The continuing evolution of Microsoft Copilot

Were you an “early tester” for Microsoft Copilot early last year…and didn’t find it useful? Our team has heard about this phenomenon from customers who resisted further testing or planning use of Copilot, due to it’s early lackluster performance. If you haven’t tested Copilot recently, seriously, give it shot. Since early 2024, there have been so many advances, changes and new features, it now feels like a new, enterprise-grade product. Noted below are some key points illustrating how Copilot has matured from a basic query box, to a technically-capable business tool over the past two years. Note that Microsoft has a rolling schedule for enhancements and new features, with the “public preview” and the “general availability” date sometimes 6 months apart to allow plenty of time for testing.

Progress in 2024

January – the Windows 11 Copilot keyboard key was introduced, to show that AI was now a permanent part of the PC experience.

March/April – a preview of Copilot Actions showed how routine tasks could be automated via configuring prompts and proactive assistance.

September – enhancements to the Copilot Dashboard included integration of survey results from Viva Glint and Pulse, for more insightful sentiment analysis.

October – support for multi-page and expanded content (code, charts and diagrams) as Copilot Pages features were enabled, for enhanced collaboration

December – automated execution of scheduled prompt actions was released, as well as a branding update to “Microsoft 365 Copilot” with a chat feature and changes to the UI.

Progress in 2025

January – -mobile support was added for editing Pages and integration options were enhanced in Teams and Outlook

February – Copilot Studio capability extended via custom engine agents, and agents can be enriched with third-party data sources

April – customer-managed encryption keys can be used to secure data

May – public previews of additional data sources such as One Drive and non-Microsoft data sources (Salesforce, Service Now, Confluence, ZenDesk, SAP Hana)

June – ability to use SSO connectors in agents

August – SharePoint and OneDrive can use up to 1000 uploads per agent

September – introduced ability to have agents published to WhatsApp

October – Fall release included key items in Groups (real time collaboration up to 32 users in a a shared session), memory and personalization features expanded across sessions, customizable animated visual assistant. GPT-5 integration

November – preview of voice input and Teams collaboration

Additional updates, enhancements and changes are documented in Microsoft’s “Release Wave” documentation:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/release-plan/2025wave1/microsoft-copilot-studio/planned-features

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/release-plan/2025wave2/microsoft-copilot-studio/planned-features

The Roadmap Ahead

Wondering “what’s next” for Microsoft Copilot? Based on the progress so far, public data and available roadmap details. we will likely see changes utilizing Copilot in these areas: agentic AI (proactive vs reactive), combined input options (text, voice, video, images), increased compliance measures (governance options) and a more personalized user experience (adaptive functions, memory across sessions, optimized features for specific user roles).

Does your organization need guidance on how to successfully incorporate the features of AI and Microsoft Copilot into your employee work processes? If so, give the Beringer Team a call today at 800-796-4854. We have extensive experience evaluating technology needs, business requirements, and showing business leaders how AI and Microsoft Copilot can help everyone “work smarter”.

At Beringer Technology Group, we’re not like most other MSPs! We offer both IT Managed Services and Microsoft Cloud Applications Consulting to customers in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Now offering Microsoft Co-Pilot and Azure AI Consulting services. Visit our website www.beringer.net to see all the services we offer and the industries we serve.