What to look for in a Microsoft Teams AI assistant
A Teams AI assistant can take meeting notes or do jobs across your tools. How to tell them apart, and what to check on licences and approval.
Search results for a Teams AI assistant are led by Microsoft’s own tools. Those include Copilot in Teams and agents such as Facilitator, which take notes and summarise meetings. Decide first whether you need meeting notes or a coworker that does jobs across your other tools. Then check licences, who must approve the app, and how it asks before acting.
What does “Teams AI assistant” usually mean?
It often means Microsoft’s own AI, which comes in three groups depending on what you pay for. Microsoft’s Overview of AI in Microsoft Teams, read on 3 November 2026, sets them out for IT admins.
The first group needs no extra licence, only a Microsoft 365 subscription and a Teams licence. It includes the Copilot Chat app and suggested replies in one-to-one and group chats. Microsoft says that without a Microsoft Copilot licence, Copilot Chat answers are grounded only in public web data.
The second group needs a Microsoft Copilot licence. Microsoft calls that licence the foundation for Copilot in Teams, Facilitator and Channel Agent. It is an add-on that you buy and assign to each user who needs it.
The third group is the Teams Premium add-on. Microsoft lists intelligent call and meeting recaps and live translated captions there.
Other vendors sell Teams AI assistants too. The rest of this guide helps you choose between a meeting assistant and a different kind of tool.
Do you need meeting notes or a coworker that does tasks?
It depends on where the work happens. If it is inside a meeting, you need a meeting assistant. If it is in channels and across your other tools, you need something that takes a task and finishes it.
A meeting assistant works in the meeting and its chat. Microsoft’s Facilitator page, read on 3 November 2026, says Facilitator takes real-time notes. It also summarises key decisions and open questions, and answers questions in the meeting chat. Microsoft’s meeting settings page says Copilot in meetings captures important conversation points and can recommend follow-up tasks.
A coworker that does tasks works in channels instead. You give it a job, it uses the tools you connected and posts the finished result in the thread. Our post on what an AI employee is covers the idea in more detail.
For channels, Microsoft has Channel Agent. Microsoft says it flags deadlines, writes status reports, assigns tasks and due dates, and answers questions. Microsoft’s help articles also cover creating project tasks and emails with it. It needs the same Microsoft Copilot licence, so compare it on which tools beyond Microsoft 365 it reaches.
| Meeting assistant (Copilot in meetings, Facilitator) | Work coworker in channels | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it works | Inside a Teams meeting and its chat | In channels and threads, outside meetings too |
| What you get | Notes, decisions, open questions, follow-up tasks, a recap | A finished job posted in the thread |
| What it draws on | The meeting transcript, chat, notes and shared files | The tools you connect, such as Xero, HubSpot and Deputy |
| How it is paid for | A Microsoft Copilot licence for each user who needs it | Depends on the product, and some use a shared pool for the whole workspace |
| Good first job | Notes for a weekly team meeting | A morning brief or a weekly report on a schedule |
The left column comes from the Microsoft pages linked above. The right column describes the type of tool in general, so check any product against it.
What should you check before you choose one?
Check six things, and write down the first one before you open a single product page.
- The jobs you will hand it. List three or four real tasks from last week. Judge every product against that list.
- Which tools it connects to beyond Microsoft 365. If your invoices sit in Xero and your contacts in HubSpot, ask whether it reaches them.
- How it is paid for. Microsoft’s Copilot licence is assigned to each user who needs it. Some other products use a shared pool for the workspace. Work out the cost for the people who would actually use it.
- Who has to approve it. See the next section.
- What it does before it acts for you. Look for a draft or an Approve step before anything goes out under a person’s name.
- Whether part of the business is on Slack. Some products work the same way in both. Our guide to choosing an AI assistant for Slack covers the same questions there.
Who has to approve a Teams AI assistant?
Your Teams admin does, so ask early. Microsoft’s Teams admin center overview, read on 3 November 2026, says admins can review agents and apps before allowing them. They control availability per user or per app from the Manage apps page. Microsoft’s built-in agents, such as Facilitator and Channel Agent, are managed from a separate Built-in Teams agents page. Microsoft recommends the Teams Administrator role for this work.
For meetings there is a separate control, and the admin’s meeting policy decides who can change it. Where the policy allows, an organiser can set Copilot to Off for a meeting. That also turns off recording and transcription. Admins can make Off the default, and organisers can still change it per meeting.
If you are not the admin, send yours the name of the app and the jobs you want it for. That saves a round of questions.
Where does HiToby fit?
HiToby is an AI coworker that lives in Slack or Microsoft Teams. It connects to the tools a team already pays for and takes jobs off people’s plates.
You message it in plain English, like a colleague, or mention it in a thread. It breaks the request into steps, uses the tools you connected and posts the finished result in the thread. You can also give it a schedule, such as a morning brief or a weekly report, and it runs the job without being asked again.
Setup takes about two minutes. You sign in with Slack or Teams, connect a tool if you want to, and give it something to do. You approve each tool connection by name.
It works the same way in Slack and in Microsoft Teams. One credit pool and one set of connected tools cover both.
For example, it reads invoices and bank transactions in Xero, and contacts and companies in HubSpot. In Deputy it reads the employee list, unapproved timesheets and rosters.
If meeting notes are your main job, Microsoft’s own tools are the closer fit. Our comparison with Lindy, as of 29 September 2026, says Lindy fits if you want a meeting notetaker. It records your calls and keeps them in a library you can search.
To see HiToby work, book a demo. Plans are on the pricing page.
Microsoft, Microsoft Teams and Copilot are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Slack is a trademark of Slack Technologies, LLC. Xero is a trademark of Xero Limited. HubSpot is a trademark of HubSpot, Inc. Deputy is a trademark of Deputy.
Questions
Can you turn off the AI assistant in Teams?
Not by default. Under Microsoft’s default setting, organisers can’t change Copilot’s meeting option, so ask your Teams admin. Where the admin’s policy allows, an organiser can set Copilot to Off, which also turns off recording and transcription.
What is Facilitator in Microsoft Teams?
Facilitator is an agent in Teams meetings. It takes real-time notes, summarises key decisions and open questions, and answers questions in the meeting chat. The person who adds it or turns it on needs a Microsoft Copilot licence. In Teams meetings, Microsoft says it can be added only to scheduled meetings, not channel meetings, instant meetings or Teams calls.
Is the AI in Teams free?
Some of it comes with no extra licence beyond Microsoft 365 and Teams. Copilot Chat and suggested replies are in that group, though Copilot Chat answers only from public web data without a Microsoft Copilot licence. Copilot in Teams, Facilitator and Channel Agent need that licence, and intelligent recap needs the Teams Premium add-on.
Who can add an AI app to Microsoft Teams?
Your Teams admin decides which apps people can use, from the Manage apps page in the Teams admin center. People can then install the allowed apps, or ask the admin for one.
Does HiToby work in both Slack and Teams?
Yes, it works the same way in Slack and Teams. One credit pool and one set of connected tools cover both.
