Microsoft Launches Agent Mode in Excel and Word with AI-Powered Office Agent

As reported by The Verge.

Microsoft has introduced a new step in the evolution of office tools: vibe-work is integrated into Excel and Word as the Agent Mode, able to create complex tables and documents from a single prompt. Alongside this, they are launching Office Agent in the Copilot chat, based on Anthropic models, capable of generating PowerPoint presentation decks and Word documents from a chat prompt, while performing web searches and providing a live slide preview.

“Today we are bringing vibe-work into Microsoft 365 Copilot with the agent mode in Office apps and Office Agent in the Copilot chat.”

– Sumit Chauhan

The Agent Model in Excel and Word is presented as a more powerful version of the Copilot experience in these apps. It is designed to make the more complex parts of working with data more accessible even to users without deep expertise, offering not only short answers but also ready-to-use materials for presentations and documents.

“Just as vibe coding changed software development, the latest thinking models in Copilot unlock agent productivity for Office artifacts.”

– Sumit Chauhan

Agent Mode breaks a complex task down into a step-by-step plan with reasoning that the user can follow. It then uses OpenAI’s GPT-5 model to turn each stage of document creation into an agent task and execute it. It’s almost like watching an automated system in real time: the side panel shows all actions and intermediate steps.

From a data-quality perspective, Microsoft states that Agent Mode in Excel can reach an accuracy of over 57% in the SpreadsheetBench test, placing it above some competitive solutions, but leaving certain aspects to the human factor. In Word, the mode expands writing capabilities, moving from simple editing to interactive vibe-writing, where Copilot proposes drafts, suggests improvements, and clarifies the required elements during document creation.

Word, Copilot, and New Possibilities

Office Agent will also be available beyond traditional Office apps through the Copilot chat. Built on Anthropic models, it can create full PowerPoint presentation decks or Word documents from a chat prompt, while performing web searches and providing a live slide preview. Microsoft expects this to help Office apps stand out even more amid the variety of AI tools, which are also focused on creating documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

“Productivity is in our DNA; we are Office.”

– Sumit Chauhan

The company also emphasizes the integration of Anthropic models into Microsoft 365 and continues to explore which models deliver the strongest capabilities for services. This enables Microsoft to build a more cohesive and adaptable toolkit where different AI models complement each other within Copilot.

Agent Mode for Copilot in Excel and Word is already available in Frontier for Microsoft 365 Copilot customers or Microsoft 365 Personal/Family subscribers, but initially it is supported only on the web versions, with offline versions expected in future releases. Office Agent has also been launched in the Frontier program in the United States.

These innovations reflect Microsoft’s drive to make office tools more interactive and responsive to user needs, focusing on integrating different AI models and developing Copilot as a central assistant in everyday workflows.

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