Imagine being on a team call when a colleague asks a pointed question about this quarter’s forecast. Instead of an immediate answer, the question lingers, waiting for someone to track down the right file, pivot the data, and circle back later.
Sound familiar? For finance and operations teams, this delay slows momentum, stalls strategy and leads to missed opportunities.
It means your team is chasing follow-ups instead of moving forward together.
This is the gap Vena Copilot—now integrated with Microsoft Teams—closes. By making insights accessible directly within your chats and meetings with the help of AI, your finance and operations teams gain the ability to respond in the moment.
Here’s a closer look at how to use Vena Copilot's native integration with Microsoft Teams, and why it’s a game-changer for finance and operations leaders:
When you open Vena Copilot in Microsoft Teams, you’ll see an intuitive app interface that feels like a natural part of your workspace. The layout is clear and easy to use, with guided prompts designed to give you a helpful starting point for interrogating your data.
If you’ve ever used Microsoft Copilot, you’ll likely find the interface very intuitive.
Instead of chasing data across disconnected systems, you can access Vena Copilot directly in Teams chats and calls via a chat interface. This way, you don’t have to open multiple reports. Just ask the chat a question and stay in your flow state as Vena Copilot operates in a side window. You can also copy the response directly into your Teams chat, making it easy to share insights with everyone on the call, even if they don’t have a Vena license.
For example, you can ask, “What was my revenue in 2023?” and get an immediate, clear answer, complete with breakdowns of how Vena Copilot arrived at that answer. Need to dig deeper? Vena Copilot helps you refine the question and continue the conversation, all in real time.
Stakeholders often have “what if” questions they expect FP&A professionals to answer instantly.
Let’s say you’re in a meeting and someone asks, “What would happen to our gross margin if revenue in New York jumped by 10%?” That question might have once led to a scramble, requiring you to open several spreadsheets, dig through the data, and send the answer hours (or even days) later.
With Vena Copilot in Microsoft Teams, however, you can type the question directly in chat, and within seconds, you’ll see how the revenue bump flows through and what it means for your bigger goals.
Vena Copilot changes how you create and share reports by embedding ad hoc report generation directly into the meeting space.
When questions come up—like a request to show quarterly variance or compare marketing expenses across regions—Vena Copilot can pull those figures instantly, so you can turn the data into part of the conversation.
Here’s how that works in practice:
You start by asking Vena Copilot a direct question: You might ask something like, “What are our operating expenses by month for this year?” Then, Vena Copilot uses the data in your Vena instance to build the report on the spot, right within the Teams interface.
Excel Live Share keeps the numbers front and center: Everyone on the call sees the same data and can edit it together, in real time. There’s no confusion about which file is the “right” one or which version is current.
No extra steps or toggling between tools: Instead of pausing the discussion to switch apps or share files, you can generate reports and visuals right inside the Teams window.
As a lean team, The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) faced constraints with sourcing reliable financial data faster and with less effort. Finance Director Charles McCumber and his staff accountant had already streamlined budgeting and forecasting using Vena since 2022. But when questions popped up—whether about project costs, margin pressures, or headcount decisions—they still faced a time drain, needing to pull data from various spreadsheets.
When Vena Copilot launched in spring 2024, AIR jumped at the opportunity. Charles and his team were able to complete their setup in just 30 minutes—no technical complications, no steep learning curve.
Since using Vena Copilot, AIR has realized significant efficiency gains. Vena Copilot reduced their time spent on specific FP&A tasks by 25–50%, freeing the team to focus on furthering strategic goals rather than data wrangling. That meant instead of opening multiple reports, the team could zero in on the numbers that mattered, right when stakeholders asked.
“Vena Copilot is an easy way to get quick, reliable data from your financial system without having to scroll through reports or open documents,” Charles says. “It learns very quickly how you ask questions and can provide you with analysis. It's a one-stop shop for quick financial information.”
What once meant tedious clicks and cross-referencing now takes seconds.
The result? AIR's FP&A process has evolved from reactive data retrieval to proactive insight delivery. With Copilot handling the manual work, the team can spend more time strategizing—think scenario modeling, budget refinement, and forward planning—building a foundation for smarter, faster execution.
“Copilot in Teams is a natural fit—it’s where all our other tools and processes already live. It’s made it much easier to share insights and data with our CEO and CFO, even if they’re not using [Vena] directly.”
Charles McCumber, Director of Finance, Association for Institutional Research
Finance and operations leaders are moving beyond traditional reporting cycles. Here’s how embedding Agentic AI directly into your existing workflows accelerates that shift:
Many finance teams find themselves constrained by static processes that leave little room for flexibility. Reports often follow a rigid structure, with little ability to adjust on the fly. But with agentic AI tools like Vena Copilot, teams can shape conversations around the data that matters in the moment, instead of relying on prepared reports that take too long to create.
This flexibility allows for more open, iterative discussions—ones that evolve naturally and encourage deeper insights as new questions emerge.
Every finance team faces a balancing act: meeting urgent reporting needs while carving out time for bigger-picture planning. Agentic AI helps lighten that load by automating repetitive data retrieval and validation tasks. When you don’t have to spend hours wrangling spreadsheets, you get more time back for strategic thinking.
It creates headroom for teams to work smarter and stay ahead of challenges.
Executive leaders and decision makers don’t want to be handed numbers at the end of a process. They want to engage with the data as they make decisions. With AI insights woven directly into collaborative platforms like Microsoft Teams, leaders can ask questions, explore answers, and see the bigger picture without waiting for formal updates.
This ability to self-service removes dependence on static reports or delayed updates. Everyone—from executives to cross-functional business partners—can engage with the data firsthand, building a more inclusive, data-aware culture across the company.
By bringing reliable, on-demand insights into the meeting room, data becomes the fuel for dynamic conversations. Teams can look beyond static numbers to understand the context, challenges, and opportunities those numbers reveal.
When data isn’t locked away in silos or buried in endless reports, it becomes a living part of every conversation. That’s how modern finance teams adapt, pivot, and plan with confidence—even in a fast-moving landscape.
Want to see Vena Copilot in action? Book a demo.
Request a demo to see how Vena Copilot can unlock your FP&A team's productivity.
Schedule DemoNicole Diceman is Director, Product Marketing at Vena. With a proven track record of driving product strategy and direction, she is heavily involved in driving new product ideas and development efforts and is closely aligned with customer needs and requirements. With her extensive knowledge and experience in product marketing, FP&A and the Vena platform itself, Nicole is a regular contributor to the Vena blog and often speaks at virtual and in-person events to share her ideas. A powerful advocate for product marketing innovation, Nicole is always on the lookout for creative new ways to bring additional value to Vena customers.
