Copilot Cowork: what it is and how to use it

Microsoft announced Copilot Cowork in March 2026. Since June 2026 it has been available to businesses. The regular Copilot answers one question. Cowork works on a larger task on its own, which makes it a step towards AI that does the work itself.

What is Copilot Cowork?

Copilot Cowork is an AI agent in Microsoft 365. You give it an assignment, and Cowork splits it into steps. It looks up information in your email, documents and Teams, creates intermediate results and delivers an outcome. Cowork runs in Microsoft’s cloud, so your computer does not need to stay on while it works. It uses models from Anthropic, the maker of Claude, among others. Your IT administrator decides which employees may use Microsoft Cowork.

What can you do with Microsoft Cowork in your business?

Cowork is meant for work that consists of several steps. Think of:

• building a report from the past month’s emails, Excel files and meeting minutes

• preparing a quote based on earlier quotes and the wishes from a client meeting

• summarising a case file and listing the open points

• creating a project status presentation, with the figures from your files

The result is a first version. Someone on your team checks and adjusts it before it goes out.

Copilot Cowork, Copilot agents and Copilot Studio: the difference

The regular Copilot works per question. Copilot agents are assistants for a fixed task, such as Researcher and Analyst, which come with Microsoft 365 Copilot. Copilot Cowork works per task: it plans the steps itself and carries them out one after the other.

Microsoft Copilot Studio is something else. With it you build your own agents and automations, connected to your own systems. In Copilot Studio you also pay per use in credits. Studio is meant for processes you want to set up permanently, while Cowork works per assignment. The more an agent does on its own, the more important it is to know what it works with. Cowork sees the same files and emails as the employee who starts the task.

Copilot Cowork pricing: how the costs work

For Cowork you need a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, for Business or Enterprise. On top of that you pay per use. Microsoft charges in credits, based on the models, the sources and the time a task takes. With pay-as-you-go a credit costs 1 cent, and larger organisations buy a volume in advance at a discount. A complex task with many sources costs more credits than a simple one. So start with a few people and check usage after a month.

What to arrange before you start with Microsoft Copilot Cowork

• Permissions. Cowork sees what the employee sees. Get your folders in SharePoint and Teams in order.

• Access. Your IT administrator decides who may use Cowork. Start with a small group.

• Agreements. Record which tasks may go through Cowork and who checks the result. That belongs in your AI policy.

• Budget. Set a limit on credit usage.

• Training. Let your team practise with assignments that fit their work.

Automating tasks with Copilot Cowork

Cowork works best with processes that are already clearly defined. If a process is messy, Cowork automates the mess. So first map out which steps a task has and where the information lives. If that overview is missing, start with a digital foundation that holds up.

Want to know which processes lend themselves to AI? See how we automate business processes with AI. Want to teach your team to work with Copilot and Cowork? Then take a look at our AI training for businesses.

Source: Computerworld, Microsoft launches Copilot Cowork with usage-based pricing (June 2026)