Microsoft Unveils “Researcher” and “Analyst” AI for Copilot

Following the successive launches of advanced AI services capable of deep analysis and reasoning by companies such as Google and OpenAI, Microsoft has unveiled its own offerings—dubbed “Researcher” and “Analyst”—both built upon OpenAI’s models and integrated into the Microsoft 365 Copilot suite. These services are set to be rolled out to Microsoft 365 Copilot subscribers beginning in April through a testing program.

“Researcher” is powered by OpenAI’s o3 Deep Research model, designed to handle multi-step, complex reasoning tasks. It is also capable of interfacing with data from third-party services such as Salesforce and ServiceNow. Meanwhile, “Analyst” employs the o3-mini model, leveraging chain-of-thought reasoning to interpret data, transforming it into spreadsheets, Python scripts, or comprehensive professional reports.

Both “Researcher” and “Analyst” are incorporated into Microsoft’s Copilot AI agent framework, which aims to streamline data aggregation and interpretation for enterprise users, thereby enhancing productivity and decision-making processes.

With similar AI services already introduced by Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic, Microsoft’s latest announcement signals its intent to fortify its competitive edge in the rapidly evolving AI marketplace.