Office agents or integrated Copilot

How to choose between the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents in the Copilot app and the Copilot integrated into the Office applications?

  • Microsoft Copilot
  • Microsoft Word
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft PowerPoint

1250 € per session, excl. VAT

In short

Make informed decisions to optimize your workflow with Copilot. This course compares using the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents in the Copilot app versus the assistant integrated within the Office applications. Discover where files are created and stored, and which results require manual finishing to choose the right tool for the task.

Why this training?

Microsoft 365 Copilot offers two main interaction points: the centralized app with its Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents, and the integrated experience within each Office application. This duality can be confusing. Choosing the wrong entry point can lead to inefficiencies, incorrect file storage, or results requiring extensive rework. This course clarifies these two approaches, enabling users to understand the specific strengths and ideal use cases for each. Participants will learn to navigate these options confidently, selecting the most direct path to achieve their goals, thereby improving their productivity and deliverable quality. The exercises focus on direct comparison. Participants will tackle a single task, like creating a project summary report and its presentation, using both the Microsoft 365 Copilot app and the integrated Copilot tools. This hands-on approach forces a direct evaluation of the process, the location of the created files, the quality of the output, and the amount of manual adjustment needed for each method, aiming to build practical, first-hand experience. Deliverables: A decision grid for choosing between the Copilot app and integrated Copilot; A summary document comparing features, benefits, and limitations; A procedure for a specific task, executed using both methods. This course focuses strictly on comparing the Copilot app agents and the integrated features. It does not cover other Copilot integrations (e.g., in Teams, Outlook), nor does it delve into advanced prompting techniques or the administration and configuration of the tool. The workshop is delivered in person as a private session for up to 12 participants, in one language chosen from French, Dutch and English. All exercise data is fictional or anonymised, and every result produced with AI is reviewed and validated by a responsible person. The aim is a bounded result the team can reuse, not a promise of deployment.

Objectives of this training

  • Distinguish the Microsoft 365 Copilot app from the Copilot integrated within Office applications
  • Identify the prerequisites (license, rollout) for each Copilot entry point
  • Compare the outputs produced by both approaches for the same task
  • Determine where files generated by each method are created and stored
  • Evaluate when an output requires significant manual finishing

Who is it for and what are the prerequisites?

Roles and tasks concerned

  • Professionals looking to optimize their use of Microsoft's AI tools
  • Regular users of the Microsoft Office suite wanting to integrate Copilot into their work
  • Project teams aiming to standardize their work methods with AI assistants

Prior skills

  • Knowledge equivalent to the 'AI Fundamentals' and 'AI Prompting' courses is required. Participants must have a paid subscription to Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint that includes the Copilot features used (feature availability may depend on the specific plan and administrator settings), their organization's authorization to use these third-party tools, and their actual accounts and access rights. Exercises use fictional or anonymized data.

What you will work on

  1. Foundations: Two Entry Points to the Same Tool Suite

    Introducing the Microsoft 365 Copilot app and its agents Demonstrating the integrated Copilot in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

  2. Word Use Case: Document Creation vs. Content Analysis

    Generating a document draft via the Word agent in the Copilot app Using Copilot inside Word to summarize, rewrite, and format existing text

  3. Excel and PowerPoint: From Data Analysis to Presentation

    Querying a data file with the Excel agent in the Copilot app Creating a presentation from a document with the PowerPoint agent

  4. Synthesis: Building Your Decision Framework

    Comparative analysis: file storage, manual finishing needs, required licenses Building a personalized decision grid to choose the right tool

What you take away

  • A decision grid for choosing between the Copilot app and integrated Copilot
  • A summary document comparing features, benefits, and limitations
  • A procedure for a specific task, executed using both methods

Method and assessment

  • Live demonstrations by the instructor
  • Supervised hands-on exercises on real-world cases
  • Group discussions and experience sharing

Continuous evaluation through the completion of practical exercises and active participation in discussions.

Frequently asked questions

What concrete result does this course deliver?

Master both facets of Copilot to systematically choose the fastest, most appropriate tool for your needs within Microsoft Office. Deliverables: a decision grid for choosing between the copilot app and integrated copilot, a summary document comparing features, benefits, and limitations, a procedure for a specific task, executed using both methods.

Who is this course for and what are the prerequisites?

It is designed for: professionals looking to optimize their use of microsoft's ai tools, regular users of the microsoft office suite wanting to integrate copilot into their work, project teams aiming to standardize their work methods with ai assistants. Knowledge equivalent to the 'AI Fundamentals' and 'AI Prompting' courses is required. Participants must have a paid subscription to Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint that includes the Copilot features used (feature availability may depend on the specific plan and administrator settings), their organization's authorization to use these third-party tools, and their actual accounts and access rights. Exercises use fictional or anonymized data.

What data and access need to be arranged?

Participants will need access to their Microsoft 365 accounts with active Copilot licenses, and will use exercise files provided by the instructor. Required tools and licences are checked before the session; no subscription is included in the price.

What practical exercise is completed?

The exercises focus on direct comparison. Participants will tackle a single task, like creating a project summary report and its presentation, using both the Microsoft 365 Copilot app and the integrated Copilot tools. This hands-on approach forces a direct evaluation of the process, the location of the created files, the quality of the output, and the amount of manual adjustment needed for each method, aiming to build practical, first-hand experience.

What are the limits and who validates the results?

This course focuses strictly on comparing the Copilot app agents and the integrated features. It does not cover other Copilot integrations (e.g., in Teams, Outlook), nor does it delve into advanced prompting techniques or the administration and configuration of the tool.

Can the course be adapted to our line of work?

The exercises can be adapted to use company-specific document templates and anonymized data relevant to the participants' business sector, making the comparison between the two Copilot approaches more pertinent to their daily tasks.

How is the session organised and what does it cost?

Half-day, private in-person session for up to 12 participants. The fee is €1,250 excluding VAT per session. Date and location are agreed during scoping; each session runs in a single language: French, Dutch or English.

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