HYPE OR FACT? · CHECKED 4 NOVEMBER 2026
Copilot in PowerPoint: share your brand's custom skills with the whole team through Brand Kit
OUR VERDICT
FactOur original verdict: “Fact. Microsoft's own support pages document it: brand managers can add custom skills to a Brand Kit and anyone with access to that kit can pick them in Copilot in PowerPoint. 'Spend less time repeating' is marketing: no time savings have been measured, and we haven't tested it hands-on.”
THE CLAIM
“'Bring your organization's brand expertise into Copilot in PowerPoint with shared custom skills in Brand Kit. Give teams reusable, brand-specific workflows, so they can spend less time repeating' the same instructions for every presentation.”
What’s actually true
- It's real and documented. Microsoft Support's 'Brand Skill support for Copilot in PowerPoint' page says brand managers can now share skills with their organisation through Brand Kit: open Brand Kit in the Microsoft Copilot app, select + next to Skills, and upload a .md or .zip skill or type one in.
- Anyone with shared access to that Brand Kit can then use it: in PowerPoint's Copilot pane select + > Select brand, choose the kit, then + > Choose skills.
- Skills use the common SKILL.md format (a folder with a name and description at the top, then plain instructions), the same open format used by other AI agents, so a team's existing skill files can be reused.
- There are now three ways to get a skill into Copilot in PowerPoint: personal skills saved to your OneDrive, Brand Kit skills shared with whoever can open the kit, and admin-deployed skills pushed to users or groups from the Microsoft 365 admin center.
- Brand Kit itself (Microsoft's Sept 2026 blog by the same author) holds templates, logos, colours, fonts, images and brand voice, with an optional stricter mode that keeps Copilot to approved layouts.
- The poster runs PowerPoint and Copilot visual creation at Microsoft, so this is a vendor announcement. The 'less time' benefit is Microsoft's claim; no independent measurement exists.
Sources
- The claim: Derek Johnson (@DerekJohnsonSV) on X (3 Nov)
- Microsoft Support: Brand Skill support for Copilot in PowerPoint
- Microsoft Support: Create and manage official Brand Kits in the Microsoft Copilot app
- Microsoft Support: Use custom skills with Copilot in PowerPoint (SKILL.md format)
- Microsoft Support: Deploy organization skills for Copilot in PowerPoint (admins)
- Microsoft Tech Community: Brand Kit and Skills in Copilot in PowerPoint (Sept 2026)
Cost
Needs a Microsoft 365 plan that includes Copilot in PowerPoint, plus someone with owner or editor access to a Brand Kit to add the skills. No extra charge for the skills feature is mentioned.
USE IT IF
Teams that make lots of branded decks (sales, marketing, agencies) and already pay for Copilot in Microsoft 365, who want everyone to follow the same brand and review rules without copy-pasting prompts.
SKIP IT IF
Small businesses not on Microsoft 365 Copilot, and anyone expecting Copilot to guarantee on-brand output: it follows the instructions, it doesn't enforce them.
How we knowChecked on 4 November 2026. Verdicts: Fact = the claim holds up; Partly fact = real, but with caveats or overstated parts; Hype = the headline claim isn't supported. Products change quickly, so check the maker's site before you buy. Our methods & sources ↗