Copilot Cowork is a new AI feature announced in March 2026 that goes beyond answering questions — it carries out multi-step work tasks on its own, in the background, across Microsoft 365 apps. A user describes what they want done, and the AI creates a plan and executes it automatically, checking in with the user at key points.

Announced March 9, 2026 and currently in a limited Research Preview. Cowork uses Work IQ — a system that draws signals from Outlook, Teams, Excel, and SharePoint — to understand context before acting. Notably, Cowork is powered in part by Anthropic's Claude AI model, alongside Microsoft's existing OpenAI integration, reflecting a move toward multi-model AI architecture. Unlike Microsoft 365 Copilot's chat-based interface, Cowork is designed to run autonomously with human checkpoints rather than requiring constant user instruction.