How to Build a Dashboard from Raw Data with Copilot Cowork

Copilot Cowork can build an interactive dashboard from raw data. Put your exports in a SharePoint library, give Cowork a prompt that lists the sections and KPIs you want plus a design file for your brand, and it analyses the files, builds the charts and writes the commentary as a single HTML page. In my demo it worked through 22 files, about 1,000 ticket rows and 500 calls, and checked its own work before calling the job done.

The scenario came out of an enablement day with Microsoft partners and MSPs, where the room chose it on the spot: a support desk’s monthly report on SLAs, resolution times, team workload and customer sentiment from call transcripts. If you’re new to Cowork itself, start with my Copilot Cowork tutorial.

What do you need before you start?

• A Microsoft 365 Copilot licence with Cowork turned on. Cowork has been generally available since 16 June 2026 (it was in the Frontier preview when I recorded this). Every run spends Copilot Credits, charged at US$0.01 each on pay-as-you-go, so your admin needs usage-based billing set up.
• Your data in OneDrive or SharePoint. Cowork can’t read local files on your device or encrypted files, and attachments need to be under 200 MB each.
• A design file. Mine is a Markdown file describing our brand colours and styling, kept in a SharePoint library so everyone building reports uses the same one.
• A list of what the report should cover. Agreeing the sections took us about five minutes in the room.

How do you build the dashboard with Cowork?

1. Put every export in one SharePoint library. Mine held the ticketing export as an Excel workbook, the phone call data and the call transcripts. Keep only the current period’s files in the library root.
2. Write the prompt as a report spec. Start with the job, “Can you please create an interactive HTML report based on these files”, then list the sections. Mine had six: operational performance (SLAs and calls), agent and team performance, customer and commercial, demand and deflection (ticket type and demand mix), sentiment and quality, and a section driven by the transcripts. Add a line asking for the report in your company brand using the design file.
3. Give Cowork the files. In the compose box choose Add attachments, then Attach cloud files and folders, browse to the library and select everything (I selected all 22). Or name the site and library in the prompt: in my second run I referenced the site with Add work context, said “there’s a library called ticketing system”, and attached nothing at all.
4. Add the design file. Drag it onto the chat input, or tell Cowork where it lives. In the second run I pointed it at the site’s default documents library and it found the file.
5. Send it and leave it. Cowork builds a plan and keeps working while you move to another task.
6. Approve any changes to SharePoint. If you’ve asked Cowork to change something, it stops for approval (the tutorial covers the approval options). Select Show parameters to see exactly what it’s about to do.
7. Open the dashboard. The HTML file sits under Output folder in the side panel, where you can choose Preview or Download. It’s also saved in the Cowork folder in your OneDrive.

To tidy the inputs afterwards, add it to the prompt. In my second run I asked Cowork to create a folder called May 2026 in the same library once the report was done and move the files into it. It asked me to approve the create folder action, then the Graph call to move the files, and all 22 ended up in the new folder.

Watch the video

What does the finished dashboard look like?

Cowork built a self-contained page that reads like a small website: sticky navigation down the left, a headline strip (1,000 tickets, 500 calls), and a section for every heading in my prompt, with Chart.js charts that show values on hover. Operational performance covered SLAs, first call resolution, talk time against full resolution time and a customer effort score. Team performance showed tickets, calls and average resolution time per agent, alongside a heat map of ticket type against agent, an after-hours view, and sentiment across both tickets and calls. Each section came with written commentary, and before handing it over Cowork told me it had found and fixed a few bugs during its own verification.

Then I ran the job again with a different design file. Same data, same sections, completely different colours and branding.

Decide where the dashboard lives before you put it on a schedule

The first thing I’d sort out is where the report ends up, because Cowork works within your permissions and saves its output to your own OneDrive. A dashboard built from a support desk’s data carries customer names, agent performance and call sentiment, and left in one person’s OneDrive it ends up with whoever the share link reaches. Pick the SharePoint library it belongs in, check who can open that library, and tell Cowork in the prompt to save the finished report there. If you’re building dashboards with Copilot in SharePoint as well, I set the same rule for a whole site in building a live dashboard from a Microsoft List.

Then make the process repeatable with the archive step. Next month the library root holds only the new exports, and last month’s files sit in their own dated folder. Cowork can’t delete files or folders in SharePoint or OneDrive, so moving them is the pattern you’d use anyway, and it leaves a record of exactly what each report was built from.

I haven’t put this one on a schedule yet. Cowork runs scheduled prompts when you describe the timing in your message, so the step is small, but I’d do a few manual runs and check the numbers first. I’d also keep the prompt and the design file together and, once the spec settles, turn them into a custom skill so the report comes out the same shape every month. I used a custom interactive-dashboard skill to hold the design constant in my Copilot Cowork model cost tests.

This report is a snapshot of the exports you gave it. If your data already lives in a Microsoft List, Copilot in SharePoint can build a dashboard that stays linked to the list and updates on refresh.

What to watch for

• Credits. This is a heavy job. On a bigger ticketing job in July (a dashboard, a deck, a Word summary and an email from one prompt), the same prompt ranged from 798 to 9,324.7 credits depending on the model, so check the model first and type /cost when the run finishes.
• Stalled runs. A task waiting for your approval stops until you come back. Check the Recent list for anything marked Needs input.
• Figures your files don’t contain. If a section quotes numbers that aren’t in your data, such as industry benchmarks, ask Cowork where they came from before the report goes to anyone.

Frequently asked questions

Can Copilot Cowork read SharePoint files without me uploading them? Yes. You can reference a site, library or file with Add work context, or name it in the prompt, and Cowork reads it in place. It can only reach files you already have access to, and if any file carries a sensitivity label, the session shows the highest label among them.

Where does Copilot Cowork save the dashboard? In the task’s output folder, which you open from the side panel, and in the Cowork folder of your OneDrive. If a job produces several files, Download All gives you a zip of up to 50 files and 500 MB.

Can I get Cowork to rebuild the report every month? Yes, with a scheduled prompt. Describe the timing in your message, then choose Activate and run now or Activate when Cowork shows you the draft schedule. You can manage it later on the Automations page, and each person can have up to 25 scheduled prompts.