Lesson 8 of 8 · 6 min read

Other assistants

How the same four building blocks work in Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot.

The method travels; the steps change

Many workplaces run on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, and their assistants are Gemini and Copilot. This lesson maps the four building blocks to both. It does not give step-by-step instructions, because Emeri tests those in Claude and ChatGPT only.

The method stays the same in any assistant. Audit the week. Pick a read-and-draft task. Write the spec. Connect only what it reads. Run it by hand. Schedule it last. Keep it at the draft stage, and check that it runs when you are away.

What changes is the account you have. Both Google and Microsoft give different features to personal accounts and to work accounts. Check which kind you are using before you plan anything, because a feature on one may not exist on the other.

Google Gemini: skills

Google is replacing Gems with skills, and its skills use the SKILL.md format. The spec you wrote in Lesson 3 can be copied into Gemini as it is. Skills began rolling out in the Gemini app on October 13, 2026. The rollout in Workspace apps such as Gmail and Docs was delayed, and Google has not given a new date.

Skills do not sync between the Gemini app and the Workspace apps. To use a skill in both places, add it in each one. Workspace skills are limited to users over 18.

Gems keep working for now. On November 17, 2026 they move into the Settings panel. For business and enterprise accounts, Gems stop working no sooner than March 1, 2027, and Google will convert any that remain into draft skills. Do not build a new Gem.

Google Gemini: connections, schedules and actions

Work accounts get Workspace Studio, Google’s tool for building automations without code. You describe a flow in plain language, and it runs on a schedule or when an event happens, such as a new email arriving. It connects to Gmail, Drive, Sheets and Chat, among other services. Google’s list of eligible editions does not include personal accounts.

Personal accounts get Tasks in Gemini instead. A task can run once or on a repeating schedule, or start from a Gmail filter match. It needs a Google AI Pro or Ultra plan and a user aged 18 or over. It works only on personal accounts, not work or school accounts, and it is not available in the EEA, the UK, Switzerland or Nigeria.

For actions, Gemini shows a preview card before it sends an external email or commits time on your calendar. That card is a built-in version of the draft rule. Leave it on.

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft offers two layers. Copilot Chat is included with eligible Microsoft 365 plans at no extra cost, and it answers from the web. The paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license adds Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, and lets it read your work data.

For schedules, Copilot offers scheduled prompts. You save a prompt and set it to run at set times. Microsoft’s help page says this needs a Copilot license, and you can keep up to 10 scheduled prompts. You can schedule them from Copilot Chat, Teams, or Outlook on the web and desktop. Results appear in your Copilot chats.

For actions, Outlook can now sort your inbox from a plain-language instruction. It asks for confirmation before acting on more than five emails or changing a rule. For automations across several systems, organizations use Copilot Studio and Copilot agents, which an administrator usually sets up.

Your SKILL.md in Copilot

Microsoft has added custom skills to PowerPoint, but has not said whether Microsoft 365 Copilot reads SKILL.md files in general. Until it does, use the body of your spec as a scheduled prompt. Paste the sources, output and rules sections into the prompt, and name each source in Microsoft’s terms, such as a SharePoint folder or a Teams channel.

A scheduled prompt has no separate description, so it does not need to trigger itself. It runs because you scheduled it. The rules still matter. Keep "this is a draft", "use only numbers from the sources" and "say when a source is missing" in every prompt.

The same checks apply

The checks from Lesson 6 work in any assistant. Find the task in the product’s own list of scheduled items. Confirm that a first run happened. Know where results land: Copilot puts scheduled results in your Copilot chats, and Gemini lists its tasks on its own page.

Google’s help page adds two warnings about Tasks in Gemini. Run times are approximate, and monitors are not reliable for time-critical events. Schedule a Gemini task with room to spare before the draft is due.

Which assistant to use

Use the assistant your organization approves, and the one closest to where your data lives. A team on Microsoft 365 gets the most from Copilot, because it already reads the mail, files and meetings. A team on Google Workspace gets the same from Gemini.

Run each task in one assistant only. Two assistants drafting the same report doubles the cost and the checking, and the drafts will disagree. Pick one, and keep the spec as the copy you can move later.

Check the account before the feature

The most common reason a guide fails is that it was written for a different account. Before you follow any Gemini or Copilot instructions, find out three things. Is this a personal account or a work account? Which plan or license does it have? Has your organization turned the feature on?

Your IT team can answer the last two. They may also have rules about which data an assistant may read. Ask before you connect a work mailbox, even when the product lets you connect it in one click.

Worked example · Larkfield Supply

A colleague ports the report to Copilot

Dana shares the status-report spec with Sam, who runs a sister warehouse on Microsoft 365 with a Copilot license.

  1. Sam checks the account first: a work account, with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, and scheduled prompts turned on by IT.That answers the question you guessed at: Sam wants to run Dana’s status-report spec in Microsoft Copilot. Guess: what should Sam check before anything else?
  2. Sam copies the sources, output and rules sections of the spec into a new prompt.
    What would you do next?Which part of the spec does not carry over as written?Think it through, then show the answer

    The sources. Dana’s spec names a shared folder and a team channel in Larkfield’s tools. Sam renames each one to the matching SharePoint folder and Teams channel, so Copilot can find them.

  3. Sam runs the prompt by hand twice and compares each draft with a past report.
  4. Sam schedules the prompt for Fridays and checks that the first result appears in the Copilot chats.

Sam’s first scheduled draft arrives on time. Sam keeps the draft rule: Copilot writes the report, and Sam sends it.

Starter prompts

  • Convert my SKILL.md for another assistant

    Here is my SKILL.md:

[paste your SKILL.md]

Rewrite it two ways. First, as a Microsoft 365 Copilot scheduled prompt: keep the sources, output and rules, and drop the header. Second, as a Gemini skill: keep the file as it is, and list anything Gemini may not support. In both versions, keep these rules: the result is a draft and is never sent; use only numbers from the sources; say when a source is missing. Then list every source I must reconnect, and what it is likely called in each product.

When not to use AI

  • If your organization has not approved the assistant for work data, stop here and ask your IT team.
  • If a feature is available only on a personal account, do not use it for work data.
Recall from memoryBefore you follow any Gemini or Copilot instructions, what three things do you find out?Answer it without looking back, then show the answer

Whether it is a personal account or a work account, which plan or license it has, and whether your organization has turned the feature on.

Exercise · your project

If your company uses Gemini or Copilot, port your spec.

  1. Check your account type, plan or license, and whether the feature is turned on.
  2. Convert the spec with the prompt above, and keep the original file.
  3. Reconnect each source in the product’s own terms.
  4. Run it by hand twice, then schedule it and check the first scheduled result yourself.

Sources