Automate M365 Copilot with Copilot Actions and Scheduled Prompts

Summary

Discover the possibilities and limitations of automating M365 Copilot with two emerging features: Copilot Actions and Scheduled Prompts. While both aim to streamline tasks, each has unique approaches and capabilities. Copilot Actions add seamless yet limited customization options, ideal for simple tasks, while Scheduled Prompts offer extensive flexibility but are bound within Copilot Chat. Both tools present early-stage solutions for task automation, hinting at significant potential but exposing current limitations in achieving full-scale AI-driven automation within Microsoft 365.

Highlights

• Two new tools, Copilot Actions and Scheduled Prompts, introduce automation capabilities to M365 Copilot. 🤖
• Copilot Actions offer a straightforward way to setup automation through templates, while Scheduled Prompts allow scheduling within Copilot Chat. 📅
• Discover the nuances of using Copilot tools for your business needs and the future potential of these technologies. 🔍

Key Takeaways

• Copilot Actions simplify automation with predefined templates but have limited customization. 🎨
• Scheduled Prompts allow more flexible automation but are restricted to Copilot Chat. 💬
• Both tools indicate early-stage development with potential for expansion. 🚀
• Microsoft's approach to automation may balance innovation with revenue opportunities. 💼
• The future may hold more robust automation integrations across M365. 🔮

Overview

With the introduction of Copilot Actions and Scheduled Prompts, users can explore new methods to automate their M365 Copilot interactions. Both features aim to enhance user experience by providing less manual input when leveraging Copilot, albeit with varying degrees of functionality.

Copilot Actions present a set of pre-built templates which allow users to automate routine tasks with ease. However, the current customization options are limited, possibly impeding more advanced automation needs. Scheduled Prompts offer more flexibility in scheduling tasks but are confined to Copilot Chat, limiting its utility.

