The Pulse
Microsoft Recasts Copilot Around Home, Code and Autopilot
Microsoft announced a redesigned Copilot experience with Home, Code and Autopilot, alongside a usage-based billing model for agentic work. Home and Code are slated to roll out through the Frontier program, while Autopilot is expanding to pr
AI.info Team ·
Three capabilities—Home, Code and Autopilot—anchor Microsoft’s redesigned Copilot, announced September 25. The company is bringing conversational chat, delegated work, software-building tools and a persistent agent into one experience, while tying the new agentic features to usage-based billing rather than a fixed subscription alone. Home and Code are due to start rolling out through Microsoft’s Frontier program in the coming weeks; Autopilot is expanding to private preview at the end of September.
Home puts chat beside delegated work
Home combines Copilot’s Chat and Cowork features, with Microsoft’s Word, Excel and PowerPoint tools built into the experience. Chat handles quick questions, lookups and drafts, while Cowork is designed for tasks users hand off to run end-to-end. Microsoft gives examples including preparing a request-for-proposal response, a customer briefing or a financial close package.
Microsoft says users will be able to create or update editable Office documents from Copilot and work on them alongside a conversation. Teammates can be mentioned in the experience, and their edits appear as they make them. The company says those files remain synchronized with Office apps, rather than becoming separate copies that users must reconcile.
The planned routing feature would let users describe a goal without first choosing Chat, Cowork or Code; Microsoft says Copilot will direct the request to the appropriate capability. That puts the emphasis on choosing a task rather than selecting a tool. It also raises the practical question of how reliably Copilot will distinguish a quick answer from work that should be delegated or built as software.
Code turns prompts into workplace apps
Code is aimed at people who need a purpose-built tool, not only professional software developers. Users can describe an app, dashboard, tracker, automation or workflow in natural language, and Copilot will build it. Microsoft says the results could range from desktop widgets and interactive dashboards to cloud-hosted apps shared with a team.
The feature uses the same underlying technology as GitHub Copilot and runs in a sandboxed environment. Microsoft says organizations can host Code-created software securely within their own tenant, with business context supplied by Microsoft IQ. The company also announced Copilot Managed Runtime, infrastructure for running code inside a Microsoft 365 environment; it is in preview and will be accessible through Code.
Microsoft says Code will enter Frontier at the end of September, with broader availability in the coming weeks. A preview for Microsoft 365 Premium and Pro subscribers is planned for later this year. The announcement does not specify a general release date.
Autopilot keeps working between prompts
Autopilot, formerly called Scout, is Microsoft’s persistent agent. A user gives it a name, role and goal; it can then monitor channels, follow up on conversations, handle recurring tasks and resume a project later without waiting for another prompt. Microsoft says it can, for example, organize a supplier review, prepare meetings and contact stakeholders for updates.
The agent runs in the cloud and has its own identity, memory, computer and workspace inside an organization’s tenant. Microsoft says it can appear in Teams, Outlook, chats, channels and documents, with permissions, auditing and governance controls. Users set its objective and boundaries; the company says Autopilot keeps them informed while carrying out the work.
Agent work carries a separate billing model
Microsoft distinguishes routine Copilot use from longer-running agent tasks in its pricing plan. A user subscription license covers Copilot in Chat and Microsoft 365 apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. For Cowork, Code, Autopilot and other agentic work, the company says it will use usage-based billing, allowing customers to choose models and align spending with usage.
Microsoft also announced new spending controls, including tools for administrators to set model availability and manage credit requests, and for users to check credit use and balances in Copilot. The announcements put three different kinds of work—asking, building and delegating—under one product name, but the rollout is staged and agent use has a distinct billing path. How customers weigh that added capability against usage-based costs will depend on what the tools can reliably complete and how much work they generate.