Grace Ashiru
On September 16, Microsoft will unveil the “next phase of Copilot innovation” during its Wave 2 Copilot event, broadcasted on LinkedIn Live at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET.
CEO Satya Nadella and Jared Spataro will present the latest updates to Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant integrated across Microsoft 365, Windows 11, and Edge.
What can users anticipate from this event?
Although specific details are still under wraps, reports from The Verge suggest a potential rebranding effort. Microsoft may be moving towards a more unified naming system. For example, “Copilot in Word” might be renamed to “Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word,” and “Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365” could be streamlined to “Microsoft 365 Copilot.” This would highlight its deeper integration into the broader Microsoft ecosystem.
What new features will be introduced?
For businesses, Microsoft is expected to emphasize making Copilot more valuable, particularly in relation to the $30 per user per month subscription fee.
Some companies, such as Ascendion, have paused their use of Copilot due to bugs and concerns about its value. Microsoft will likely address these concerns during the event and unveil updates aimed at improving reliability and performance.
The event is also expected to highlight Copilot’s expansion within Dynamics 365, showcasing new features across sales, service, and finance. These enhancements will further embed AI into business workflows, streamlining tasks like lead generation and financial reconciliation.
While much of the focus will be on business users, updates for Microsoft’s consumer AI offering, Copilot Pro, could also be on the horizon. Priced at $20 per month, Copilot Pro has seen fewer feature updates recently, and Microsoft even removed the GPT Builder earlier this year.
However, with Mustafa Suleyman now leading Microsoft’s consumer AI unit, which focuses on products like Bing and Edge, there may be some exciting new consumer-oriented developments announced at the event.
Copilot is more than just another tool—it’s a key part of Microsoft’s broader AI strategy. The company’s $10 billion investment in OpenAI has allowed it to incorporate advanced AI technology, such as GPT-4, into its services, giving Microsoft a competitive edge in the tech market.
This integration helped Microsoft briefly surpass Apple earlier this year as the world’s most valuable tech company, with a valuation exceeding $3 trillion. However, its valuation has since fluctuated.
Meanwhile, Google is quickly catching up with its Gemini AI tool (formerly Bard), which offers unlimited interactions and is making progress in consumer-friendly applications. However, Microsoft’s advantage remains in Copilot’s deep integration into the productivity apps that professionals use daily.
The Wave 2 event is expected to demonstrate how Microsoft plans to maintain this competitive edge by continuing to embed Copilot into its platforms, making it even more indispensable for tasks like drafting emails, summarizing documents, and analyzing data.
