Microsoft launches unified Copilot super app with three tabs

Microsoft released a unified Copilot app on 25 September 2026, combining conversational Chat, the autonomous Cowork agent, a redesigned coding environment named Code, and Autopilot, the persistent agent formerly known as Scout, into a single experience. The app carries three tabs: Home, Code, and Autopilot. The launch follows CEO Satya Nadella's confirmation of the project two months earlier during a July earnings call.computerworld.com

The release matters because it turns Copilot from an assistant embedded across Microsoft 365 into a broader orchestration layer for enterprise work. Rather than asking users to pick a mode, Microsoft says Copilot will route a task to Chat, Cowork, Code or another capability based on what the user describes. Nadella said the architecture separates the orchestration layer, context and memory from any one AI model.zdnet.com

What the unified app contains

The Home tab merges functions that previously sat on separate Chat and Cowork tabs. Chat handles conversational requests such as drafting a document or looking up answers; Cowork completes a task from start to finish. Chief Marketing Officer Jared Spataro announced Office in Copilot, which lets users ask Copilot to create a launch plan in Word or a budget in Excel and receive a real, editable document inside the Copilot app alongside the conversation.engadget.com+1

The Code tab lets users build apps, trackers, dashboards and automations from natural-language prompts, with no programming skills required. Microsoft says Code is powered by the same underlying technology as GitHub Copilot and runs in a sandboxed environment hosted in the Microsoft 365 tenant. Applications built through Code run on the Microsoft Copilot Managed Runtime, managed as part of that tenant.

Fabric IQ, now generally available in Chat and Cowork, and Work IQ, which reaches data and workflows in Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, give Copilot broader understanding of an organisation's data. Abhishek Satapathy, principal analyst at Avasant, said this could reduce hallucinations and improve productivity by connecting what happened, why it happened and what needs to happen next. Work IQ enters public preview over the next month.

Where the enterprise context comes from

Copilot Managed Runtime, currently in public preview, provides a governed hosting environment for applications built with Code, Cowork and Copilot Studio, running them inside the organisation's Microsoft 365 environment while giving IT control over security, governance and access to live data. Manoj Chandra Jha, principal analyst at Nord-IQ Research, said the runtime could help IT teams curb shadow IT and application sprawl through consistent management of security, identity, policies and lifecycle.

The Autopilot tab, previously called Scout, handles autonomous agent work such as responding to threads or managing recurring tasks without user input. Spataro wrote that Autopilot can set up and manage a full supplier review process, building the schedule and workback plan, then handling prep, meetings and follow-ups on its own, right down to reaching out to stakeholders for updates.

Microsoft is expanding cost-management capabilities in Agent 365 to include Code and Copilot Managed Runtime, adding usage-based billing and FinOps controls for managing agentic workloads and AI spending. Administrators can manage AI spending policies at scale. The pricing model for key features is described as evolving, with usage-based billing applying to those capabilities rather than a fixed published price.

What the pricing model does

Copilot Executive VP Jacob Andreou, in pre-recorded remarks at a launch event for key customers, said roughly 90 million customers pay for Microsoft 365 out of their own pockets, and that these users want the full power offered to enterprise users in the context of their personal life. He also said Copilot has gotten faster, more capable and more coherent in the last few months.

Availability arrives in stages. Fabric IQ integration with Chat and Cowork is generally available, with Code integration planned through the Frontier program. Copilot Managed Runtime is in public preview. The redesigned Code experience rolls out to Microsoft's Frontier program at the end of the month, with broad availability in the coming weeks; Microsoft 365 Premium and Pro subscribers gain access later this year.

A Today view, described as a proactive command centre across mail, calendar, Teams threads, meetings and tasks, will not be available on the Home tab at launch. Microsoft says it enters private preview in October in Copilot, and will also come to Outlook and Teams. Work IQ enters public preview over the next month.