These tools, in their infancy, suggest a promising future for automation within Microsoft's ecosystem, though they currently fall short of providing a comprehensive solution. As Microsoft developers expand on these early concepts, users could expect more integrative options that accommodate complex automation demands.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Overview With the introduction of copilot actions and scheduled prompts, users now have two methods to automatically invoke co-pilot usage without directly entering a prompt. While these technologies share similar goals, they employ different methods and currently possess distinct capabilities. The chapter explores these differences by comparing and contrasting the two approaches.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Introduction of Nick Dorsey and AI Technology Consulting This chapter introduces Nick Dorsey, an AI technology consultant who advises small businesses on optimizing AI usage, including Microsoft's AI technologies. The chapter briefly mentions Copilot Actions, an AI tool presented at the Ignite conference, highlighting its transition from private preview. Links are offered for further information on Nick and his services.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Introduction to Copilot Actions The chapter introduces the concept of Copilot Actions, a new feature in Microsoft 365 Copilot, which is being rolled out to targeted release users and will be available to all users eventually. Copilot Actions adds a new pinned option to the left menu of the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, also known as office.com or the Microsoft 365 portal. The feature includes a creation page that users can access by selecting this option.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Categories of Copilot Actions In this chapter, the categories of Copilot actions are discussed. There are three main categories: catch up, gather, and prepare. 'Catch up' helps users stay up to date with communications or meetings by allowing sorting by source or topic. 'Gather' is used for collecting information like newsletter updates or survey responses. 'Prepare' focuses on getting ready for upcoming events or tasks.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Setting up Copilot Actions In the chapter titled 'Setting up Copilot Actions,' the process of configuring AI-driven task automation tools is discussed. The chapter begins by explaining how to set up communications summarization and action item highlighting. Key customizable features include selecting the mode of communication (emails or team messages), choosing individuals to include, setting the time frame for review, and deciding the notification method (Teams, email, or Word document). Additionally, it allows users to set the frequency of the action, which can be daily or weekly. With the 'preview' option, users can review the specifications of their configured actions.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Gathering Newsletter Updates The chapter titled 'Gathering Newsletter Updates' discusses a feature similar to a Power Automate flow, with the main adjustable setting being the frequency. The tool allows users to select internal individuals or groups to gather updates from; unfortunately, it does not support external collaborators. Users need to specify what information is needed and set a deadline for collection. A preview is available before finalizing the setup.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Output Experience in Teams The chapter titled 'Output Experience in Teams' discusses the ability to customize messages within the Teams' environment. It notes a limitation in the current functionality where messages lack co-pilot assistance. This means that users cannot automatically reference specific meetings or personalize requests using copilot. Instead, the messages remain static. The process concludes by advising on how to proceed with creating messages and looks into the example of how such interactions appear within Teams, specifically in a chat scenario with the workflows agent.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Customization Limitations and Microsoft Ecosystem Fit The chapter discusses the integration and interaction between Microsoft's Loop application and Teams. It highlights how users can view Loop content directly within Teams or via email, which presents an inline view of the content. The chapter illustrates this with a specific example involving an update request and a related gathering action addressed to a user named Adele. The example underscores the potential user experience challenges when engaging with Loop content across different platforms within the Microsoft ecosystem.
• 04:00 - 04:30: Introduction to Scheduled Prompts In the chapter 'Introduction to Scheduled Prompts', the author discusses the user experience with the scheduling actions in Microsoft Teams. The key point examines the rationale behind Microsoft's design decision where the request comes from the user initiating the gather action instead of from the workflow bot. The reason given is that it helps users identify the request's origin, although the author finds this reasoning inconsistent with other apps like approvals. This design choice is critiqued as it cluttering active team chats, which can lead to confusion.
• 04:30 - 05:00: Power Automate Integration This chapter discusses challenges and limitations of Power Automate integration, particularly focusing on its interaction with adaptive cards. The chapter critiques the inflexibility of adaptive cards, which only support plain text without rich formatting or document integration. It also questions the reliability of the actions feature meant to proactively gather content, noting it does not consistently follow up on expired requests without intervention or reminders. This raises concerns for users who rely on adaptive cards and automated reminders for content retrieval.
• 05:00 - 05:30: Customization and Limitations of Scheduled Prompts This chapter discusses the customization and limitations associated with scheduled prompts within a system, particularly focusing on copilot actions and Power Automate flows. When a new copilot action is created, it results in the provision of a new Power Platform environment within the user's tenant, where, by default, access is restricted to all users. Unlike the traditional automation templates where Power Automate flows could be updated and refined as per user requirements, the new environment doesn't have such connected flows, thereby limiting customization and update possibilities.
• 05:30 - 06:00: Comparison of Copilot Actions and Scheduled Prompts The chapter discusses the user interface and customization options available in Microsoft templates through Copilot actions. It highlights the limitation that users are currently bound by what is visible on the screen and must wait for more templates for broader customization. Copilot actions present utility by automating tasks with a bit of intelligence, but warn that it may not be sufficient for complex automation demands.
• 06:00 - 06:30: Microsoft AI Strategy and Limitations The chapter discusses the integration of Copilot into Microsoft's existing automation ecosystem. It highlights that while Copilot is not a complete solution, it fits well within the ecosystem. The chapter notes the importance of having control over the prompts that Copilot runs, particularly for those with specific automation needs. It introduces the concept of scheduled prompts, a feature that may appeal to users looking for advanced prompt control. Further engagement through likes, comments, and subscriptions is encouraged.
• 06:30 - 07:00: Conclusion and Future Outlook This chapter discusses the process for gaining access to preview features in a tenant-wide setting, which requires a support request through the Microsoft 365 admin portal. It highlights the adjustments in the user interface that occur once schedule prompts are enabled, specifically in the context of Copilot chat. The user can run a prompt and will find an option to schedule it under the response, facilitating easier management of tasks through a designated scheduling screen.

