The February 2026 rollout introduces Agent Mode with GPT-5.2, enabling Copilot to function as an agent-style assistant capable of executing sophisticated workflows across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook without constant human intervention. The architectural shift moves AI from answering individual queries to orchestrating entire business processes.
"These aren't chatbots anymore—they're digital coworkers," explained Microsoft's product team. "An agent can handle sales development from lead qualification through follow-up emails, manage expense reporting end-to-end, or administer SharePoint permissions across thousands of users."
New features launching mid to late February include the ability to add public web links as references in Copilot Notebooks, grounding AI responses on specific sources for improved accuracy. Teams users will soon create personalized meeting notes using custom templates and instructions, automating previously manual documentation tasks.
Microsoft is also introducing AI watermarking capabilities—a policy setting that lets administrators add visual or audio watermarks to any AI-generated or AI-altered video or audio content, addressing concerns about synthetic media authenticity in enterprise environments.