Welcome to Vibe Working: the new buzzword Microsoft wants us to love almost as much as “synergy.”
Behind the marketing sparkle, there’s something real: Agent Mode in Excel and Word, and the new Office Agent in Copilot Chat.
In short: Microsoft wants Copilot to stop just answering questions — and start actually doing your work.
Sounds great, right? Until you realize your AI assistant still forgets column headers, rewrites your reports in passive voice, and proudly hallucinates budget numbers.
Let’s break it down.
🧠 Agent Mode — Your Spreadsheet Therapist
Finally, Copilot in Excel and Word can “think in steps.”
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In Excel, it analyzes tables, builds charts, drafts formulas, and refines them in a conversational loop.
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In Word, it rewrites your text, fixes style, and formats sections — without constant prompting.
It’s like giving Clippy an MBA and a caffeine addiction.
You can say:
“Analyze my Q3 data, clean the anomalies, chart the trends, and make it look good.”
And Copilot will try to do all of it, not just describe how you should.
The kicker? You can now correct it mid-flow. It learns from the conversation (sort of).
🧩 Office Agent — Copilot Chat Goes Full Secretary
A new Office Agent now lives inside Copilot Chat.
Tell it:
“Draft a project summary in Word and a 5-slide deck for the meeting.”
And it’ll create both, using Microsoft’s new AI orchestration layer (and sometimes Anthropic models).
It’s like having a junior assistant who works fast, never complains, and sometimes hallucinates bullet points.
☕ “Vibe Working” — The Lifestyle Brand for AI Workers
Microsoft calls it “vibe working.”
Translation: you set the tone, describe what you need, and the AI handles the tedious steps.
You don’t “type,” you “direct.” You don’t “work,” you “vibe.”
Expect to see this plastered across every PowerPoint at Ignite 2025.
⚠️ Reality Check
Let’s talk facts:
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Excel Agent Mode scored 57% on Microsoft’s benchmark. Humans scored 71%.
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Complex tasks still blow up — nested formulas, data validation, multi-sheet logic.
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You’ll still need to verify everything. AI might format your spreadsheet beautifully… but get the math wrong.
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Web-only, for now. Desktop support? “Coming soon.”
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The models aren’t consistent — OpenAI for Agent Mode, Anthropic for Office Agent. Expect stylistic schizophrenia.
So yes, it’s cool. But “fully autonomous office AI”? Not yet.
💼 What To Do About It
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Start piloting Agent Mode — but set boundaries.
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Use it for routine analysis, summarization, and reporting.
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Don’t use it for compliance, financial forecasts, or anything you’ll need to defend in court.
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Train your team in prompt-dialogue — the real power here is iterative refinement.
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Track improvements; the agents will evolve fast.
🧩 The Takeaway
Microsoft isn’t wrong. This is the future of work.
We’re moving from “tell me” to “do this, then improve it.”
But “vibe working” isn’t a revolution yet — it’s early beta energy dressed in corporate marketing perfume.
Use it. Learn it. Supervise it.
Because the future of productivity isn’t typing faster — it’s thinking better with AI that mostly gets it right.
rgds,
Alex