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Guide a new hire through their first weeks

Give a new starter a reviewable sequence of nudges, resources, and check-ins without relying on your memory.

Stage: Autopilots · For: Manager, Champion, End user · Level: Intermediate · Time: 20 min

When to use this

Onboarding fails quietly when the right link, introduction, or check-in is late rather than missing entirely. Use this when you want Autopilot (formerly Microsoft Scout) to help organise a paced first-weeks guide for a new starter, while you stay responsible for the people context and any messages sent in your name. Autopilot is in private preview and access is gated; the Microsoft Scout desktop app docs cover current access and scope for today's Frontier app.

What you'll need

  • Access to Autopilot (private preview) — or, today, the Frontier desktop app still documented on Learn as Microsoft Scout (needs Frontier turned on by your admin, an Intune policy + admin attestation, a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, and a GitHub Copilot Business or Enterprise licence). See Find out if you can get Autopilot.
  • The new hire's start date, role, manager, buddy, and the documents, channels, meetings, or tasks they should know about.
  • Permission to share any resources Autopilot references, plus a manager-approved tone for nudges and check-ins.

Try it now — the prompt

Give Autopilot the onboarding guide as a scheduled, human-reviewed skill:

Take on a standing "new hire onboarding guide" skill for [new hire name]:
- Build a first-weeks sequence from [start date] using these resources:
  [links to team handbook, role docs, channel list, training, and key contacts].
- Draft timely nudges for what to read, who to meet, and what to ask next.
- Remind me before manager check-ins with suggested topics and any open questions.
- Keep every message friendly, concise, and specific to [role/team].
Do not send messages to the new hire or others until I review and approve them.

Why this works: it scopes the person, timing, resources, and approval boundary so Autopilot can prepare the cadence without pretending to replace the manager or buddy.

Step by step

  1. Gather the source material. Collect the role docs, team handbook, required training, key channels, and people the new hire should meet.
  2. Open Autopilot where your preview experience is enabled and confirm it can access the resources you intend to use.
  3. Equip the skill. Paste the prompt, replacing the bracketed variables with the new hire's details and the approved resource links.
  4. Review the proposed sequence. Autopilot should draft a paced set of nudges and check-in reminders, with links back to the resources it used.
  5. Personalise before sharing. Adjust tone, remove anything the person should not see yet, and add human context that does not live in documents.
  6. Use check-ins to tune the guide. After each manager conversation, tell Autopilot what changed so future nudges reflect the new hire's actual needs.

Screenshots

We deliberately don't ship screenshots that go stale — the Microsoft Copilot UI changes often. Follow the numbered steps above, which we keep current. Maintainers can regenerate fresh captures with the Playwright tool in tooling/screenshots/.

Make it better

  • Add role milestones. Ask Autopilot to align nudges with the first customer call, first demo, or first project contribution.
  • Bring in the buddy. Have Autopilot draft notes you can share with the buddy so support is coordinated.
  • Track questions. Ask Autopilot to collect recurring questions from check-ins and suggest where the handbook needs improvement.
  • Convert the pattern. Once the guide works, capture the reusable parts as a team onboarding recipe.

Watch out for

  • Onboarding is personal. Autopilot can organise reminders and resources, but you still provide judgement, empathy, and context.
  • Do not overshare. Check permissions and sensitivity before any resource or message reaches the new hire.
  • Preview limits apply. Autopilot capabilities and surfaces are gated and may change; confirm current behaviour in the Microsoft Scout desktop app docs.
  • Keep HR policy separate. Use approved HR systems and guidance for formal employment requirements.

Where this leads (the ramp)

You have equipped Autopilot with a manager-reviewed onboarding skill for a specific new starter. When onboarding needs governed routing, policy checks, approvals, or integration with HR systems, move that workflow into Studio.

Next: Stage 6 · Copilot Studio — where an onboarding guide becomes a governed process with approved actions

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