Microsoft Copilot Wave 2: Python in Excel and the PowerPoint Narrative Builder

What You'll Learn

• How Python in Excel via Copilot changes data analysis for non-technical executives
• What the PowerPoint Narrative Builder produces from a brief
• Which Copilot Wave 2 features are shipping now vs. rolling out over Q4

Microsoft's Copilot Wave 2 is a rolling series of capability additions across every Microsoft 365 application. Two features in this wave are significant enough to change how executives interact with their core productivity tools. Python in Excel via Copilot lets anyone run sophisticated data analysis by describing it in English. The PowerPoint Narrative Builder creates a full slide deck from a document or brief.

Both features address the same underlying problem: the gap between what executives know and what they can produce in Microsoft Office without spending hours on technical execution. That gap narrows significantly with Wave 2.

The strategic implication: data analysis and presentation creation that previously required a specialist can now be initiated by the executive who owns the question.

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Python in Excel via Copilot

Excel has had Python integration since August 2023. The problem: writing Python code is not part of most executives' workflow. Copilot bridges that gap. Describe what you want in English. Copilot writes the Python, runs it in a secure cloud sandbox, and returns the output directly in the spreadsheet. No Python installation required.

What this means in practice: "Show me year-over-year revenue growth by product category as a chart" produces a full visualization. "Identify which customers have declining spend over the last three quarters" produces a cohort analysis. "Forecast Q4 revenue based on the trend in columns C through F" produces a regression model. The code is visible and editable, but executives do not need to touch it.

The bottleneck was never the data. It was the code. That bottleneck is removed.

PowerPoint Narrative Builder

The Narrative Builder takes a Word document, PDF, or brief as input and generates a full presentation: slides, speaker notes, and a narrative arc aligned to the source material.

• Open PowerPoint with Copilot enabled.
• Click "Create presentation from file" and select your source document.
• Copilot generates a slide deck with recommended structure, placeholder content from your document, and speaker notes.
• Edit slide by slide or ask Copilot to restructure the narrative arc.

What it produces well: executive summary decks from strategy documents, board reports from financial summaries, pitch decks from business cases. The initial output typically requires 30-40% less editing than starting from a blank deck. What it does not do well: highly designed presentations with custom graphics or brand-specific layouts.

Rollout Status

Python in Excel via Copilot is in preview for Microsoft 365 Copilot subscribers as of October 2024. The PowerPoint Narrative Builder is generally available for Copilot subscribers. Outlook features vary by tenant -- check your admin center for availability. The Microsoft 365 Copilot license is $30/user/month.

Excel Copilot prompt for revenue analysis: "Analyze the revenue data in columns A through F. Show me: 1. Year-over-year growth rate by product category (bar chart) 2. Top 10 customers by total revenue this year vs. last year 3. Any customers with declining spend for 2+ consecutive quarters Flag any data quality issues you notice before running the analysis."