How to Use the NEW AI Skills in Microsoft Excel!

Summary of the video (AI “Excel Skills” in Microsoft 365 Copilot)

The speaker explains a new way to automate repeatable Excel work using AI “skills”—structured prompts/actions that can be taught to Copilot and then run to produce results directly in Excel. The core problem addressed is that spreadsheet work is limited by:

1. users’ own Excel knowledge, and
2. the repetitive nature of similar monthly data (e.g., invoices and deal reports).

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Key concepts: What “Skills” are and how they help

• Skills = result-focused AI tasks: You “teach” AI what to do, then it runs to generate outputs (similar to automation, but structured around an outcome rather than free-form chat).
• Skills aren’t Copilot-only: They’re described as available via Copilot in GPT Chat and in “clawed” (unclear word in subtitles), positioning them as a more universal workflow for AI task execution.
• Compared to repeating spreadsheets manually: Skills are meant to reduce the tedium of running the same work every month and instead automate the process using the new AI capability.

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Demo 1: Predefined Microsoft Excel “Deal Tracking” skill

1. Open the Copilot sidebar in Excel via the floating Copilot icon.
2. Enable “Allow Editing.”
3. Click “+” → “All Skills” to access predefined Microsoft-created skills.
4. Select the “Deal Tracking” skill and ask Copilot to explain it.
   • The skill is described as creating/updating:
     • funnel processes, stages, actions, and weekly reviews
   • It can also use an existing deal table to assemble the output.
5. Start a new Copilot chat and:
   • add work content again (All Skills)
   • choose “Deal Tracking”
   • add additional instructions (e.g., create a dashboard showing progress).
6. Copilot executes the skill and produces results:
   • Result: 24 active deals and a £1.6M sales funnel
   • Adds dataset columns such as:
     • weighted value
     • days to close
     • days since activity
     • sales funnel status
7. A new review tab is added for the sales funnel:
   • active deals, totals, stage status, deal owner, and items needing attention.
8. Changes are applied by clicking “Done.”

Takeaway: predefined skills can quickly simplify financial workflows and accelerate common reporting tasks.

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Demo 2: Creating a custom Excel skill for invoice validation

The speaker then addresses the case where predefined skills don’t match exact needs, and demonstrates building a custom invoice skill.

Creating the custom skill (skill.md) using Copilot Chat

1. In the Excel Copilot sidebar, go to sidebar settings (three dots) → “Manage skills.”
2. Open the custom skills folder (stored on the single business drive / OneDrive-like storage).
3. Instead of building directly in Excel, they use Copilot Chat:
   • The speaker mentions disabling “Work IQ” to avoid using their work data to create the skill.
4. Provide Copilot with an instruction to create a skill.md file that:
   • uses the invoice data type
   • highlights overdue and unpaid invoices
   • marks those rows in red
   • creates an additional tab with a dashboard summary of paid vs unpaid totals
   • ensures the MD structure matches Microsoft’s formatting requirements
5. Copilot reads the provided formatting instructions page and generates the skill file.
6. The resulting skill.md is downloaded and placed into the skills folder in the correct OneDrive location:
   • folder name matches the skill name
   • skill.md is added inside that folder
7. Back in Excel:
   • update custom skills
   • enable the new skill: “account verification panel”
8. Run the skill by selecting:
   • Add work content → All Skills → account verification panel
   • (no extra prompt needed), then let Copilot apply changes.

Results of the custom invoice skill

• Copilot creates an invoice reconciliation dashboard showing:
  • paid vs unpaid reconciliation
  • priorities where sales reps are most problematic
  • top 10 most overdue unpaid invoices by amount
• Conditional formatting is applied automatically:
  • unpaid + overdue invoices highlighted line-by-line in red
• The skill is reusable:
  • next month, when new invoice data arrives, running the skill again repeats the same logic on the new dataset.

Takeaway: custom skills can replicate “month-after-month” invoice analysis and dashboarding without manual rework.

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Additional guidance/resources mentioned

• The speaker promotes a “Microsoft 365 Copilot Coach Academy” for troubleshooting and training:
  • includes a wizard/program to help set up Copilot
  • teaches usage across apps like Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint
  • integrates into Teams
• A web link is referenced as being provided in the description/video.

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Broader implications discussed

• Skills are framed as a potential evolution of macros:
  • macros are harder to run/manage and are often blocked due to trust concerns
  • skills could behave like “AI macros” by applying a tagged instruction to your data and producing the outcome automatically
• Skills are said to expand beyond Excel:
  • skills become available in SharePoint and can be used in Copilot collaboration
• Clarification: skills are not agents; they focus on structured outcomes (result-driven execution).

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Main speakers / sources

• Main speaker: The YouTube video host/presenter (no name provided in the subtitles).
• Primary software sources: Microsoft Copilot in Excel and Copilot Chat (skills and custom skill.md format/requirements from Microsoft).