Microsoft Unveils Copilot with People Skills, Revolutionizing HR Tech
The introduction of People Skills and the Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 2 spring release marks a significant shift in the HR tech market, with Microsoft's AI-powered tools poised to transform the way companies approach employee development and skills management. With its large user base and AI capabilities, Microsoft is well-positioned to become a leading player in the HR tech market.
Microsoft has introduced a new feature in its Copilot tool, People Skills, which utilizes AI to identify and monitor employee skills, providing a Skills Agent to view and manage skills in teams and integrate with Microsoft 365 and Viva services.
The People Skills feature has been in development for several years and uses AI inference to map individual skills from user profiles and activity. This innovation has the potential to disrupt the HR tech market, as Microsoft's large user base and AI capabilities could make it a definitive source of skills data for employees in large companies. The feature also competes with existing skills technology platforms, such as Workday Skills Cloud and Eightfold.
Microsoft's research indicates that employees face a "capacity gap" due to interruptions and a lack of time and energy, and the company sees AI agents as a solution to this problem. The research also shows a shift in AI adoption patterns, with a more top-down approach this year, and leaders are more familiar with AI agents than employees. Microsoft envisions a future where employees become "agent bosses" who manage AI agents to amplify their impact.
The company has announced the Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 2 spring release, which includes an updated app designed to power the next era of human-agent collaboration. The release features new capabilities such as AI-powered Search, a new Create experience, Copilot Notebooks, and a new Agent Store. The Agent Store offers prebuilt agents like Researcher and Analyst, which can tackle complex tasks such as research and data analysis.
As Microsoft continues to enhance its Copilot tool, the strategic applications of this system are vast, and could be used for organizational planning, design, and employee development. With the emergence of the "Frontier Firm," a new business model that leverages intelligence on tap, human-agent teams, and a new role for everyone: agent boss, Microsoft is poised to revolutionize the way companies approach HR tech and employee development.