At Microsoft Ignite 2024, held in Chicago this month, AI remained at the center of Microsoft’s focus. The event highlighted Microsoft’s innovation with AI and Copilot, showcasing the integration of AI across their products.

While we did not attend the event in-person, the Compass365 team joined virtually to keep on the cutting edge with Microsoft advancements. We’ve put together a few highlights from the event for Microsoft 365 Copilot, Power Platform, and Microsoft Teams.

To read about all that was announced, explore the Microsoft Ignite 2024 Book of News.

Microsoft 365 Copilot

Microsoft announced that nearly 70% of Fortune 500 companies now use Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity and streamline operations.  Throughout the event updates and releases to further enable every employee to leverage Copilot as their personal assistant were shared.

New Agents in Microsoft 365:

• SharePoint Agent: Simplifies knowledge retrieval and document management.
• Teams Interpreter: Offers real-time language interpretation with voice simulation.
• Employee Self-Service Agent: Handles HR and IT queries and tasks.
• Facilitator and Project Manager Agents: Support meetings and project planning.
• Copilot Control System: Helps IT teams manage and secure Copilot and agents.

Feature enhancements:

• Copilot Actions: Automates repetitive tasks with simple prompts, such as summarizing action items or preparing meeting materials.
• Copilot Control System: Helps IT teams manage and secure Copilot and agents.
• Copilot Pages: Introduces dynamic, collaborative canvases for AI-driven workflows, supporting artifacts like flowcharts and code.
• Teams Integration: Analyzes visual and text content during meetings, offering summaries and insights.
• PowerPoint Translation: Translates presentations into 40 languages while preserving design.
• Outlook Updates: Assists with scheduling and personalized themes.

Learn more about Microsoft 365 Copilot announcements:

• Introducing Copilot Actions, new agents, and tools to empower IT teams
• Microsoft Ignite 2024 Book of News

Power Platform

Significant advancements in Microsoft Power Platform were unveiled, emphasizing AI-driven development and the integration of autonomous agents to enhance business processes.

Expansion of Copilot and Autonomous Agents

Microsoft announced the preview release of Copilot Studio, enabling users to build autonomous agents tailored to various business needs. These agents can automate tasks, manage workflows, and interact with users, thereby streamlining operations and boosting productivity.

Enhanced Developer Capabilities

The platform introduced features aimed at improving developer efficiency:

• Plan Designer: An AI-powered workspace that assists in transforming business requirements into comprehensive Power Platform solutions, including user stories, data models, applications, and automations.
• Custom AI Agents: Developers can now generate custom AI agents directly from existing Power Apps, leveraging built-in knowledge and logic to expedite the creation of intelligent applications.

Streamlined Security and Governance

To address security and governance, Microsoft introduced:

• Managed Security and Operations: A redesigned admin experience featuring focused capabilities for managing security, deploying solutions, and monitoring telemetry, simplifying the management of mission-critical workloads at scale.

Learn more about Power Platform announcements:

• Redefine development: AI-first innovation with agents and Microsoft Copilot in Power Platform
• Introducing managed security for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform: advanced protection for an AI-driven world
• AI agents — what they are, and how they’ll change the way we work

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams updates focused on enhancing collaboration, integrating AI capabilities, and improving user experience across various platforms.

Microsoft Places

Microsoft introduced Microsoft Places, an AI-driven workplace solution designed to optimize flexible work environments. Key features include:

• Recommended In-Office Days with Copilot: Utilizing AI, Copilot suggests optimal days for in-office work based on scheduled meetings and colleagues’ attendance.
• Managed Booking with Copilot: Copilot assists in managing room bookings, adapting to schedule changes to ensure appropriate workspace allocation.
• Places Finder: A tool to help users locate suitable meeting rooms or desks equipped with necessary technology.
• Workplace Presence: Automatically updates users’ location status to “office” when connecting to in-office equipment, facilitating seamless coordination with colleagues.
• Space Analytics with Copilot: Provides insights into office space utilization, aiding in optimizing workspace management.

Chat and Collaboration

Enhancements in chat and collaboration aim to streamline communication:

• Unified Chat and Channels Experience: A redesigned interface consolidates chats, teams, and channels into a single view, simplifying navigation and organization.
• Threaded Conversations: Introduced to improve message clarity and context within chats and channels.
• @Mentions View: A dedicated section to easily access messages where the user is mentioned.

Meetings

Meeting experiences are enhanced with new features:

• AI-Powered Interpreter: Real-time speech-to-speech translation in up to nine languages, simulating participants’ voices in different languages.
• Multilingual Meeting Transcription: Support for up to 31 translation languages in meeting transcripts.
• Super Resolution Video Calls: Improved video quality leveraging local NPU chips, beneficial for users with weak internet connections.

Learn more about all the Microsoft Teams announcements:

• What’s New in Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Ignite 2024
• Introducing the AI-Powered Workplace: Technology solutions for flexible work

As always, the Compass365 team is here to assist you in transforming your business with the Microsoft 365 platform.

If you have a vision for driving improvements and would like to discuss your ideas with our team of Microsoft consultants, please reach out at any time.