On 25 September 2026, Microsoft announced a reimagined Copilot. The app is now organised around three capabilities: Home, Code and Autopilot. Alongside them come a new hosting layer for Copilot-built apps, deeper grounding in business data, and a significant change to how Copilot is priced.
Announcing the launch on social media, Satya Nadella described the new Copilot as an operating system for work that spans every model, form factor and task. That is a big claim. For UK SMEs, the more useful question is simpler: what actually changes for the people using Microsoft 365 every day, and what does it mean for budgets, governance and planning over the next six to twelve months?
This article sets out what Microsoft announced, what is available now versus in preview, and where we think SMEs should focus their attention first.
Key takeaways
- Home is the new starting point in Copilot, bringing Chat, Cowork and full versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint together in one place.
- Code lets anyone build apps, dashboards and automations by describing them in plain English, hosted securely inside the organisation's own Microsoft 365 tenant.
- Autopilot, previously called Scout, is a persistent agent with its own identity that keeps working in the background, even when its owner is offline.
- Pricing now splits in two: a per-user licence covers Chat and Copilot in the Office apps, while Cowork, Code and Autopilot are billed by usage in Copilot Credits.
- Most features are in preview, rolling out through the Frontier programme first. SMEs should set spending policies and review permissions before switching anything on.
Home: one starting point for everyday and delegated work
Home is the new landing page in the Copilot app. It brings together two ways of working that were previously separate: Chat and Cowork. From Home, users can see recent activity, pick up unfinished work and get suggestions on what Copilot can help with.
The distinction between the two modes is worth understanding. Chat is for quick, conversational tasks: looking something up, checking a fact or producing a first draft. Cowork is for work you hand over entirely. Microsoft's examples include an RFP response, a product launch kit or a financial close package, which Cowork runs from start to finish.
Microsoft says that soon users will not need to choose a mode at all. You will simply state what you need, and Copilot will route the work to Chat, Cowork or Code as appropriate.
Home also brings Office directly into Copilot. Word, Excel and PowerPoint are now built into the experience, so users can create and refine documents, spreadsheets and presentations without switching between applications. For teams that currently copy and paste between Copilot and Office, this removes a surprising amount of friction.
Code: building apps by describing them
Code lets people without a development background build small applications, trackers, dashboards, automations and workflows by describing what they need in plain English. It runs on the same underlying technology as GitHub Copilot, and it works in a sandboxed environment that can be hosted inside an organisation's own Microsoft 365 tenant.
To support this, Microsoft has introduced Copilot Managed Runtime, now in preview. It is hosting infrastructure that lets code run safely inside your Microsoft 365 environment. IT stays in control, while users can share an app with colleagues, connect it to live data and access it from anywhere. The same runtime underpins apps built in Cowork, Code and Copilot Studio, and Microsoft is opening it to third-party and pro-code developers too.
The opportunity here is real. Most SMEs have a long tail of small operational problems, such as a spreadsheet that has outgrown itself or a manual approval chased by email, that never justify a development project. Code puts those within reach. The risk is equally real: without some governance, you can end up with dozens of unmanaged apps touching business data. The fact that Microsoft has built hosting and IT oversight into the design from day one is encouraging, but it still needs a policy behind it.
Autopilot: an agent that keeps working when you do not
Autopilot, previously known by its codename Scout, is the most significant shift in the announcement. Microsoft describes it as a persistent, proactive and personal agent: a digital teammate that carries on working even when you are offline.
You give Autopilot a name, a role and a goal, and it gets on with the work: watching channels, following up on threads, running recurring tasks and picking a project back up days later without waiting for a prompt. Microsoft's example is a full supplier review process, where Autopilot builds the schedule and workback plan, then handles preparation, meetings and follow-ups, including chasing stakeholders for updates. It lives in your tenant with its own identity, memory, computer and workspace, and you can @mention it like a colleague in Teams, Outlook, chats, channels and documents.
Autopilot draws on Microsoft IQ to understand how your organisation actually operates, and Microsoft says it includes permissions, auditing and governance controls. That matters. An agent with its own identity is, in practical terms, a new kind of user in your tenant, and it deserves the same scrutiny you would give a new member of staff with access to your systems.
Today, @Copilot in Teams and better grounding in business data
Microsoft also previewed two further experiences. Today is a personalised command centre inside Home that pulls email, calendar, Teams conversations, meetings and tasks into one view. It is due to enter private preview in October 2026, with plans to bring it into Outlook and Teams.
@Copilot in Teams works within the shared context and permissions of a channel, group chat or meeting. In practice, that means you can ask what was decided in an earlier discussion and have Copilot surface the relevant background, rather than scrolling back through weeks of messages.
On data, Fabric IQ now brings context from more than 20 million Power BI semantic models into Copilot. It is generally available in Chat and Cowork today, with Code integration coming through the Frontier programme. For organisations that have invested in Power BI reporting, this means Copilot's answers can draw on the same governed numbers the business already trusts.
Of particular interest to Dynamics customers, Copilot is also being grounded in data and workflows from Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, rolling out in public preview over the next month. Microsoft's example is a salesperson writing a proposal, with Copilot pulling deal history and support tickets straight into the document. Alongside this, a new plugin registry brings Microsoft, partner and custom-built plugins into one catalogue that IT can approve and manage centrally.
All of this is a reminder that the quality of Copilot's output depends heavily on the quality and structure of the data underneath it.
