CloudSphereThis issue covers Microsoft changes from mid-October through early November 2026. Copilot is becoming more useful in Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and everyday learning. Here are the changes we think are most useful for your business. Where a change involves tenancy settings, security or cost control, CloudSphere is already monitoring it for you.
What's new in Microsoft 365
AI Workflows arrive in Teams
What's changing: Microsoft's 4 November 2026 Copilot release notes describe AI Workflows in the Workflows app for Teams on Windows and Mac (roadmap ID 500379). These are Copilot-powered templates and scheduled prompts for repeating work, off by default unless the Workflows app is enabled, with access controlled by administrators.
Why it matters: This is a way to standardise weekly status updates, handovers and similar routines inside Teams.
CloudSphere view: Useful as a first automation project, not something to switch on for every user at once.
What you need to do: No action is required from you. If you have a repetitive Teams process you would like to automate, we are happy to help design it with you.
Copilot in PowerPoint can follow an existing deck's style
What's changing: When you create a presentation with Copilot in PowerPoint, you can attach an existing file so Copilot applies that deck's theme and styles. Microsoft lists this for Windows and Mac in its 4 November release notes, and notes a web rollout in its 27 October notes (roadmap IDs 555878, 555880 and 555879).
Why it matters: If you already have a branded pack, Copilot can start from that look instead of a generic default theme.
CloudSphere view: A straightforward everyday win. Attach a current company template, then sense-check the content.
What you need to do: No administrative action is required. The next time you use Copilot in PowerPoint, attach a deck that already looks the way you want.
Create a Microsoft List by describing it to Copilot
What's changing: A SharePoint list agent in the 4 November Copilot release notes (roadmap ID 534606) lets users create Microsoft Lists from a prompt, with Copilot proposing the structure and fields.
Why it matters: Trackers and follow-up lists are everyday tools in most businesses, but getting to a usable list is often slower than it should be.
CloudSphere view: Handy for lightweight trackers. Check the suggested columns before colleagues start using it.
What you need to do: No administrative action is required. If you use Microsoft Lists, you can try describing the list you need in Copilot.
Copilot update
Learning Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot
What's changing: Microsoft's 27 October Copilot release notes introduce a Learning Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot on Windows (roadmap ID 490154). It offers personalised microlearning and structured paths, including upskilling on Copilot, daily AI tips, task-based learning, role play and learning plans, with an AI Skills Navigator experience in preview.
Why it matters: The gap in most Copilot rollouts is not the licence — it is helping people build a daily habit.
CloudSphere view: A good companion to practical Copilot training, not a replacement for it. A short, guided session with your team still makes the biggest difference in the first 90 days.
What you need to do: No configuration is required from you. If Learning Agent is available in your Copilot experience, you can open it and ask about a skill you want to build. If you would like structured Copilot training for your team, talk to us.
Read more on the release notes and the Learning Agent overview.
Copilot in Excel can take you straight to the cells it changed
What's changing: In the 4 November release notes, Microsoft says Copilot in Excel now includes links in its chat response that jump to the sheets, tables, ranges, charts or shapes it has changed, on Windows, the web and Mac.
Why it matters: Reviewing each change from the same reply makes it harder to miss an edit on another sheet.
CloudSphere view: A small, welcome improvement. Treat those links as your review step, and only then rely on the result.
What you need to do: No action is required from you. When Copilot edits a workbook, use the links in its reply to review the changes.
CloudSphere Security Watch
Two changes this month sit in the managed layer. You do not need to do anything with them.
From November, Microsoft's Frontier programme is expanding to include eligible public preview features for new Outlook for Windows, OneDrive, SharePoint and Microsoft Teams, alongside Copilot. Enrolment is optional and administrator-controlled. CloudSphere is tracking this on your behalf and will not switch Frontier on widely.
Read more about the Frontier expansion
On 3 November, Microsoft announced that SharePoint tools in Work IQ have entered public preview, giving agents more than 60 native SharePoint operations. Microsoft says each call runs as the signed-in user, so an agent can only do what that person can already do. These tools are billed through Work IQ using Copilot Credits. CloudSphere is monitoring the preview and will manage any related tenant settings and cost controls.
Read more about SharePoint tools in Work IQ
Feature spotlight: Clean data with Copilot in Excel
CloudSphere verdict: ⭐ Worth using
What's changing: In its official October 2026 Excel update (published 27 October, updated 29 October), Microsoft says the clean data skill in Copilot for Excel is rolling out to general availability on Windows, Mac and the web. It inspects data for extra spaces, inconsistent formats, inconsistent dates, duplicates, and values stored as the wrong type, then proposes corrections you choose to apply.
Why it matters: Those quiet inconsistencies in everyday spreadsheets break lookups, VAT totals and month-end packs.
A practical example: Before reconciling a monthly billing workbook, a Cape Town professional services firm asks Copilot to inspect the data. It flags mixed date formats, client names with trailing spaces, and numbers stored as text. The finance lead accepts the clear-cut fixes and leaves anything that needs a human decision.
CloudSphere view: Worth using. You approve the changes, and it tackles a problem we see in everyday workbooks. If you do not see the skill yet, it should appear over the coming months.
Read more in What's New in Excel (October 2026)
Copilot tip of the month
Try this in Copilot in Excel (add @clean-data if that skill is available, or choose it from the Skills menu):
Review this workbook for extra spaces, inconsistent date or number formats, duplicate values, and numbers stored as text. Explain what you found and why it matters, then propose corrections so I can choose which changes to apply.
Use it before a month-end pack or any report you are about to share.
From the CloudSphere team
That is our November round-up. If you would like a short Copilot training session for your team, or to talk about automating a process that still lives in inboxes and spreadsheets, just reply to this email. We are here to help.
The CloudSphere team
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