Automate M365 Copilot with Copilot Actions and Scheduled Prompts Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 with the arrival of both copilot actions and scheduled prompts we suddenly have two ways to do something that many users have been requesting for the last year or more a mechanism to automatically invoke co-pilot usage without having to directly enter a prompt these two technologies while having overlapping objectives do have radically different approaches and at present at least radically different capabilities so let's look at both of them compare contrast and consider just whether
• 00:30 - 01:00 either of these or perhaps both actually scratch the itch many people have had for automating C-pilot but first a quick introduction my name is Nick Dorsey i advise smaller businesses on how to get the best from AI including Microsoft's AI technologies check out the links below if you're interested in learning more about me or my services copilot Actions was one of a catalog of AI announcements at last year's Ignite conference at which point it was in private preview recently it was
• 01:00 - 01:30 announced that this will be rolling out to targeted release users and we can expect it to be coming to all Microsoft 365 Copilot users in the course of time when actions arrives it adds a new pinned option to the left menu in the Microsoft 365 copilot app aka office.com aka the Microsoft 365 portal and selecting this option takes you to a creation page for copilot actions if you
• 01:30 - 02:00 look at the discover screen you can see the actions broken down into three categories catch up gather and prepare catch up is broadly for keeping up to speed on communications or meetings allowing you mostly to scope by source or topic gather is all about collecting information whether that be monthly newsletter updates or survey responses and prepare is about getting ready for what's coming up if we take a look at
• 02:00 - 02:30 setting a couple of these up let's start with summarize communications and highlight action items you get a few options here the mode of communication emails or team messages the person or people to include the period of time over which to look and how you'd like to be notified in Teams email or a Word document you can also select how often this action repeats daily or weekly and once you've selected preview you can see the specification of your action built
• 02:30 - 03:00 kind of like a Power Automate flow but the only thing you can change here is the frequency while that's creating we'll look at another the gather newsletter updates allows you to select a person or group of people bear in mind that these do need to be internal users so if you collaborate with external people a lot as seems to be the case with every new Microsoft tool you're currently out of luck you specify what you want to collect and a deadline and you click preview again you're shown a
• 03:00 - 03:30 specification of your action but this time you can customize the message note that right now at least this message has no co-pilot assistance so I can't for example reference a meeting where what each person should write for the newsletter was discussed and have copilot customize the request based on this it's just static text once you're ready you can click create so now let's jump into Teams and take a look at what the output of this experience looks like in my chat with the workflows agent you
• 03:30 - 04:00 can see the two actions I just worked on first I have the output of my update request this is actually a link to a loop page and I click on it to view the content this is a little bit of an odd experience as it's possible to view loop content directly in Teams and if you choose the email output it does indeed show you the loop content in line and then you can see the request to Adele related to the gathering action if we move over to Adele's teams you can see the request you fill out this adaptive
• 04:00 - 04:30 card submit it and then the action is shown as completed over in your teams i have to say though in my opinion this is kind of an odd experience the rationale given by Microsoft of why this request comes from the user who's initiating the gather action rather than the workflows bot is so you can know where the request comes from but that's out of keeping with the philosophy used in other similar apps like approvals this means if you have an active team's chat the gather request clogs that up it opens
• 04:30 - 05:00 the potential for the request to just reply in the chat rather than the adaptive card meaning the content won't actually be gathered and the adaptive card itself is pretty inflexible as it just accepts plain text no rich formatting or document inclusion and the idea that this actions feature will proactively chase down your content also seems wrong too i haven't tested this extensively but I've allowed requests to expire without any nagging from copilot at all so for many of you the question
• 05:00 - 05:30 is probably what is actually happening when you're creating or running a copilot action we're used to automation templates like this where the end result is a Power Automate flow and you can just go in and update and refine as much as you need to get exactly what you want alas while I'd love to show you how it's working I can't when you first create an action a new Power Platform environment is provisioned in your tenant which by default none of your users have access to there are no flows connected to these actions nothing to update or customize
• 05:30 - 06:00 the depth of what you can manipulate as a user is exactly what you see on screen so if you don't like the exact customization options available for a particular template right now the answer is to wait for Microsoft to add some more templates the utility of C-pilot actions is clear and if the template options continue to grow this will be a great starting point for simply automating tasks where a little bit of copilot smarts is beneficial however this will probably not be the go-to with for those with big automation ideas for
• 06:00 - 06:30 copilot and this is certainly not a solution that it is current build fits well into Microsoft's existing automation ecosystem however if having tight control over the prompt copilot is running is important to your automation needs then you'll want to keep watching to learn about scheduled prompts if you're finding this video useful it would be great if you'd hit the like button and leave a comment to help you get in front of more interested people also if you'd like to see more like this please do subscribe to the channel schedule Prompts is a feature that's in
• 06:30 - 07:00 preview to get it you have to request entry into the preview this is done on a tenantwide basis and so needs a support request from the Microsoft 365 admin portal you can find out more at one of the links I'll put below once you've got schedule prompts enabled you'll get a slight UI tweak in Copilot chat to enable you to use it you can run any prompt and then under the prompt or under the response you can see options for scheduling it you just click on this option a schedule screen appears and
