Microsoft Build Recap: Copilot, Windows, and What’s Next

This Week

While protestors grabbed the headlines at Microsoft’s Build conference, the more important news was what Microsoft shipped—major updates to Copilot, Windows, and Microsoft 365.

Most of it was aimed at developers, but a few key changes signal what’s coming for everyday users, too.

Here’s what stood out…

The Agentic Future is Here

Microsoft’s vision for AI goes beyond assistants. They’re building AI agents that can navigate apps, manage tasks, and complete workflows on your behalf. At Build, they laid the groundwork for what they’re calling an “agentic web”—a future where AI can act on your behalf across apps, services, and platforms.

To help make that future possible, Microsoft is backing a new open standard called Model Context Protocol (MCP). Think of it like USB-C for AI, one universal way for agents to connect with different apps, services, and platforms without custom setups or complicated code.

Originally developed by Anthropic, MCP makes it easier for developers to build AI agents that can share data and work together. Microsoft is rolling out support across their platform and contributing to the standard itself, with features like trusted sign-in and centralized registries, so agents can securely access your tools and services.

You Can Fine Tune Your AI Agent

The biggest update from Build is probably Copilot Fine Tuning. Users can now fine-tune models using automated “recipes” that train on enterprise data to handle domain-specific tasks. Once training is complete, agents built in Agent Builder can tap into these tailored models and integrate directly into Microsoft 365 apps.

The three pre-built recipes are:

• Expert Q&A: Build a customer service knowledge agent trained on technical support materials from your SharePoint that can provide detailed answers to support reps’ questions. 

• Document Generation: Use your company’s archive of successful RFPs to assemble first drafts written in your company’s approved format and tone. 

• Summarization and Analysis: Summarize large volumes of project documentation to produce executive or customer status summaries.  

If you want to know how to fine tune your own model, Jeremy Chapman has a great walk through here. 

Copilot Fine Tuning is currently limited to customers in the Microsoft Early Access Program with more than 5,000 Copilot seats, but Microsoft says broader access is coming soon.

Translate Your PDFs in Browser

Microsoft Edge is adding built-in PDF translation. Instead of copying and pasting text into a separate tool, you’ll be able to translate entire PDFs into 70+ languages with one click—just hit “translate” in the address bar. The feature is rolling out to users now and will be generally available next month.

Activate AI Actions With One Click

Microsoft is bringing AI shortcuts (what it calls “AI actions”) to File Explorer in Windows 11. You’ll be able to right-click a file and instantly access tools like background blur, object removal, or content summaries from Office files.

Similar AI actions are coming to Office, with features like summarizing documents in OneDrive or SharePoint and generating quick lists from file content. These Office-specific actions will be limited to Microsoft 365 users.

A few other updates worth noting:

• AI meeting summaries in Teams to help you catch up on missed calls or review key points 

• Chat summarization pulls key insights from long threads

• Copilot in Excel has an updated selection of prompts 

• Copilot in PowerPoint creates speaker notes tailored to each slide

Got a few extra hours on your hands? You can watch all the Microsoft Build keynotes and workshops here.