Compare · Chat assistants
An assistant answers. An agent keeps working.
Chat assistants help one person in a conversation. Agent Serve also runs AI agents on schedules and events, with a person approving what they change.
A comparison of Agent Serve, the AI workspace where teams build, deploy, and manage AI agents, with workplace chat assistants such as Microsoft 365 Copilot and ChatGPT Enterprise: what each is for, how they differ, and when each is the better fit.
What each is for
Different tools, different jobs.
Agent Serve
Agent Serve is the AI workspace where teams build, deploy, and manage AI agents. Chat is one way in; Relays and workflows keep agents working on schedules and events after the conversation ends.
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Microsoft describes Copilot as an assistant inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, grounded in work data through Microsoft Graph, with agents built in Copilot Studio.
From Microsoft: Microsoft Learn: What is Microsoft Copilot? (opens in a new tab)ChatGPT Enterprise
OpenAI offers ChatGPT Enterprise as a workspace for ChatGPT with admin roles, single sign-on and apps that connect company tools, which admins turn on.
From OpenAI: OpenAI Help Center: ChatGPT Enterprise admin quickstart (opens in a new tab)
Side by side
How they differ, point by point.
| Topic | Agent Serve | Microsoft 365 Copilot · ChatGPT Enterprise |
|---|---|---|
| Where work happens | In Chat, and in Relays and workflows that run without anyone in the conversation. | Mainly in a conversation, or inside the apps the assistant is built into.Source: Microsoft Learn: What is Microsoft Copilot? (opens in a new tab) |
| Work that starts itself | Relays and workflows start on a schedule, a webhook, an integration event, an inbox or a monitor alert. | Microsoft points to Copilot Studio for agents that automate business processes beyond chat.Source: Microsoft Learn: What is Microsoft Copilot? (opens in a new tab) |
| Connected tools | Agents read and act in the integrations the workspace connects, across vendors, with each Relay limited to an allowlist. | ChatGPT Enterprise connects company tools through apps that a workspace owner turns on.Source: OpenAI Help Center: apps in ChatGPT Enterprise (opens in a new tab) |
| Changes need a yes | Writes wait for approval of the exact action unless you delegate them. Email and meetings always need approval from a Relay. | Admins manage which apps and agents people can use.Source: OpenAI Help Center: ChatGPT Enterprise admin quickstart (opens in a new tab) |
| Shared numbers | A semantic model, governed metrics and dashboards, so an answer uses the certified definition. | Microsoft grounds answers in emails, files, meetings and calendars through Microsoft Graph.Source: Microsoft Learn: What is Microsoft Copilot? (opens in a new tab) |
| Models and hosting | Models from several providers, your own provider keys, and self-hosting in your own cloud. | Microsoft 365 Copilot picks among the models Microsoft offers, in Microsoft’s cloud.Source: Microsoft Learn: What is Microsoft Copilot? (opens in a new tab) |
Honest fit
When they are the better choice.
- Your goal is help writing and summarizing inside Word, Outlook and Teams, where Microsoft 365 Copilot lives.
- People need a general-purpose assistant for their own questions more than agents that run shared work.
- Your organization has standardized on one vendor’s cloud and wants its assistant to match.
Together
Using both side by side.
Many teams keep a chat assistant for personal writing and use Agent Serve for shared agents that run work across tools, with approvals and a record of every run.
Questions
About this comparison
Is Agent Serve a chat assistant?
Agent Serve includes Chat, but it is an AI workspace: teams also build Relays and workflows that keep working on schedules and events, with approvals and logs.
Can we use Agent Serve and Microsoft 365 Copilot together?
Yes. Agent Serve connects to Microsoft tools such as Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and Excel, so its agents can work beside the assistant people already use.
Where do these facts come from?
Every statement about another product links its maker’s own page, read on the date shown at the end of this page.
Sources
Where the facts come from.
Each maker's own pages, read on October 23, 2026. Products change; check the source before you decide.
- Microsoft Learn: What is Microsoft Copilot?: Microsoft Learn: What is Microsoft Copilot? (opens in a new tab)
- OpenAI Help Center: ChatGPT Enterprise admin quickstart: OpenAI Help Center: ChatGPT Enterprise admin quickstart (opens in a new tab)
- OpenAI Help Center: apps in ChatGPT Enterprise: OpenAI Help Center: apps in ChatGPT Enterprise (opens in a new tab)