Introduction
Did you know that SharePoint Premium includes advanced AI content management features to support your organization? Discover the powerful tools it offers and how its capabilities can add real value to your team’s productivity and efficiency.
In this article we are going to discuss about the Auto-Fill Columns capabilities on SharePoint. It brings the power of Generative AI and GPT-4 to SharePoint libraries, enhancing document management with intelligent metadata extraction and organization. This guide delves into how to use Auto-Fill Columns to streamline workflows, the benefits of this new feature, and step-by-step instructions to configure it in SharePoint Premium.
What Are Auto-Fill Columns in SharePoint Premium?
With Auto-Fill Columns, SharePoint Premium allows users to extract essential metadata from documents using natural language prompts. This feature, powered by GPT-4 Turbo, automates the entry and organization of metadata, enabling better searchability and integration with Microsoft tools like Power BI and Copilot.
Auto-Fill Columns provide a powerful, automated solution for managing documents at scale, reducing the manual work typically required for metadata entry and making it easier to locate, categorize, and filter documents in SharePoint.
Key Benefits of Auto-Fill Columns
- Automated Metadata Extraction: Retrieve essential document information without manual input.
- No Sample Training Required: Instantly extract data without pre-training models or files.
- Enhanced Search and Filter Capabilities: : Extracted metadata becomes searchable and filterable, compatible with Copilot and Power BI for further insights and analysis.
This feature saves valuable time and improves consistency by automating document metadata management across large content libraries.
Case Study: How Stellium Uses Auto-Fill Columns in Recruitment?
At Stellium, Auto-Fill Columns are a cornerstone of our recruitment processes. Candidate resumes, arriving in multiple formats (PDF, Word), often lack a standardized structure. With Auto-Fill Columns, we extract relevant information—skills, years of experience, and contact details—directly from these CV, enabling us to categorize and search documents efficiently.
Additionally, we apply Auto-Fill Columns to interview feedback reports. By extracting structured data such as interview summaries, overall recommendations, and follow-up requirements from interviewer notes, we streamline candidate evaluation and enhance data consistency across our records.
SharePoint Premium: A Suite of AI-Powered Features
Auto-Fill Columns is part of a larger suite of advanced capabilities in SharePoint Premium, formerly called Syntex. This feature-rich platform integrates AI-powered tools that simplify content management and increase productivity through automation:
- Content Assembly: Automatically generate documents from templates.
- Document Translation: Translate documents into multiple languages.
- eSignature and OCR: Capture and authenticate signatures, convert images and scanned files into text.
- Taxonomy Tagging: Tag documents automatically with keywords based on document content.
- Unstructured Document Processing: Classify and manage documents without a predefined structure, ensuring all content is organized and searchable.
- Video Transcription and Translation: Make video content accessible in multiple languages for a global audience.
SharePoint Premium was previously called Syntex and Microsoft has not yet updated the naming everywhere.
Microsoft is expected to continue expanding SharePoint Premium’s capabilities with more AI-driven features, enhancing the value for businesses looking to improve document management workflows.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Set Up Auto-Fill Columns in SharePoint
Setting up Auto-Fill Columns requires an active Azure subscription connected via the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. Luckily Microsoft has simplified test and adoption of these functionalities thanks to the fact they changed from a per-user licensing model to a pay-as-you-go model.
Follow these steps to enable and configure this feature in your document libraries.
1. Access Syntex Settings
Log into the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. In the search bar, type “Syntex” to locate the Syntex configuration page, which controls Auto-Fill Columns setup and management. This is where you can activate pay-per-use once you’ve clicked on “Go to Syntex settings”.
2. Activate Auto-Fill Columns
In the Syntex settings, you’ll find an option to activate Auto-Fill Columns. This allows you to enable the feature across all sites or selected sites.
Tip: Currently there is no option to enable it or disable it in specific libraries.
3. Configure Auto-Fill in Document Libraries
Navigate to a document library in SharePoint, where you can add a new column as usual. Select the option to configure the auto-fill feature and enter a natural language prompt to set up automatic metadata extraction.
Focus “Prompts and Testing”: After selecting “Set Up,” a form appears where you can enter prompts in natural language, test on documents within the library, and review the extracted data to refine your setup.
4. Supported Configurations
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- Supported Column Types: Text, multiple lines of text, number, Yes/No, date and time, choice, hyperlink, and currency.
- Supported File Types: .csv, .docx, .pdf, .png, .pptx, among others.
- Language: English (additional languages expected in future updates).
Auto-Fill Columns in SharePoint Premium, powered by advanced LLMs (Large Language Models), offer a scalable way to manage metadata in high-volume document libraries. This feature brings intelligent automation to metadata extraction, creating a more organized and searchable content ecosystem that supports efficient document management at scale.
Why Use SharePoint Premium and AI-Driven Auto-Fill Columns for Your Business?
By adopting Auto-Fill Columns and other SharePoint Premium features, businesses can significantly improve document management efficiency and consistency. Here’s what makes it valuable:
- Time Savings and Enhanced Productivity: Automated data extraction minimizes manual entry, freeing up team resources.
- Improved Data Access and Searchability: Consistent, searchable metadata makes document retrieval faster and more reliable.
- Data Accuracy and Reduced Human Error:
- Automation reduces the risk of errors in metadata entry and improves data consistency across teams.
Leveraging GPT-4 and Generative AI in SharePoint for Next-Level Document Management
Integrating GPT-4 into SharePoint through Auto-Fill Columns offers transformative potential for document management. This advanced feature, combined with SharePoint Premium’s suite of AI tools, positions organizations to achieve smarter, more efficient workflows. Companies aiming to stay competitive in a data-driven world can unlock new levels of productivity by leveraging SharePoint’s AI capabilities.
Ready to transform your document management with AI-powered automation?
Contact us today to discover how we can help you customize SharePoint Premium and Auto-Fill Columns for your unique business needs.
Discover how our tailored solutions can streamline your workflows, enhance data accessibility, and empower your team with the latest in AI-driven document management.