Microsoft 365 edition
Two hard deadlines this month: an Excel function disappears, and Project Online switches off completely.
Project Online switches off on 30 September, Planner gets an AI project manager
Microsoft pulls the plug on Project Online and sends everyone to Planner, with an agent that creates tasks and status reports itself.
Microsoft is ending Project Online for good on 30 September 2026. The reason: the old technology behind it leaves no room for modern AI features. Customers must move to Planner, with a Project Plan 3 or 5 licence. That includes portfolios, baselines, dependencies, and Gantt charts. New is the Project Manager agent in Planner, now in public preview. It creates tasks itself, writes status reports, and steers the work based on the project context.
Background for subscribersThis month is mainly about planning ahead. If you work with Project Online, you must migrate to Planner before 30 September, including reporting structures and permissions. If you use the Excel function COPILOT() in formulas, you must replace it with the Copilot side panel before 14 September. On top of that, Copilot in Teams gets a new look, you'll soon be able to create Planner tasks directly from Copilot, and Deep Research disappears from the free Copilot app. Also worth knowing: research shows that AI agents can work together in ways nobody expected, which calls for tight control over what agents are allowed to do and how long their login details stay valid.
Excel function COPILOT() disappears on 14 September
Microsoft is permanently removing the beta function COPILOT() from Excel on 14 September 2026. It let you put an AI instruction directly into a formula. Anyone who used it must switch to the Copilot side panel, which does similar things such as summarising text and sorting data into categories.
Background for subscribersThis is a taster.
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