What is usable now is the insider channel
WinDiscover reports that Microsoft is adding a Copilot interactive canvas to Excel. A prompt turns sheet data into a report. The examples are an executive summary, a project update, and a status report. The canvas stays connected to the workbook, so the report updates when the underlying data changes. A user who dislikes the result can ask for a different layout, a different emphasis, or a different presentation, without rebuilding the report.
The piece says the interactive canvas is currently open only to Microsoft 365 Insiders. It does not say when ordinary subscribers get it.
[1]
Skills and data import are still dated as October plans
Skill Builder lets a user describe a workflow in conversation, give instructions, share old prompts, or hand over a finished example, and Copilot turns that into a reusable skill. Someone who cannot describe the workflow can use Skill Recorder, perform it once in Excel, and have Copilot record the actions for later. The piece says Skill Builder is expected to become generally available in October, and Skill Recorder is due to Insiders at the end of October.
Get Data replaces a hand-built Power Query with a description of where the data comes from and how it is shaped. Clean Data flags duplicate records, inconsistent formats, and wrong types. The example is USA, US, and United States in one column. Get Data is expected to reach general availability on Excel for the web in mid-October, and Clean Data starts rolling out in October. Those are expectations, not a completed rollout in this piece.
[1]The in-cell function is already gone
The piece also notes that Microsoft had already discontinued the COPILOT function that called the model from inside an Excel cell, in favor of reusable skills and change history. The interactive canvas is a separate entry. It does not bring that cell function back.
[1]