What is Researcher in Microsoft 365 Copilot? A use case from practice

Learn how the Researcher agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot can transform your information gathering and analysis workflows.

Researcher is one of two agents Microsoft added to Copilot. The other one is Analyst, which works on data instead of information. Both are introduced in Analyst & Researcher now in Copilot.

The challenge

Knowledge workers spend significant time:

Searching for information across sources
Reading and synthesizing documents
Creating summaries and reports
Staying current with industry developments

The solution: Researcher agent

Copilot's Researcher agent automates much of this work:

Multi-source research - Searches across your Microsoft 365 content - Integrates with web sources - Cross-references multiple documents

Intelligent summarization - Extracts key points automatically - Identifies relevant quotes and data - Creates structured summaries

Report generation - Produces formatted research reports - Includes citations and sources - Adapts to your preferred style

Real-world example

A marketing manager needed competitive intelligence for a quarterly review:

Before Researcher: 4 hours gathering data, 2 hours creating the report With Researcher: 30 minutes reviewing AI-generated research, 30 minutes refinement

Getting started

Contact Universal Cloud to learn how to enable and best utilize the Researcher agent for your team.

Frequently asked questions

What is Researcher in Microsoft 365 Copilot?

Researcher is an agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot that takes on multi-step research. It searches across your Microsoft 365 content, integrates web sources and cross-references multiple documents, then turns the result into a structured summary or a formatted research report with citations and sources.

What does the Researcher agent do?

Three things. It gathers information from multiple sources, including your own Microsoft 365 content and the web. It summarises intelligently by extracting key points and identifying relevant quotes and data. And it generates reports in your preferred style, with citations and sources included.

What is the difference between Researcher and Analyst in Copilot?

Researcher works on information: it gathers findings from multiple sources, synthesises them into clear summaries and produces research reports. Analyst works on data: it processes complex datasets, identifies trends and patterns, creates visualisations and delivers data-driven insights. Both agents are explained side by side in Analyst and Researcher now in Copilot.

Which licence do you need for the Researcher agent?

The Researcher and Analyst agents are available to Microsoft 365 Copilot licence holders. Contact Universal Cloud to check whether your organisation is set up to use them.

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