Join top executives in San Francisco on July 11-12, to hear how leaders are integrating and optimizing AI investments for success. Learn More
Microsoft continues to place Copilot technology front-and-center in its product line, as evidenced today with its debut of a new, rehauled version of Teams with Copilot-driven AI smarts. The update, which is currently in public preview for Windows users, will simplify day-to-day work while speeding performance.
A little over a week ago, Microsoft announced the AI-powered Copilot experience for Microsoft 365 apps. The idea behind the move was to leverage user data in the Microsoft Graph — calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings and more — and bring the power of large language models, namely GPT-4, to Microsoft’s productivity apps.
With the new Teams in public preview, the work toward Copilot integration has begun.
How will Copilot-powered Teams help?
As Microsoft explains, the new Teams app lays the foundation of next-generation AI experiences by providing users the ability to get context-rich information with natural language prompts. For instance, if a user is late to a Teams meeting, they could ask for a recap, check if their name had been mentioned, go into specifics of a particular subject being discussed, and a lot more.
Event
Transform 2023
Join us in San Francisco on July 11-12, where top executives will share how they have integrated and optimized AI investments for success and avoided common pitfalls.
“We will use AI to take the work out of working together, by getting you up to speed on what happened before you joined a meeting or chat and answering your questions all in the flow of the discussion,” Jeff Teper, president for collaborative apps and platforms at Microsoft, said in a blog post. “We’re only just beginning to see the potential of AI inside of Teams, and we will have lots more to share in the future.”
Microsoft also plans to bring Copilot as a chat experience within Teams as well as on Viva Engage. The former will enable users to stay on top of business developments associated with different subjects, while the latter will help leaders draft personalized posts by equipping them with insightful suggestions based on sentiments and trending topics across workplace communities and conversations.
AI is my Copilot
Along with AI smarts, the new Teams is expected to bring notable speed and efficiency improvements. As the company notes, in the initial testing, both the “app launch” and “join meeting” actions were twice as fast as the classic Teams. Meanwhile, the memory consumption of the new app has decreased by half.
Teams will also carry a few UX enhancements, which will make it easier to stay on top of notifications, search for information, manage messages and organize channels. Furthermore, users will get the ability to stay signed in across different accounts.
The new Teams is expected to hit general availability later this year.
VentureBeat’s mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings.
