Microsoft is rolling out "Vibe Working," its new label for a more conversational, AI-driven way to handle tasks in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
This concept borrows from "vibe coding" in software development, where users and AI assistants work together in continuous dialog. While some see this as a productivity boost, developers warn it can introduce hard-to-catch errors. Now, Microsoft is applying the same approach to office work.
Two new features, Agent Mode and Office Agent, use models from OpenAI and Anthropic to automate tasks in Microsoft 365 Copilot. Agent Mode adds AI tools directly to Office apps; Office Agent operates as a separate multi-agent system in the Copilot chat.
Agent Mode adds autonomous functions to Excel and Word
Agent Mode is integrated into Excel and Word, with PowerPoint support on the way. In Excel, it uses OpenAI's latest reasoning models and a loop that plans, acts, and checks its work as it processes spreadsheets.
The agent analyzes data, builds financial models, and generates charts. It summarizes workbook context, plans steps, runs code, and reviews results. A "Document Context Producer" sends a compact blueprint of the workbook, including layout, values, objects, and formula dependencies. The agent can request more details if needed.
Microsoft says that spreadsheet errors often slip by because formulas appear to work but hide mistakes. Agent Mode runs lightweight tests before each action to catch these issues. All calculations happen directly in the spreadsheet, so users can track each step, check formulas, and verify results.
In the SpreadsheetBench benchmark, Agent Mode in Excel reached 57.2 percent accuracy across 912 tasks. Human testers scored 71.3 percent. Shortcut.ai, a third-party AI Excel add-on, hit 46.6 percent, similar to ChatGPT Agent.
In Word, Agent Mode powers "Vibe Writing," letting users draft, refine, and query documents in a more interactive way. The agent can update reports, format text, and summarize content from emails and other sources. Details on the Word integration are limited, but it likely draws on earlier work with a Word-focused "Large Action Model".
Office Agent: Multi-agent system for Copilot chat
Office Agent, powered by Anthropic's Claude models, runs as a standalone system in Copilot chat. A central planner coordinates tasks and specialized agents for code, finance, search, and other roles.
Office Agent can create PowerPoint presentations and Word documents from scratch. It runs its own web searches, analyzes sources, and organizes output. The agent can assemble business plans, trend reports, or topic-specific documents without user input. It likely builds on Anthropic's new capability for Claude to create and edit office files.
The system uses "Button-Driven Development" (TDD). Instead of just generating code, which can lead to messy layouts, it relies on reusable "flavor blueprints" from high-quality content for more consistency. The auto-theming tool analyzes content and generates matching designs, going beyond static templates.
Microsoft says Office Agent scored 88.7 percent at Level 1, 76.7 percent at Level 2, and 60 percent at Level 3 on the GAIA agent intelligence benchmark. Competitors like Manus are close. Microsoft also uses TDDEval, which checks both content quality and a "Taste Score" for design.
Availability
Agent Mode and Office Agent are available through the Frontier program for Microsoft 365 Copilot users and Personal or Family subscribers. Agent Mode for Excel is available on the web, with desktop support coming. Office Agent is available for US-based Personal and Family subscribers, generating PowerPoint and Word documents, with Excel support in development. Microsoft plans to expand "Vibe Working" to more Copilot features but hasn't shared a timeline.
