AI Tools for PPT, Excel and Office Work: Copilot, Gemini, Gamma and More Compared (2026)

What can AI actually do for PPT and Excel work?

AI is good at first drafts and at routine transformation. It is weaker at judgement and at getting every number right. In practice:

• Presentations: turn a document or outline into a draft deck, suggest slide structure, write speaker notes, summarise a long deck, and generate images.
• Spreadsheets: suggest formulas, explain what a formula does, create PivotTables and charts, highlight trends and outliers, and classify or summarise text in cells.
• Documents and email: draft, rewrite for tone, summarise threads and pull action items from meeting notes.

What it will not do reliably: know your company’s context, choose the right story for your audience, or guarantee that a figure is correct. Treat every AI draft as a junior colleague’s work that needs review.

Which AI tools for PPT, Excel and office work are worth comparing?

Tool	Works inside	Best at	Price in India (official page, checked September 2026)
Microsoft 365 Personal / Family / Premium (with Copilot)	Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote	Individuals who already use Office files	Personal ₹689/month or ₹6,899/year; Family ₹819/month or ₹8,199/year; Premium ₹1,999/month or ₹19,999/year
Microsoft 365 Business plans with Copilot	Same apps, with work data in Microsoft 365	Companies on Microsoft 365	Business Standard with Copilot ₹1,955 and Business Premium with Copilot ₹2,660 per user/month (annual commitment, excluding GST); Copilot Business add-on listed separately for existing business customers
Google Workspace with Gemini	Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet	Teams on Google Workspace	Starter ₹270 per user/month (Gemini in Gmail and the Gemini app); Standard ₹1,080 per user/month, with an introductory offer shown, adds Gemini in Docs, Sheets and Slides; excluding tax
Google AI plans (personal)	Personal Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides	Individuals on Google accounts	Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra include Gemini in Google apps; see the Google One page for current INR prices
Gamma	Its own editor; exports to PowerPoint	Fast, designed decks from a prompt or document	Free, Plus, Pro and Ultra plans with monthly AI credits; see Gamma’s pricing page for current prices
General assistants (ChatGPT, Gemini app, Claude)	A chat window; you paste or upload files	Outlines, analysis of uploaded files, formulas, rewriting	Free tiers exist; see each vendor’s pricing page for paid plans

Prices change often, and business prices on these pages exclude GST. Confirm on the vendor’s page before you buy. For a broader comparison of the chat assistants, see ChatGPT vs Gemini vs Claude.

What does Copilot do in PowerPoint?

Copilot in PowerPoint can create a new presentation from a prompt or from an existing file. Microsoft’s support pages describe typing “Create presentation from file” in the Copilot pane and choosing a Word document; Copilot then builds a draft deck with images and speaker notes. With a Microsoft 365 Copilot (work) licence you can also choose a PDF. Microsoft notes it works best with Word files smaller than 24 MB.

It can also add a slide, summarise a long deck and organise content. The draft is a starting point: Microsoft’s own guidance is to review it, remove slides you do not need and add your expertise. Organisations can set up branded templates so drafts follow company design.

What does Copilot do in Excel, and what are its limits?

In Excel, you ask questions of your data in the Copilot pane, and Copilot can suggest formulas, create charts and PivotTables, and highlight trends or outliers. Two requirements catch people out:

• The file must be saved to OneDrive or SharePoint with AutoSave on, in a modern format such as .xlsx.
• Data should be in a clean, supported format, ideally an Excel table with one header row and no merged cells.

Note one recent change: Microsoft’s support page says the preview COPILOT worksheet function is no longer available in Excel from 14 September 2026, and recalculating cells that use it returns #NAME?. Microsoft points users to the Copilot pane instead. If you saw tutorials using =COPILOT(), use the pane.

What does Gemini do in Google Slides, Sheets and Docs?

On Google’s India pricing page, Gemini in Docs, Sheets and Slides is included from the Standard plan upwards; the Starter plan includes Gemini in Gmail and the Gemini app. Google describes Gemini in Slides as helping with AI images, Gemini in Docs as drafting and polishing, and Gemini in Sheets as helping visualise data and surface insights.

Sheets also has an AI function that works like a formula. Its syntax is =AI("prompt", [range]). Google’s help page lists limits: responses are text only, the function cannot see the rest of your spreadsheet or Drive, you cannot nest it inside other functions such as IF, and it requires an eligible Workspace or Google AI plan.

Here is a practical use: classifying customer comments.

	A	B	C
1	Order ID	Comment	Category
2	1041	Parcel came three days late	Delivery
3	1042	Too expensive compared to other sites	Price
4	1043	Stitching came apart after one wash	Quality
5	1044	Courier never called before arriving	Delivery
6	1045	Great fit, will order again	Other

In C2, enter the formula below and fill it down to C6:

=AI("Classify this customer comment as exactly one of: Delivery, Price, Quality, Other. Reply with the category only.", B2)

The labels in column C above are the kind of output to expect; AI output can vary, so spot-check it. Once the labels are in place, an ordinary formula counts them:

=COUNTIF(C2:C6, "Delivery")

With the labels shown, this returns 2. Listing the allowed categories in the prompt and asking for “the category only” keeps the output consistent enough to count.

When is Gamma a better choice than Copilot or Gemini?

