Redazione RHC : 30 September 2025 17:10
Microsoft has launched Agent Mode, an AI-powered feature in Excel and Word that automatically creates complex spreadsheets and text documents with a single text query.
Copilot Chat also launched Office Agent, powered by Anthropic templates, which allows users to quickly create PowerPoint presentations and Word documents.
Agent mode in Excel and Word is a more powerful version of the Copilot assistant already present in the Office suite. One of the agent’s tasks is to make complex Excel functions accessible to users. The AI agent is based on the OpenAI GPT-5 model.
When presented with a complex task, it breaks it down into steps, creates a plan and explanations, and allows the user to monitor progress. Each step is further broken down into specific tasks, and each agent action is displayed in a sidebar.
The AI agent achieved a score of 57.2% in Excel on the SpreadsheetBench test, designed specifically to evaluate the ability of models to edit spreadsheets. This score is higher than that of Shortcut.ai, the ChatGPT agent, and Anthropic Claude Files Opus 4.1, but lower than the human score of 71.3%.
Agent mode in Word does more than just edit and summarize text. Agent mode prepares drafts, suggests clarifications, and indicates any document finalization needs. You can consolidate work data from several months into a single report, summarize the month’s results, and quickly identify differences from the previous report.
The Office Agent, based on Anthropic models, works in Copilot chat outside of the Office suite, but allows users to create PowerPoint presentations and Word documents directly within the chat. In the case of PowerPoint, users receive a logically structured presentation, which the AI can access from web resources and display slide previews as it goes.
It’s worth noting that while OpenAI models are the primary models in the Office suite, models from another developer, Anthropic, are increasingly gaining traction in the Microsoft ecosystem. The developer integrated Office Agent into the Copilot chat app, accessing Anthropic’s API based on Amazon Web Services, a direct competitor to Microsoft. This may explain why the Office suite doesn’t yet have deep integration of this developer’s models.
AI agent mode in Word and Excel is already available to participants in Frontier’s Experimental Features program; a Microsoft 365 Copilot or Microsoft 365 Personal/Family subscription is required. While it’s currently only available in the web versions of the apps, it will soon be available in the desktop versions as well. Office Agent is also currently only available to Frontier users with Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft 365 Personal/Family subscriptions in the United States.
Redazione