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Microsoft rolls out new AI‑driven Copilot tools and Outlook productivity features
Microsoft released a suite of Outlook enhancements in August 2026, including a unified inbox that aggregates mail from multiple accounts, message recall and undo‑send controls, smarter conditional rules, formatting options, Quick Parts, expanded PST import support, offline search improvements and new calendar shortcuts.
The July 2026 Microsoft 365 roadmap added several SharePoint and Teams capabilities: SharePoint can now cross‑post news to the Engage community, while Teams introduced proximity‑join support for presenters using Teams Rooms on Windows and Android, camera‑view switching in multi‑camera rooms, and branded meeting reactions.
At a press briefing in Japan on July 27, Microsoft announced Copilot Cowork, an autonomous AI assistant that can execute multi‑step tasks such as preparing a project‑meeting agenda, creating materials, messaging participants and scheduling the meeting. Microsoft Scout, a preview‑stage autonomous agent, can traverse browsers and internal systems to monitor topics and push updates. Both services leverage the new Microsoft IQ layer, which integrates multiple large‑language models (including GPT‑5.6, GPT‑5.5 and Anthropic Claude series) and combines work‑style, enterprise data and web intelligence. Microsoft noted that 87 % of Nikkei 225 companies already use AI agents built with Copilot Studio, citing examples like Resona Group’s loan‑processing assistant and INPEX’s information‑gathering agent projected to save over ¥20 billion annually.
Entities
Copilot Cowork · Microsoft 365 Copilot · Microsoft Corporation · Microsoft Outlook · Microsoft Scout
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Outlook update adds message recall and undo‑send controls. www.hubsite365.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] SharePoint feature to cross‑post News to the Engage community will be released in September CY2026. sharepointstuff.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Teams adds proximity‑join support for presenters in Teams Rooms on Windows and Android. sharepointstuff.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] 87 % of Nikkei 225 companies have deployed AI agents built with Copilot Studio. weekly.ascii.jp
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Copilot Cowork, launched June 2026, can autonomously execute multi‑step tasks such as preparing a project‑meeting agenda, creating materials, messaging participants and scheduling the meeting. weekly.ascii.jp
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Teams adds camera‑view switching in multi‑camera Teams Rooms on Windows. sharepointstuff.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Outlook update adds conditional rules, formatting, Quick Parts, PST support, offline improvements and new calendar shortcuts. www.hubsite365.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Outlook update in August 2026 adds a unified inbox for multiple accounts. www.hubsite365.com