Gamma is a standalone tool that generates a designed presentation, document or web page from a prompt, notes or an uploaded file. It suits people who need a good-looking deck quickly and do not have a strong company template. Gamma’s help centre lists Free, Plus, Pro and Ultra plans; Plus includes 1,000 monthly credits, Pro 4,000 and Ultra 20,000, and the Free plan generates up to 10 slides per prompt.

Gamma can export to PowerPoint (.pptx), and its help centre says tables export as editable tables. There is no direct Google Slides export; you upload the .pptx to Google Drive and open it in Slides, where some formatting may shift. Check each slide after export, especially fonts and layout.

If your company requires its own PowerPoint template, Copilot with a branded template usually fits better. If you are a freelancer, student or small business making pitch or sales decks, Gamma is often faster.

What does an AI office workflow look like, start to finish?

Example: a monthly sales review for a regional manager in Pune, using Microsoft 365 with Copilot.

1. Clean the data (Excel). Save the sales export to OneDrive, convert it to a table, and ask Copilot: “Show total sales by region and month as a PivotTable, and highlight the three biggest month-on-month changes.” Check the totals against the source with a simple SUM.
2. Explain the numbers (Word). Paste the PivotTable into a Word document and write three bullet points of your own on why the changes happened. Ask Copilot to turn your bullets into a one-page summary for senior management.
3. Draft the deck (PowerPoint). In a new presentation, ask Copilot to “Create presentation from file” using that Word summary. Apply the company template.
4. Edit hard. Cut to five or six slides, check every number against Excel, rewrite headlines as conclusions (“West region down 12% because of stock-outs”), and add speaker notes in your own words.
5. Send the follow-up (Outlook). After the meeting, ask Copilot to draft a follow-up email with action items from your notes, then edit before sending.

The same flow works in Google Workspace with Gemini in Sheets, Docs and Slides, or with Gamma for the deck step. Once a workflow like this repeats every month, the next step is to automate it; see AI automation projects for beginners and the n8n tutorial for beginners.

Is it safe to put office files into AI tools?

• Use the version your employer provides. Business plans are set up under your organisation’s data controls; a personal account may not be.
• Do not paste confidential data such as customer details, salaries or unreleased financials into a free chatbot unless your company allows it.
• Check every figure. AI can misread a column or invent a trend. Reconcile totals with a formula you wrote yourself.
• Say when AI helped. If your team has a policy on AI use, follow it.

For more everyday uses, read how to use ChatGPT for work, and if these tools make you want to learn AI properly, see how to learn AI from scratch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the best AI tool for making PPT?

It depends on where you work. If you use PowerPoint with a company template, Copilot in PowerPoint fits best because it can draft a deck from a Word file. If you use Google Slides, Gemini is built in on eligible plans. For quick, designed decks without a template, Gamma is a strong option and exports to PowerPoint.

Is Copilot free in Excel and PowerPoint?

Copilot in Word, Excel and PowerPoint is included in paid Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium plans, which on Microsoft's India page checked in September 2026 start at ₹689 a month for Personal. Business users need a Microsoft 365 business plan with Copilot or the Copilot Business add-on.

Why is Copilot not working in my Excel file?

The most common reason is that the file is not saved to OneDrive or SharePoint with AutoSave turned on, or that it is in an old format such as .xls. Save it as .xlsx in OneDrive, turn on AutoSave and format your data as a table.

Can Gemini make presentations in Google Slides?

Gemini in Slides is included in Google Workspace plans from Standard upwards and in Google AI plans for personal accounts. Google describes it as helping with AI images and presentation content. Check which features your plan includes on Google's pricing page.

Can I use ChatGPT for Excel formulas?

Yes. You can describe what you need, paste a sample of your column headers, and ask for a formula with an explanation. Always test the formula on a few rows where you already know the answer before applying it to the whole sheet.

Sources and methodology

• Microsoft India, Compare all Microsoft 365 plans: Personal, Family and Premium prices in INR. Checked September 2026.
• Microsoft India, Microsoft 365 Copilot plans and pricing: business bundle and add-on prices in INR, excluding GST, annual commitment. Checked September 2026.
• Microsoft Support, FAQ about Copilot in Microsoft 365 subscriptions: apps included, AI credits, Family plan owner-only. Checked September 2026.
• Microsoft Support, Prepare your presentation with Microsoft 365 Copilot and Create a presentation from existing files. Checked September 2026.
• Microsoft Support, FAQ about Copilot in Excel: OneDrive, AutoSave and file-format requirements. Checked September 2026.
• Microsoft Support, COPILOT function: no longer available from 14 September 2026. Checked September 2026.
• Google Workspace India, pricing page: plan prices in INR excluding tax and Gemini features by plan. Checked September 2026.
• Google Docs Editors Help, Use the AI function in Google Sheets: syntax and limits. Checked September 2026.
• Google One, Google AI plans: plan names and Gemini in Google apps. Checked September 2026.
• Gamma Help Center, subscription plans and export options: plan names, monthly credits, PowerPoint export. Checked September 2026.

Method: we used only official vendor pages and help centres. Where a vendor’s page did not show a price we could read (Gamma, Google AI plans, ChatGPT), we have not quoted one. Prices and features change often; check the vendor’s current page before buying. The sample workflow and the comment-classification example are ISS illustrations.

Next steps

Pick one recurring task this week, such as your weekly report deck, and try the workflow above with whichever tool your company already pays for. Time it against your usual method. If you want to go from using AI tools to building automations and agents that handle these tasks, review the AI & Agentic Systems curriculum.

If it fits, you can apply for free and pay only after you accept an offer.