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Find a stretch assignment with the Skills agent

Stop guessing what to work on next. Hand the Skills agent your current strengths and where you want to grow, and get back concrete stretch assignments, internal openings, and the one skill that would open the most doors.

Stage: First-Party Agents · For: End user, Manager · Level: Starter · Time: 10 min

Status: Check current status — this agent isn't individually listed on the Agents in Microsoft 365 roster; confirm availability there before assuming it's GA.

When to use this

You're ready for more — a bigger project, a different team, a step toward a role you've been eyeing — but "look at the internal jobs board" is a weak plan. The Skills agent is a newer first-party capability that reasons over your skills profile and your org's opportunities to suggest specific next moves: stretch assignments, projects, mentors, and internal roles that build toward where you want to go.

Use it when you want a deliberate next step instead of waiting for one to appear.

What you'll need

  • M365 Copilot license with the Skills capability enabled in your org (it draws on your Viva / Microsoft 365 profile and the opportunities your org has published)
  • A rough sense of where you want to grow — a role, a domain, or a skill
  • Five honest minutes to describe what you're good at and what you actually enjoy

Try it now — the prompt

Open the Skills agent and ask it to match growth areas to real opportunities:

I'm a [current role] strong in [2–3 skills] and I want to grow toward [target role
or skill]. Based on my profile and what's available in my org, suggest: three
stretch assignments or projects I could take on now, any internal roles worth
exploring, and the single skill that would open the most doors — plus how I'd build it.

Why this works: anchoring on where you are, where you want to go, and asking for specific, available next steps (not generic advice) turns a fuzzy "help me grow" into a shortlist you can act on this week — and naming the highest-leverage skill keeps you focused.

Step by step

  1. Open the Skills agent. Find it in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app or your Viva experience, wherever your org surfaced skills and growth tools.
  2. Describe your strengths and your target. The more honest the input — including what you enjoy, not just what you're good at — the better the matches.
  3. Review the suggestions and pressure-test them: 
    For the stretch assignment you'd recommend first, what skills would it build,
who should I talk to, and how do I pitch taking it on to my manager?
  4. Turn it into a conversation. Ask the agent to draft talking points for your next 1:1 so the growth move becomes a real plan, not a private wish.

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

Go from a list to a plan: - Sequence it. "Order these by what builds the target skill fastest, and give me a 90-day plan." - Find the people. "Who in my org has the role I'm targeting, and what should I ask them in a coffee chat?" - Close a specific gap. "I'm missing [skill] — find learning and a project that would build it."

📚 Learn more. The Microsoft Viva Learning documentation and the Agents in Microsoft 365 hub describe how skills and growth capabilities work across Microsoft 365.

Watch out for

  • It sees what your org has published. Suggestions depend on the opportunities and skills data your org maintains. Thin data, thinner matches — treat gaps as a nudge to update your own profile.
  • Availability varies. The Skills capability depends on your org's Viva/Copilot configuration. If you don't see it, the same framing works as a thinking exercise in Copilot Chat.
  • It suggests; you decide. The agent points at options. Whether a stretch is right for you — and your life — is your call.

Where this leads (the ramp)

Once an agent is helping you plan forward, the natural companion is one that helps you account for the work you've already done — the raw material for reviews and self-assessments.

Next: Draft a self-assessment with the Career agent

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