Adobe, Figma, monday.com in Copilot: Fewer Handoffs Between Tools
Since April, apps such as Adobe Express, Figma, Miro, monday.com, Box and Dynamics 365 can appear as interactive experiences directly inside Microsoft 365 Copilot. Users act in the conversation instead of switching to the next tool. The change is unspectacular, but it removes a daily source of friction: the step between knowing what to do and doing it. In this article, I look at the practical side of in-chat apps, what they mean for Microsoft's platform position and why governance through the admin center decides whether the model scales.
AI now produces good answers reliably. Turning these answers into completed work remains harder. In its announcement of April 13, Microsoft showed how business apps appear directly inside Microsoft 365 Copilot. Users retrieve information, interact with the app and take action without leaving the chat. I consider this one of the more practical steps in Microsoft's AI strategy, because it targets an old form of friction: the gap between knowing what to do and doing it.
The cost of context switching
A marketer reviews a brief in one place, opens a design tool in another and shares the result in a third. A project lead reads a request in chat but has to switch tools to approve and assign it. Most organizations no longer question this pattern. It still costs time, breaks concentration and slows execution even when the next step is clear. Work often stalls between two systems.
From assistant to working surface
An assistant layer finds information, summarizes and drafts. An action layer moves the task forward: it updates a record, creates an asset or approves a step. With in-chat apps, Microsoft pushes Copilot toward the second role.
Agents can now connect to Adobe Express, Figma, Miro, monday.com, Optimizely, Box, Wix, Base44 and Dynamics 365. These apps show visually rich, interactive experiences inside Copilot. Microsoft's examples include turning marketing briefs into assets, visualizing ideas as boards, updating records in operational systems and managing campaigns. The user no longer has to reconstruct the intent in a second tool.
Adoption happens in small moments
Organizations often overestimate isolated intelligence and underestimate workflow fit. An excellent answer creates little value if the next five steps remain manual. Employees experience AI strategy in small moments: whether they must switch tools again, whether the context is already there and whether they can act immediately. In-chat apps address exactly these moments, and across thousands of employees they add up.
What this means for Microsoft's platform
If users access third-party applications and business actions through Copilot, Microsoft gains in three areas:
- User attention More work begins and continues in Copilot.
- Partner pull Vendors want their app experiences where enterprise users already work. The Agent Store gains value as a result.
- Workflow ownership When insight and action happen in one layer, Microsoft influences how workflows start and finish.
The competition therefore shifts from the strongest model to the question of who embeds intelligence in the daily operation of work.
Governance through the admin center
More apps and actions in the chat increase the need for control. Microsoft deploys and manages the connected experiences through the Microsoft 365 admin center. Enterprise buyers need visibility, approval mechanisms and confidence that connected apps comply with policy. Without these controls, in-chat actions become a risk. With them, users move from intent to execution with less friction in a governed environment.
The effect of in-chat apps is fewer handoffs, less tab switching and less rework. That is operational rather than revolutionary, yet enterprises usually capture their value in exactly such operational improvements. The closer Copilot holds together the steps across systems, approvals and records, the stronger Microsoft's position becomes.