Examine the Analyst agent

  • 5 minutes

In any business setting, making sense of data is a critical part of informed decision-making. Whether you're tracking sales performance, summarizing survey results, or understanding trends across multiple projects, data analysis takes time and attention. The Analyst agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is designed to help you explore, interpret, and summarize business data by using natural language prompts.

The Analyst agent can work with the data you provide or reference in Microsoft 365 and return summaries, comparisons, and visualizations based on your questions. For example, you can ask, "What are the key trends in this sales report?" or "Summarize performance by region," and Analyst can return a clear breakdown with charts, tables, or written observations.

Screenshot of the prebuilt Analyst agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat.

Let Analyst do the heavy lifting with your data

The Analyst agent is especially useful when you want help moving from raw data to findings. It can help you identify trends, compare segments, create forecasts, and generate visuals from structured datasets. In some experiences, Analyst can also show the steps it used so you can review how it reached its answer. For example, you can use Analyst to turn spreadsheet data into a demand forecast, a visualization of customer purchasing patterns, or a revenue projection.

The Analyst agent is especially helpful for recurring tasks like preparing for business reviews, tracking performance metrics, or identifying outliers in your data. It can also help you spot inconsistencies or gaps that might otherwise go unnoticed. You don't need to know advanced Excel formulas or complex BI tools to get started. The Analyst agent understands everyday business language and can interpret your intent. This feature makes it especially useful if you aren't a data expert but still need to work with numbers and reports. It also saves time by automating tasks that might otherwise take hours, such as building a pivot table or creating a chart.

One of Analyst's strengths is helping you ask follow-up questions against the same business context. After you review an initial result, you can keep refining the analysis, ask for a different chart, or request a simpler explanation for a nontechnical audience. It also respects your file permissions, so it only accesses data you're authorized to see.

Sample prompts when working with Analyst

Here's a list of sample prompts you can try with the prebuilt Analyst agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. These prompts are designed to be natural and task-oriented, helping users get insights from their data without needing advanced technical skills.

  • Understanding and summarizing data
    • "Summarize the key trends in this Excel file."
    • "What are the top five performing products by revenue?"
    • "Can you identify any anomalies in this sales data?"
    • "Give me a quick overview of our Q1 performance."
  • Creating visuals
    • "Create a bar chart showing monthly sales by region."
    • "Visualize the customer churn rate over the past year."
    • "Generate a pie chart of expenses by category."
  • Comparing and filtering
    • "Compare this year's revenue to last year's."
    • "Filter this data to show only North America and EMEA."
    • "Which departments had the highest cost increases?"
  • Time-based analysis
    • "Show me the sales trend over the last six months."
    • "What was our average weekly revenue in Q2?"
    • "Highlight any seasonal patterns in this dataset."
  • Predictive and what-if scenarios
    • "Based on current trends, what will our revenue look like next quarter?"
    • "What happens if we increase marketing spend by 10%?"
    • "Forecast customer growth for the next six months."

Limitations of the Analyst agent

While the Analyst agent is a powerful tool for data analysis and insights, it has a few limitations to be aware of:

  • Requires clear data structure. The Analyst agent works best when the data you provide is well organized and clearly structured, such as tables and spreadsheets. If your data is messy, incomplete, or requires substantial cleaning, you might need to prepare it before using Analyst for deeper insights.
  • Can't replace expert data interpretation. While Analyst can generate insights based on the data, it doesn't replace domain-specific expertise. For highly specialized analysis or nuanced interpretation, you should still consult a subject matter expert.
  • Doesn't handle every data type equally well. Analyst is strongest with structured, tabular data. If your starting point is mostly freeform text, screenshots, or handwritten notes, you might need to organize that information first before asking for deeper analysis.
  • Requires human review for complex insights. For complex or critical business decisions, treat Analyst's results as a draft or starting point. A person should review the final interpretation, especially for high-stakes outcomes.
  • Limited customization for specialized queries. While Analyst can handle many common analysis tasks, highly specialized questions might require manual adjustments or additional work outside Copilot.
  • Not a real-time data processor. Analyst generally works on the data available in the files or context you give it. If the source data changes, you might need to refresh the source or rerun the request.
  • Unable to automatically detect all data inconsistencies. While Analyst can help identify obvious gaps or inconsistencies, it might not catch every issue, especially if the issue is subtle or context-dependent. You might still need to inspect the data yourself.
  • Doesn't replace advanced business intelligence tools. Although Analyst can perform useful analysis and create visuals, it isn't a substitute for dedicated BI tools for large-scale reporting, dashboard design, or enterprise data modeling.