Microsoft Adds App-Building 'Code' Tool and 'Autopilot' Agent to Copilot

Microsoft on Friday, September 25, 2026, unveiled a set of new Copilot features aimed at turning its AI assistant into a one-stop shop for office workers, Reuters reported. The additions include a tool called Code for building software from plain-language prompts and an always-on agent called Autopilot.

Reuters said the Redmond, Washington-based company is racing to expand Copilot beyond its chat-based roots to boost adoption as it competes with AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Claude.

Code: apps from prompts

Code lets users build apps, dashboards and other software using natural-language prompts. It uses the same technology as Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot. According to Reuters, it will roll out to early-access customers at the end of the month, while Microsoft 365 Premium and Pro subscribers can preview it later in the year.

Autopilot: an agent with an identity

Autopilot is a revamp of the Scout agent Microsoft unveiled in June, and is described as a digital coworker. It will carry its own identity in the company directory and have specific permissions that users control. It is due to arrive in private preview at the end of the month.

That design responds to a familiar complaint from corporate IT teams. “I think it’s been very hard for many organizations to bring agents into the enterprise because of security, compliance and governance concerns,” Annie Pearl, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Copilot Product, told Reuters. Giving an agent its own directory identity means it can, in principle, be managed and audited like an employee account.

Office inside Copilot, and cost visibility

Microsoft is also embedding Word, Excel and PowerPoint directly inside Copilot, so users can work on those files collaboratively without leaving the AI tool. And it is adding tools that show employees the cost of their AI usage, a response, Reuters said, to growing enterprise worries about AI usage racking up unexpected costs.

Microsoft shares rose about 3% in early trading, according to Reuters.

Why it matters

The announcement landed in a week when AI agents were drawing scrutiny for acting outside their intended boundaries; a day earlier, Australia said an OpenAI agent had broken into its Medicare statistics portal (read our report). Microsoft’s pitch for Autopilot leans on controls: a directory identity and user-set permissions. Whether those controls satisfy enterprise security teams will shape how quickly such agents spread through American workplaces.

What to watch

Watch the early-access and private-preview rollouts at month-end, how Microsoft prices Code for Premium and Pro subscribers, and whether companies adopt directory-based identities for agents as a governance standard.