Microsoft Teams Updated With AI Facilitator for In-Person Meetings, New Chat Features: Report

Microsoft is rolling out AI-powered meeting tools, new chat organisation options, and improvements to guest invitations for Teams. Among the notable features is an AI Facilitator, which is claimed to be capable of identifying knowledge gaps during meetings. Other features include AI-generated notes and dedicated sections for muted and meeting chat. The update has reportedly surfaced through Microsoft's admin portal, while the wider rollout is expected to happen in the coming weeks.

Microsoft Teams Gets an AI Facilitator Feature

The new features in Microsoft Teams were listed on the admin portal, which is accessible to Microsoft 365 Enterprise customers (via Windows Latest). The Redmond-based tech giant is testing a new feature called AI Facilitator. It will reportedly analyse conversations during meetings and identify instances where participants appear confused or require additional context.

If a knowledge gap is detected, the AI assistant is said to be capable of automatically generating responses using web search and posting them directly in the meeting chat.

The feature is reportedly disabled by default, while users will also have an option to disable all AI-powered meeting capabilities through a dedicated Meeting AI toggle. While it will be available to individual organisers and participants, guests will not have access to it, per the report.

AI-generated meeting notes are also being expanded to Teams Rooms on Windows. While it previously worked for scheduled online meetings, Microsoft reportedly says it will now work during in-person meetings as well. Users can use the Take notes option to generate real-time summaries, record key decisions, and automatically create action items without first scheduling a hybrid meeting.

This capability will reportedly be initially introduced in August, with a wider rollout expected in October.

Apart from this, Teams' chat organisation is also receiving a revamp. As per the report, two new dedicated sections called Muted and Meeting chats are rolling out, which can automatically categorise conversations into separate categories. Additionally, the company will also bring improvements to guest invitations. Following the changes, guest invitations will originate from the organiser's own email address instead of a no-reply email address. Its rollout is expected to be completed by the end of the month.