Meet Copilot Cowork: A New Way of Getting Work Done
There's a difference between an AI that answers and one that acts. This demo video introduces Copilot Cowork in Microsoft 365 Copilot, showing how it takes on long-running, multi-step work on your behalf. Powered by Work IQ, it draws on the full context of your work to reason over relevant materials as tasks progress. Watch the video to see how Copilot Cowork can change how meaningful work gets done.
Copilot Cowork is an extension of Microsoft 365 Copilot designed for long-running, multi-step work rather than quick, one-off prompts. Instead of asking Copilot to create a single document or slide and then stopping there, you can delegate a broader piece of work to Cowork and let it manage the steps over time.
Key differences from the standard Copilot experience include:
- Multi-step workflows: Cowork can handle tasks that unfold over minutes or hours, not just a single interaction.
- Ongoing collaboration: You stay in the loop as work progresses, reviewing outputs and guiding the direction as needed.
- Deeper context: With Work IQ, Cowork can use the broader context of your work across Microsoft 365, not just isolated files or messages.
- Secure by design: All of this happens inside Microsoft 365, leveraging your existing security and compliance boundaries.
How does Copilot Cowork handle complex, multi-step tasks?
Copilot Cowork is built to rethink how you handle complex work that doesn’t fit into a single prompt or a single app.
Here’s how it manages multi-step tasks:
- Runs over time: Tasks are not confined to one turn. Cowork can keep working for minutes or hours, coordinating actions as it goes.
- Cross-app coordination: It can move across Microsoft 365 apps as needed, so the work isn’t stuck in just one place. For example, it might pull information from documents, emails, and notes to produce a coherent output.
- Work IQ context: Using Work IQ, Cowork has access to the full context of your work—not just fragments of data—so it can reason over all relevant materials and make more informed decisions.
- Progressive outputs: As it works, Cowork produces real outputs along the way, which you can review, refine, and approve.
Is Copilot Cowork secure for enterprise use?
Copilot Cowork is designed to reimagine AI-assisted work while staying within the security and compliance framework of Microsoft 365.
From a security perspective:
- Runs inside Microsoft 365: All Cowork activity happens securely, inside Microsoft 365, using the same enterprise-grade controls you already rely on.
- Context with boundaries: Work IQ gives Cowork a broad view of your work context, but it still respects your existing permissions and access controls.
- Data handling: As Cowork coordinates tasks and produces outputs over minutes or hours, it operates within your organization’s established security and compliance policies.
This means you can delegate meaningful, multi-step work to Copilot Cowork while maintaining the protections already in place across your Microsoft 365 environment.
Meet Copilot Cowork: A New Way of Getting Work Done
published by Definitive Solutions
Definitive Solutions was founded in 1999 by Peter Meade who has over 30 years in the IT industry. We deliver IT managed services, cloud and security solutions to our SMB and Enterprise clients throughout Ireland and Internationally.
We are not just another MSP; our technical skill is given, but our success has been built on the ethos of trust and our focus is always on building strong relationships. Our approach is to really understand our clients’ business challenges and goals, and implement bespoke technology products and services which meet their unique business requirements.
As an independent private company, you can trust us to give impartial advice. We stand over every product and service we recommend and will only offer the right solutions for our clients. There is no such thing as ‘one size fits all’.
Our focus on professional trust and relationships does not just apply to our long-established clients; it continues within our dedicated team, evidenced by one of the strongest retention rates in the industry, and with our partners.
All of the growth and success our business has enjoyed is a result of our outstanding team of people and we all share a passion for providing the best customer experience.
Our clients range across all industry verticals including financial services, public sector, distribution, pharma and charities. Many of our clients operate within highly regulated industries, and adhere to strict compliance and regulation standards and we work closely with them to ensure their technology strategy is aligned with their compliance responsibilities.
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