• 07:00 - 07:30 from here you can't change the prompt but you can set a schedule for it when you create the scheduled prompt you can't really do anything from the management screen other than send it to trash but there is a rather alluring icon here too a link to Power Automate we'll come back to that later if we jump back into the chat interface at a later time you can see my scheduled prompt has run and a new interaction from that chat is available denoted by the bold heading
• 07:30 - 08:00 and the clock icon note that you don't receive a notification this is just a bolded heading in chat and that's really all there is to scheduled prompts for tasks like those catch up or prepare actions in Copilot actions you could definitely use this instead though you wouldn't get the alert or the content sent straight to you but hang on a minute we need to return to that issue of Power Automate and jumping into the maker portal this is more like it power
• 08:00 - 08:30 Automate is the home of automation for Microsoft 365 so why should Copilot's automation tools live anywhere else each scheduled prompt creates a recurring cloud flow and utilizes a hidden connector called the bis chat connector to push a prompt to copilot the action contains some fields that set up where the chat appears a thread ID just as we might see in copilot studio along with an array of options that clearly are different copilot skills or tools
• 08:30 - 09:00 available to it the message itself contains the prompt but if you select specific grounding content in that prompt this is represented here too such as in this different example where a message annotation is included this is a reference to a meeting that includes an ID that's the same as you could use um in the Outlook connector and the get event action can you customize these flows like you would any other yes we can switch out triggers or add conditions that determine whether the
• 09:00 - 09:30 flow runs however we are limited to working in the context of the existing Copilot thread from what I can tell however on the output side once you run the flow your options are very limited you don't get any data back from C-pilot so you don't know what the response was you just know it ran this means it's impossible to use this capability to build the equivalent of a customizable C-pilot action as you cannot get the output to take it outside of that copilot chat interface for me having
• 09:30 - 10:00 Copilot Chat become just another inbox is a deal breakaker conceptually the schedule prompts are great the customization possibilities are fantastic but Copilot Chat is just not a strong interface for asynchronous interaction right now and frankly we don't need yet another one but perhaps there's a good reason why neither of these tools offer a complete customizable solution to C-Pilot automation from asking if Microsoft 365 C-Pilot is the right product for your
• 10:00 - 10:30 business to working out how Agentic AI can amplify the ways you delight your customers there are lots of questions swirling around AI strategy and AI adoption for all businesses right now if you need a strategic advisor technical expert or a personal or team AI coach to start or support your journey I offer services to help you i work with small and medium-sized organizations that are looking to maximize the benefits of AI in a safe and responsible way and I'd be happy to connect with you to understand
• 10:30 - 11:00 your situation and outline how I can assist you to succeed with this technology take a look at the links down below to find out more and to get in touch both Copilot actions and schedule prompts give you the basic capability to automate working with Copilot actions offers an end-to-end solution that is strictly limited by the types of automation templates that have been made available scheduled prompts on the other hand allows you to automate literally anything but solely in the context of the baseline capabilities of sending a
• 11:00 - 11:30 prompt co-pilot chat each of these approaches is useful and particularly to simple but routine automation across a number of contexts but given the power of Microsoft's automation tooling the inflexibility of both the solutions is somewhat perplexing though with the caveat that both of these are early products and often pre-generally released products change radically look at copilot extensibility morphing toward agents last year if you need evidence of
• 11:30 - 12:00 that scheduled prompts offers a better picture of how users tend to use co-pilot you could take your prompt that does what you want it to do and repeat it predictably in contrast I have no idea what an action like help me prepare for my day is actually running as a prompt and I have absolutely no way to personalize this but while in scheduled prompts I have more options to customize how copilot is used i have no way to break out of co-pilot chat like I do with actions which gives me the flexibility of where I want to see the
• 12:00 - 12:30 results of my automated AI use this reminds me very much of when Microsoft introduced simple rules-based automation into Loop and did so leveraging Power Automate but in a way that was completely out of keeping with how Power Automate works with most of their other apps i made a video about that and I'll link it below and here we seem to have the same issue twice over with two versions of copilotbased process automation that are difficult to see as a good fit for the way automation
• 12:30 - 13:00 generally works across Microsoft 365 however where is the loop issue was one that I think was born from questionable design i question whether these issues with copilot automation are more purposeful microsoft probably doesn't want us using C-pilot for automation it wants us using Copilot Studio or AI Builder or even Azure AI Foundry services all of which if driven in an automated or autonomous way generate additional billing even for Microsoft 365 Copilot license users if this is the
• 13:00 - 13:30 case though I think Microsoft may have misread the room on why there is a desire for this type of feature dropping a prompt directly to Cop-ilot currently gives capabilities around tenant-based grounding that are either totally impossible or at least extremely difficult to achieve given other automated or autonomous AI options out there i cannot for example simply ask Copilot Studio to compare an input to my recent emails on the same topic in my
• 13:30 - 14:00 view the most important place Microsoft differentiates itself in the ongoing AI arms race is in this business context grounding and connected orchestration and it is here where it has offered very few options for more standalone AI use cases microsoft needs to find a way to leverage this differentiator while protecting its revenue model and while preview features aren't the best way to understand long-term intent these two options as they stand raise concerns in my mind that an AI opportunity that
• 14:00 - 14:30 could be completely unique to Microsoft is being left on the table within the scope of their fairly limited flexibility i can see cases where I would use both scheduled prompts and co-pilot actions or advise clients of this as a solution to their needs however there are far more scenarios for that co-pilot-based automation itch than these two options can currently scratch so I'll be waiting to see what comes next what do you think have you tried
• 14:30 - 15:00 out these automation tools do they meet your needs or what else would you like to see let me know down in the comments thanks for watching through to the end until the next video bye-bye