1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:10,878 Welcome to your weekly brief on what Microsoft changed in Microsoft 365 Copilot — a calm read for the people who run it inside an organisation. 2 00:00:10,878 --> 00:00:14,332 This is the week of 26 October to 1 November 2026. 3 00:00:14,332 --> 00:00:23,105 Every date you'll hear was read on a Microsoft page, in Microsoft's own words — nothing inferred, nothing from anyone's estate. 4 00:00:24,845 --> 00:00:29,932 Two real launches landed this week, while the billing and credits pages stayed still. 5 00:00:29,932 --> 00:00:35,736 Microsoft launched Copilot for finance, and the October roundup surfaced a Legal plugin for Word. 6 00:00:35,736 --> 00:00:40,524 Frontier widened to more app previews, and a base-plan offer opened on the side. 7 00:00:40,524 --> 00:00:45,371 Here's what each one means for the people who run Copilot inside an organisation. 8 00:00:47,031 --> 00:00:59,457 The one material change is Copilot for finance — twenty-five or more finance skills and partner-built plugins, purpose-built for accounting, capital markets and finance work. 9 00:00:59,457 --> 00:01:01,957 It arrives inside Excel and Cowork. 10 00:01:01,957 --> 00:01:14,812 Availability is mixed: finance skills in Excel and the capital-markets and finance plugins in Cowork are generally available, while accounting skills are still in Frontier preview. 11 00:01:14,812 --> 00:01:21,025 Finance professionals keep control of the decisions, approvals and actions that follow. 12 00:01:22,745 --> 00:01:33,555 Here is what the page actually says, in Microsoft's own words: from preparing a month-end close to evaluating an acquisition, we're building Copilot for the breadth of finance. 13 00:01:33,555 --> 00:01:36,134 That's the finance blog, dated 29 October. 14 00:01:36,134 --> 00:01:41,785 Read it as scope, not a price change — the credits and billing pages did not move this week. 15 00:01:45,285 --> 00:01:46,860 So, Copilot for finance. 16 00:01:46,860 --> 00:01:58,408 What it means for you: your finance group gets purpose-built skills inside the tools they already use — some generally available, some in preview, with humans still in control. 17 00:01:58,408 --> 00:02:01,557 Plan who gets access first, then widen on proof. 18 00:02:01,557 --> 00:02:09,759 One thing to check this week: confirm which finance skills are GA versus Frontier preview, and which group you'd enrol first. 19 00:02:13,229 --> 00:02:21,205 Next, a Legal plugin for Word — more than twenty legal skills plus partner-built legal plugins, building on the former Legal Agent. 20 00:02:21,205 --> 00:02:25,771 What it means for you: your legal team gets purpose-built help inside Word. 21 00:02:25,771 --> 00:02:29,241 Set who can reach it before you widen it across the firm. 22 00:02:29,241 --> 00:02:35,938 One thing to check: whether the Legal plugin has reached your tenant yet, and which group should get it first. 23 00:02:39,428 --> 00:02:43,771 The same October roundup names three new ways to organise Copilot. 24 00:02:43,771 --> 00:02:48,444 Plugins: one place to discover and reach agents, skills and connectors. 25 00:02:48,444 --> 00:02:53,577 Automations: run Cowork tasks on a schedule, or when a specified event occurs. 26 00:02:53,577 --> 00:02:59,632 And Workspaces: a shared space for teams to work alongside Copilot on an ongoing workstream. 27 00:02:59,632 --> 00:03:04,041 Worth knowing where each lives, so your people find the right door. 28 00:03:06,191 --> 00:03:16,213 Third, Frontier expands — public previews now reach Teams, the new Outlook for Windows, OneDrive and SharePoint, alongside Copilot. 29 00:03:16,213 --> 00:03:26,388 Enrollment is admin-controlled and optional, and no Copilot license is required; unified admin-center management arrives in November. 30 00:03:26,388 --> 00:03:32,661 What it means for you: more previews to govern, entitlement rerouted, not removed. 31 00:03:32,661 --> 00:03:40,464 One thing to check: your Frontier enrollment settings, and which previews to turn on for which groups. 32 00:03:43,964 --> 00:03:56,722 Fourth, a base-plan offer: Microsoft 365 E3 at thirty percent off on a one-year term for three hundred seats or more, available now through the end of next June. 33 00:03:56,722 --> 00:04:03,141 It's a base-SKU promotion that feeds Copilot attach — not a Copilot price change. 34 00:04:03,141 --> 00:04:06,786 Plan the base before you widen Copilot on top. 35 00:04:06,786 --> 00:04:13,918 One thing to check: if an E3 renewal or expansion is near, line it up against this window. 36 00:04:17,048 --> 00:04:19,907 And what stayed quiet is a service to name. 37 00:04:19,907 --> 00:04:29,547 The Copilot Credits and usage-based billing pages did not move this week — the 1 December default-on and the excluded-markets list are unchanged. 38 00:04:29,547 --> 00:04:38,057 The November price-list preview with new standalone SKU IDs lands today, but those IDs sit behind a login and aren't yet public. 39 00:04:38,057 --> 00:04:41,847 No change to cost management, analytics or admin consent. 40 00:04:43,697 --> 00:04:48,985 That's the week — quiet on the money, two real launches on the product. 41 00:04:48,985 --> 00:04:57,623 Copilot for finance, a Legal plugin for Word, Frontier widening to more previews, and a base-plan offer on the side. 42 00:04:57,623 --> 00:05:01,124 The next brief lands here, same time next week. 43 00:05:01,124 --> 00:05:04,177 This one was put together by PhoenixHalo.