M365 Copilot — Coaching Agents

What's new — June 2026: Copilot Cowork is now generally available and billed on usage (Copilot Credits, $0.01/credit pay-as-you-go), and the Work IQ APIs reached GA. These coaching agents are Microsoft's pre-built agents under your existing Copilot licence, so they are not separately metered — but if your organisation builds custom agents that ground in M365 data via Work IQ, that usage is metered in Copilot Credits. For the cost side of running agents, see the cost model reference.

How to add any coaching agent in 30 seconds:

Go to m365.cloud.microsoft and open Copilot.
Click Agents in the left panel → All agents.
Search by agent name (e.g., "Writing Coach") → click Add.
The agent appears in your Agents list. Select it to start a coaching conversation.

The agent is now available in your Copilot sidebar. Chat history is retained within the conversation. Each session operates within the current conversation context — provide relevant background when resuming a topic after a significant gap.

The five coaching agents — what each one does

Brainstorming · Ideation

Idea Coach

Generates, develops, and stress-tests ideas. Works with half-formed thoughts as well as specific problems. Structures brainstorming into actionable directions.

Best for

Breaking out of creative blocks
Exploring angles before a presentation or proposal
Generating options for a decision you are stuck on
Expanding a seed idea into a structured concept
Pre-mortem thinking — what could go wrong

Example prompts

I need to pitch a new internal process improvement. Give me 5 angles I might not have considered.
I have a vague idea about [topic]. Help me develop it into something concrete enough to share.
Challenge this idea: [your idea]. What are the weakest points?
What are three completely different approaches to solving [problem]?

Idea Coach is most useful before you have written anything — it is an input generator, not a polish tool. Use Writing Coach once you have a draft.

Communication · Editing

Writing Coach

Reviews and improves written content — tone, clarity, grammar, and structure. Works on emails, reports, executive summaries, and any professional writing. Gives actionable feedback, not just corrections.

Best for

Polishing an email before sending to senior leadership
Making a report clearer and more executive-ready
Adjusting tone — more direct, more diplomatic, more confident
Catching grammar and punctuation issues before publishing
Shortening long drafts without losing meaning

Example prompts

Review this email draft and make it more direct without being abrupt: [paste draft]
This paragraph is too long. Rewrite it in three sentences that keep the key message.
What tone does this message come across as? How would a senior reader interpret it?
Make this executive summary crisper — the reader has 30 seconds.

Paste your draft directly into the chat. Writing Coach gives better feedback on specific text than on vague descriptions of what you are writing.

AI Literacy · Productivity

Prompt Coach

Teaches you to write better prompts for any AI tool. Shows how to structure queries for more useful, accurate, and specific AI responses. The fastest way to improve results from Copilot Chat, Researcher, Analyst, and any other AI tool.

Best for

Anyone new to using AI tools at work
Improving prompts that are returning vague or unhelpful answers
Building a library of reusable prompts for your role
Understanding why one prompt works and another does not
Onboarding a team to Copilot usage

Example prompts

Here is a prompt I wrote that did not give me what I needed. How would you improve it? [paste prompt]
I am a project manager. What is the best prompt structure for getting Copilot to generate a project status report?
Explain the difference between a good and a bad prompt using an example from finance reporting.
Give me a reusable prompt template for summarising a meeting into action items.

Prompt Coach is the right first stop for anyone on your team who says "Copilot never gives me what I want." The problem is almost always the prompt, not the tool.

Upskilling · Development

Learning Coach

Creates personalised learning plans, explains concepts at the level you need, and tracks progress through a topic over multiple sessions. Works across any subject — technical, business, or personal development.

Best for

Learning a new tool, framework, or methodology
Getting up to speed quickly in a new role or project
Preparing for a certification or exam
Building a structured self-study plan on any topic
Deepening knowledge in an area relevant to your current work

Example prompts

I need to understand EU AI Act compliance requirements. Build me a 2-week learning plan starting from basics.
I just moved into a finance role. What are the five concepts I need to understand first, and explain each one simply?
Test me on what I know about [topic] and tell me where my gaps are.
Explain [complex concept] as if I have a background in [your field] but no experience in this area.

Learning Coach remembers where you left off across sessions. Start with a diagnostic — "test me on what I know" — before asking for a learning plan, so the plan is calibrated to your actual level.

Career Development · Growth

Career Coach

Helps with career planning, goal setting, skill gap analysis, and preparing for professional milestones — interviews, promotions, performance reviews, and role transitions. Provides personalised guidance based on your context.

Best for

Preparing for a performance review or promotion conversation
Identifying skills to develop for your next role
Structuring your experience for a job application or CV
Building an argument for a pay increase or role change
Thinking through a career decision

Example prompts

I am a project manager aiming to move into a programme director role in 18 months. What skills do I need to develop?
Help me prepare for my annual performance review. My key achievements this year are: [list them]. How should I frame these?
I am considering between two career paths: [A] and [B]. Help me think through the trade-offs.
Write a development plan for the next 6 months based on this goal: [your goal].

Career Coach does not have access to your HR system, performance data, or salary information. Provide context in the conversation — the more specific your situation, the more useful the guidance.

Known limitations and considerations

They give general advice without your specific context. Coaching agents know nothing about you, your organisation, or your role until you tell them. The quality of coaching scales directly with how much context you provide. "Help me prepare for a review" is worse than "I am a senior PM, my review is in two weeks, and my key objectives this year were X, Y, and Z."

Coaching agents work independently of your M365 data. Unlike Copilot Chat, coaching agents do not pull from your M365 data. They work only on what you paste or describe in the conversation. Paste in your actual draft, data, or situation — do not describe it abstractly.

The agent is not visible in All agents. Your admin may have restricted the agents catalogue. Check the M365 admin centre under Settings → Integrated apps — coaching agents may need to be explicitly allowed for your user group. If a team member can see them but another cannot, it is a per-user policy issue, not a licence issue.

The agent does not remember a conversation from last week. Coaching agents do not have persistent long-term memory. Your chat history is saved and scrollable, but the agent does not automatically recall context from a previous session. When returning to an ongoing topic, paste a one-paragraph recap at the start of the new session — this restores relevant context immediately.