Excel is getting better at working your way

If you use Excel regularly, you'll know that getting the numbers right is often only half the job.

There's also the formatting.

Making sure figures are displayed correctly. Using the right headings. Keeping reports consistent. Following the same layouts and formulas your team has always used.

Individually, these might seem like small tasks.

But when you're making the same adjustments every day, they can quickly become frustrating.

And that's exactly the sort of repetitive work AI should be helping with.

Teaching Copilot how you like things done

Microsoft has been steadily introducing more AI capabilities into Excel through Copilot.

Some are designed to help you analyse information, understand formulas or work with large amounts of data.

But a newer development takes a slightly different approach.

It's about helping Copilot understand how you prefer to work.

Rather than repeatedly explaining how you want information presented, you can give Copilot instructions about your preferences.

For example, you might want:

• Currency figures displayed in a particular format

• Reports structured with consistent headings

• Certain naming conventions followed

• Data presented using familiar layouts

• Specific formatting rules applied

The idea is that Copilot can use these preferences when helping you with future tasks.

So instead of constantly correcting the same little things, you can spend more time working with the information itself.

Making spreadsheets more consistent across your team

There's another interesting development for businesses that share Excel workbooks.

You probably have spreadsheets that need to follow particular rules.

Perhaps they're used for monthly reporting, financial forecasts, project tracking or management information.

And ideally, everyone should be working with them in the same way.

But that's not always what happens.

One person formats a report differently. Someone changes a heading. Another colleague uses a different approach to organising the data.

Before long, you've got several versions of something that was supposed to be consistent.

Microsoft is introducing the ability to provide workbook-specific instructions for Copilot.

These instructions can be associated with the workbook itself, helping Copilot understand how that particular spreadsheet should be handled.

And when the workbook is shared, those instructions can remain with it.

That means colleagues using Copilot can benefit from the same guidance without someone having to explain the rules every time.

For businesses that rely on shared spreadsheets, that could be genuinely useful.

AI that understands how your business works

What's interesting about these improvements is the direction Microsoft is taking.

AI tools have become increasingly good at answering questions, generating content and summarising information.

But there's a difference between an AI assistant that can complete a task and one that understands how you want that task completed.

Every business has its own ways of working.

You have preferred formats, established processes, reporting standards and expectations about how information should be presented.

The more effectively AI can work within those existing processes, the more useful it becomes.

It's less about asking AI to do something and more about teaching it how your business likes things done.

Of course, that doesn't mean you should stop checking the results.

Excel often contains important financial and operational information.

AI-generated formulas, calculations and reports still need to be reviewed, particularly when they're being used to make business decisions.

And the availability of newer Copilot features may depend on your Microsoft 365 licence and rollout status.

Small improvements can make a big difference

These changes might not sound particularly dramatic.

But think about how often your team repeats the same tasks in Excel.

Formatting reports. Adjusting layouts. Checking consistency. Explaining how information should be organised.

If Copilot can help reduce some of that repetitive work, the time savings could soon add up.

And that's where AI can be most useful.

Not necessarily doing something completely new, but making the everyday work your team already does a little easier.

Are you getting the most from AI in Microsoft 365?

If you'd like help understanding which Microsoft 365 and Copilot features could improve productivity across your business, get in touch.

We can help you identify where AI could make a practical difference and how to introduce it effectively and securely.