suitable agent to complete the task.
Office fully integrates Agent Mode, enabling voice interaction via mobile phone.
At the application level, Microsoft officially launched Copilot Agent Mode in Office applications.
• Excel:You can freely choose to use either Anthropic or OpenAI's inference model for complex calculations.
• Word/PowerPoint:The agent helps generate high-quality documents and presentations (PowerPoint is currently available through the Frontier program).
• Outlook:It supports voice operation and one-key quick commands (such as "summarize and reply"), and a preview version that can understand the contents of the inbox and calendar is expected to be released in early 2026.
In addition, Sora 2 will also be integrated into work scenarios, allowing users to directly create marketing or social media short videos through the Create function.
Agent 365: Solving the "Shadow IT" Problem and Unifying the Management of AI Agents
With IDC predicting that enterprises will deploy more than 13 billion AI agents by 2028, management and security have become major concerns. To address this, Microsoft has launched the new "Microsoft Agent 365" platform.
Agent 365 will enable enterprises to observe, manage, and protect all AI agents, regardless of whether they are built on Microsoft platforms, open-source frameworks, or third-party platforms. This platform integrates security solutions such as Defender, Entra, and Purview, providing core functionalities such as a registry center, access control, visual dashboards, and security detection, ensuring that AI agents do not become "shadow IT" within the enterprise.
Copilot Business is offered for small and medium-sized enterprises, with a monthly fee of $21.
To make AI transformation more affordable for more businesses, Microsoft has announced the launch of the Microsoft 365 Copilot Business program, designed for small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 300 employees. The subscription fee is $21 per user per month, and it is expected to be officially launched in December this year.
At the same time, Microsoft also launched Foundry IQ and Fabric IQ to help AI Agents more accurately understand enterprise data and business operation logic, and provides enterprises with a one-stop service to create their own AI Agents through Microsoft Agent Factory.
