Microsoft Launches ‘Agent Mode’ in Word and Excel, Pioneering Conversational AI assistance
REDMOND, WA – September 29, 2025 – Microsoft is significantly expanding the AI capabilities within it’s Microsoft 365 suite, introducing a new “agent mode” for Word and Excel designed to tackle complex tasks through a conversational, step-by-step approach. The update builds upon existing AI features rolled out in Microsoft 365 Copilot earlier this year.
Agent mode allows users to break down intricate requests, with the AI outlining its reasoning as it works. Microsoft explains the technology is designed to “talk through” tasks and utilize advanced functions, assessing and correcting its own results iteratively to ensure accuracy.
in Word, users can prompt the agent with requests like summarizing customer feedback and identifying key trends before document creation begins. Copilot will then offer drafts, suggest improvements, and clarify details in a dialog-driven process.
Complementing agent mode is a new “Office agent,” powered by models from Anthropic and integrated into Copilot. This agent can create PowerPoint presentations and Word documents through a conversational interface, sourcing information from the web and providing slide-by-slide overviews, with the goal of generating presentation-ready content.
The decision to utilize Anthropic’s models alongside Microsoft’s strong partnership with OpenAI reflects a strategy to explore the diverse strengths and weaknesses of available AI models. As Microsoft stated to The Verge, “We examine all families of models, wherever advanced work is carried out.”
The new features are currently available in the web versions of Excel and Word for personal and family subscribers, and are limited to English language support. The Office agent is presently restricted to users in the United States.
