Microsoft is revolutionising spreadsheet analysis by integrating its Copilot AI directly into Excel cells. This new functionality, available to beta users of Microsoft 365 Copilot, allows users to leverage AI for generative tasks within individual cells, promising enhanced productivity and deeper data insights.
Key Takeaways
Copilot AI can now be invoked directly within Excel cells using a new
COPILOTfunction.The function allows users to provide prompts and specify cell ranges for context.
Capabilities include summarising feedback, categorising data, and even fetching external information.
The integration aims to justify Microsoft's AI investments by embedding Copilot across its product suite.
Seamless AI Integration into Excel
The new COPILOT function operates similarly to existing Excel functions, requiring an equals sign to initiate, followed by the prompt enclosed in quotes and any relevant cell references for context. For instance, users can now ask Copilot to summarise customer feedback directly within a cell. A demonstration showed the AI summarising 15 rows of coffee machine reviews into a concise paragraph, a task not natively possible in Excel.
Advanced Data Manipulation and Categorisation
Beyond summarisation, the COPILOT function can categorise data based on predefined criteria. In a practical example, feedback comments were assigned to categories such as 'Taste' or 'Ease of Use' by referencing a list of categories in separate cells. Furthermore, the AI can populate multiple columns simultaneously, adding sentiment analysis and even relevant emojis to the data, which can then be rolled up into pivot tables.
Leveraging External Knowledge
The integration also allows Copilot to pull information from its vast knowledge graph directly into spreadsheets. Users can prompt the AI to list airport codes for major airports in a specified country, with the results dynamically updating as the country name in a cell changes. The COPILOT function can also be nested within other Excel formulas, such as WRAPROWS, to present data in various formats.
This significant enhancement is currently available to Microsoft 365 Copilot subscribers who are part of the Microsoft 365 Insider beta program. The move underscores Microsoft's strategy to embed AI capabilities across its core products, making complex data analysis more accessible and efficient for its users.