Written by the AIKit Editorial Team — practitioners who tested Microsoft Copilot, Read.ai, and Otter.ai across real EA and operations workflows.
What Microsoft Copilot AI meeting notes actually does
Microsoft Copilot in Teams is not a separate bot — it is built directly into the Teams meeting experience. When you start recording and transcription in a Teams call, Copilot processes the audio and generates:
- A meeting recap — a structured AI summary of what was discussed and decided
- Action items — automatically identified tasks with suggested owners
- A full searchable transcript — speaker-attributed, with timestamps
- A Copilot chat — you can ask questions about the meeting after it ends ("What did [person] say about the budget?", "What was agreed on the timeline?")
Everything stays within your Microsoft 365 tenant. The transcript and recap are stored in the meeting chat and in SharePoint, subject to your organisation's existing data retention policies.
EA workflows with Microsoft Copilot meeting notes
How do I enable Microsoft Copilot meeting notes in Teams?
You need a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. If your organisation has one, the process is:
- Join or start the Teams meeting.
- Click the three-dot menu (More) at the top of the meeting controls.
- Select "Record and transcribe" — this starts both recording and Copilot transcription.
- After the meeting, the recap appears automatically in the meeting chat thread.
- Click "View recap" to access the full summary, action items, and transcript.
How do I use Copilot meeting notes to brief an executive who was absent?
Here is the Microsoft Copilot AI summary of a Teams meeting that [Executive Name] missed. Rewrite it as a concise executive brief under 200 words. Format: Decisions Made / Action Items (owner + deadline) / Key Context / Open Questions. Remove filler. Lead with the most important decision. Flag any item that requires their direct input or approval. Summary: [paste Copilot recap here]
How do I use Copilot's chat feature after a meeting?
After the meeting ends, Copilot remains available in the meeting chat. You can ask it questions about the recording without re-watching it:
In the Copilot chat panel after the meeting, try: "What action items were assigned and to whom?" "What was the final decision on [topic]?" "Did anyone raise any concerns about [topic]?" "Summarise what [person's name] contributed to the discussion." "What follow-up was agreed for next week's meeting?"
How do I track action items from Copilot across multiple meetings?
Copilot lists action items in the recap, but does not automatically create tasks in Planner or To Do. The EA workflow:
- After each meeting, copy action items from the recap.
- Paste them into a weekly tracking document with owner and due date columns.
- At end of week, use ChatGPT to generate a weekly digest (same prompt as in the Read AI meeting notes guide).
- Send the digest to relevant stakeholders every Friday.
Get the complete EA AI toolkit
The AI Survival Kit for Executive Assistants includes AI workflows for meeting notes, executive correspondence, briefing documents, and calendar management.
Get the EA AI Kit →Microsoft Copilot vs Read.ai for EAs
| Factor | Microsoft Copilot | Read.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Teams only | Zoom, Teams, Meet |
| Data location | Inside your M365 tenant | Read.ai cloud servers |
| Cost | ~$30/user/month (M365 Copilot) | $15/user/month (paid) |
| Post-meeting chat | Yes — ask questions about the meeting | Limited |
| Best for | M365 orgs, confidential meetings | Multi-platform, meeting analytics |
Frequently asked questions
Does Microsoft Copilot meeting notes require a special licence? +
Yes. Microsoft Copilot meeting notes in Teams requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on licence, approximately $30 per user per month on top of your existing M365 subscription. This is separate from standard M365 features. Check with your IT admin to see if licences are already available at your organisation.
Does Microsoft Copilot meeting notes work on Google Meet or Zoom? +
No. Microsoft Copilot meeting notes only works within Microsoft Teams. For Zoom or Google Meet, you need a third-party AI notetaker like Read.ai, Otter.ai, or Fireflies.ai instead.
Is Microsoft Copilot meeting notes more secure than Read.ai? +
For most enterprise environments, yes. Microsoft Copilot processes meeting data within your Microsoft 365 tenant, subject to your existing data governance and compliance policies. Read.ai sends audio to external servers. For highly confidential meetings — board discussions, M&A, HR matters — Copilot within a well-configured M365 tenant is typically the lower-risk choice.
AI Survival Kit for Executive Assistants
50+ copy-paste prompts · meeting notes · executive correspondence · briefing documents · calendar management. Instant PDF. $97.
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