The pricing change: licence for the assistant, credits for the agents
For finance and IT leaders, this is the part of the announcement that needs the closest reading. Copilot is moving to a split model.
| What you use | How it is charged |
|---|---|
| Chat, plus Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, with model selection across providers | Per-user subscription licence |
| Cowork, Code, Autopilot and the most advanced frontier models | Usage-based billing in Copilot Credits |
In short, the flat licence now buys the assistant, with Auto choosing the best model for each request, while agents doing delegated work draw on credits. The announcement itself does not quote credit rates. Microsoft has published a separate post on the evolution of the Copilot pricing model, which is worth reading before committing budget.
Autopilot is the feature most likely to catch a finance team off guard, precisely because it keeps working in the background. To address this, Microsoft has launched new FinOps for AI controls:
- Cost management in Agent 365 now covers Code and Copilot Managed Runtime, with Copilot Studio agents to follow in October.
- Admins can manage spending policies at scale through an API and route users' credit requests into existing approval workflows.
- Admins can choose which model families are available to different groups of users, which also shapes what the Auto model selector can pick.
- Leaders can see which Cowork tasks deliver the strongest outcomes, to decide where to expand or scale back.
- Users can view their own credit usage, balances and history directly in Copilot.
The message is clear: Microsoft positions agentic work as needing a different type of spend, built around the best possible quality from the most advanced models, so budget control sits firmly with the customer. Setting spending policies before anyone switches these features on is not optional.
What is available, and when
Most of this announcement describes previews rather than general availability, and it is worth being precise about that.
| Capability | Status as announced |
|---|---|
| Home (with Office in Copilot) | Rolling out through the Frontier early-access programme in the coming weeks |
| Code | Rolling out to Frontier at the end of September 2026, with broad availability in the coming weeks; preview for Microsoft 365 Premium and Pro subscribers later this year |
| Copilot Managed Runtime | In preview now, and accessible inside Code |
| Autopilot | Expanding to private preview at the end of September 2026 |
| @Copilot in Teams | Private preview by the end of September 2026 |
| Today in Home | Private preview from October 2026, coming later to Outlook and Teams |
| Fabric IQ grounding | Generally available in Chat and Cowork now; Code integration via Frontier soon |
| Dynamics 365 and Power Platform grounding | Public preview rolling out over the next month |
| Plugin registry | Rolling out now, generally available in the coming weeks |
| FinOps cost management for Copilot Studio agents | Planned for October 2026 |
If you are not already part of the Frontier programme, expect these features to reach you gradually rather than all at once. Microsoft has said more detail will follow at Microsoft Ignite, 17 to 20 November 2026.
What UK SMEs should do now
The new Copilot is a genuine step forward, particularly for organisations that want to move from AI that answers questions to AI that completes work. But the value will go to businesses that prepare, not those that simply switch things on. We would suggest five priorities.
- Set spending policies first. Decide who can use Cowork, Code and Autopilot, which models they can access, and what approval route applies to credit requests. Do this before rollout, not after the first invoice.
- Review permissions and data hygiene. Copilot and Autopilot work within your existing Microsoft 365 permissions. If SharePoint and Teams access is overly broad today, agents will inherit that problem.
- Agree a governance model for Code. Define where Copilot-built apps can live, who can share them and how they are reviewed, so a useful capability does not become unmanaged sprawl.
- Pick two or three delegated-work pilots. Choose repeatable, well-understood processes such as bid responses, month-end packs or supplier reviews, and measure outcomes against cost.
- Strengthen the data layer. If Copilot will draw on Power BI semantic models, Dynamics 365 and other business systems, the accuracy of that data becomes the ceiling on the accuracy of Copilot's work.
How Advantage can help
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, Advantage helps UK SMEs adopt Microsoft 365 and Copilot with the right foundations in place. That includes readiness and permissions reviews, governance and FinOps policy design, identifying high-value use cases, and connecting Copilot to your data in Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and Microsoft Power Platform.
If you want to understand what the new Copilot means for your organisation, and how to adopt it without losing control of cost or data, the first step is knowing where you stand today.
Book a Microsoft Copilot Readiness Assessment. Contact the Advantage team today on 020 3004 4600 or visit our contact page.
Frequently asked questions about the new Microsoft Copilot
Short answers to the questions UK businesses are asking about Home, Code, Autopilot and the new Copilot pricing model.
What is the new Microsoft Copilot?
The new Copilot, announced on 25 September 2026, reorganises the Copilot app around three capabilities. Home brings Chat, Cowork and Office together in one place. Code lets anyone build apps and automations in plain English. Autopilot is a persistent agent that keeps working in the background.
What is Copilot Autopilot?
Autopilot, previously called Scout, is a cloud-hosted agent that works like a digital teammate. You give it a name, a role and a goal, and it follows up on threads, runs recurring work and manages multi-day projects without waiting for a prompt. It has its own identity in your Microsoft 365 tenant, with permissions, auditing and governance controls.
Is Cowork included in the Copilot licence?
No. The per-user Copilot licence covers Chat and Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. Cowork, Code, Autopilot and the most advanced frontier models are charged separately through usage-based billing in Copilot Credits.
When will these features be available in the UK?
Home and Code are rolling out first through Microsoft's Frontier early-access programme, with broader availability to follow. Autopilot and @Copilot in Teams enter private preview at the end of September 2026, and Today follows in October. Most features are in preview rather than generally available, so availability will vary by organisation.
How can SMEs control Copilot costs?
Microsoft has introduced FinOps for AI controls in Agent 365. Admins can set spending policies, route credit requests through approval workflows and restrict which AI models different users can access. Setting these policies before switching on Cowork, Code or Autopilot is the most effective way to avoid unexpected spend.
Related Resources
Microsoft Copilot Readiness Assessment
Microsoft 365 and Copilot
Everyday AI That Works for You
Microsoft Power Platform
Power BI Reporting and Dashboards
