Forget vibe coding — Microsoft has a new idea. It’s called “vibe working,” and it’s what the company is promising as it brings more agentic AI features to its Microsoft 365 Office apps using Microsoft Copilot. Microsoft says that Agent Mode in Excel and Word will deliver “best-in-class, AI-generated spreadsheets and documents,” all with a single starting prompt. From there, the goal is for users continue to work alongside the AI agent, steering it as it completes the necessary steps to finish tasks and provide assistance.
Based on the announcement, “vibe working” will revolve around three new features. For Excel, Microsoft says users will be able to run analysis on data sets and easily create insightful documents that help them get more out of their data. A few prompt examples highlighted in the announcement include loan calculations, creating a personal budget, and even generating a financial analysis.
Word is also getting access its own version of Agent Mode, with prompts that users can send in order to create project updates, new document styles — Microsoft specifically mentions using the agent to clean up styling and branding — and even monthly report updates. You can see the full prompts that Microsoft recommends trying in the official post.
Expanding Office’s capabilities with Copilot Chat
Microsoft has offered Copilot Chat in its various Office apps for months, but this update also brings some new capabilities to Copilot Chat, such as the arrival of the Office Agent. Microsoft says that “work often starts in chat” and that with the Office Agent in Copilot, you can now use Anthropic models to create new Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and more.
Microsoft seems confident that this mode will offer better usage of AI to create professional presentations, while also offering a few prompts you can try in the process. Since you’re talking directly with the agent, though, Microsoft recommends ensuring you’re clarifying your intent with the prompts that you use, as this will allow the AI agent to create more consistent and high-quality content.
You can, of course, learn more about improving prompts in AI like ChatGPT to find new ways to better create your prompts before sending them off to Microsoft’s new Agent. That way you can get more out of the AI chatbot. These new features will start rolling out in the Frontier program for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed customers and Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers today.
