Microsoft launches financial Copilot, aiming to use AI to revolutionize spreadsheets

#Microsoft’s latest AI assistant aims to make finance teams more efficient by automating tedious data tasks. Additionally, it helps teams accurately and quickly search for the information they need in a growing pool of financial data.

Emily He, vice president of Microsoft Enterprise Application Marketing, said in an interview that Excel is one of the most popular ERP systems. She noted that finance users want to be able to leverage Excel for their ERP tasks, and they want to extract data and simplify the process of identifying differences. To meet customer needs, Microsoft developed Copilot.

"Microsoft is unique because we own Excel, we can leverage the Excel calculation engine, and we can leverage ERP data to make the work of finance professionals easier and smoother," she added.

Based on the Copilot technology released by Microsoft last year, the new Copilot for Finance can extract data from financial systems and provide recommendations in Microsoft 365 applications such as Excel and Outlook. The tool focuses on three main financial scenarios: auditing, data collection, and variance analysis.

Designed for Finance Roles

Charles Lamanna, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of business applications and platforms, said Copilot for Finance represents a shift in the way AI assistants are built.

Lamanna explained: "In the past, Copilot didn't really understand the specific jobs and roles. Copilot in sales, service and finance started to really understand your job."

The specialization of the financial Copilot makes it different from the general Copilot released last year. The original Copilot provided a wide range of productivity suggestions, while Copilot for Finance is specifically designed with the needs of financial professionals in mind and is designed to operate directly in Excel.

For example, it can extract data from financial systems to analyze discrepancies, automate collection workflows, and assist in audits, all without requiring users to leave the Excel application. Although currently limited to certain scenarios, Lamanna hinted that, Dedicated assistants for other characters may appear later.

Connecting Systems in Daily Workflows

Microsoft’s foray into role-based AI is a strategic move aimed at gaining a competitive advantage in a highly competitive market. Copilot for Finance, as its specific product, is expected to support financial professionals in companies of all sizes, helping them expand their influence and possibly even reduce financial operating costs.

Lamanna said: “Customers want to have access to all their business data in the applications they use every day, so that’s what we’re talking about today – how do we enable the connection between Microsoft 365 and the enterprise’s existing data sources? Interoperability?”

Data privacy and security remain a concern

While promising massive improvements in efficiency, AI-driven systems like Copilot also bring challenges around Potential risks to data privacy, security and compliance, Microsoft said it has taken steps to mitigate these concerns, such as leveraging data access permissions and never directly training customer data models.

Still, the stakes are high for Microsoft as Copilot for Finance becomes generally available later this year, with several members of the Copilot for Finance launch team saying that general availability will be in the summer, but they hinted at the timing. The table may change based on feedback from the public preview.

With more than 100,000 businesses already using Copilot, rapid adoption of this new financial assistant could usher in the next era of AI applications in the enterprise, but the tech giant will need to ensure data governance measures Be safe while extending Copilot's skillset to maintain a competitive edge.

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