‘Putting your meetings in your earbuds’: How we now catch up on missed meetings with Audio Recap podcasts

Here at Microsoft, we’re putting our meetings into our earbuds.

That’s the best way to think about the new Audio Recap feature in Microsoft Teams.

Designed to cut through the noise of information overload, it’s a new feature that transforms recorded meetings into easy to digest podcast-style summaries.

For our employees juggling scheduling conflicts, this feature is a game-changer—instead of sifting through lengthy transcripts or replaying entire recordings, they can quickly catch up by listening to concise, tailored recaps.

“It’s like putting your meetings in your earbuds,” says Lesley Montgomery, a principal product manager within Microsoft Digital, the company’s IT organization. “It’s flexible, mobile, and makes catching up on meetings unexpectedly engaging.”

Think about your favorite podcasters talking conversationally about a meeting that you need to catch up on—that’s what this is like.

Boosting meeting accessibility in the modern workplace

Our employees frequently find themselves double- or even triple-booked, forcing them to choose which meetings to attend live and which to skip. Audio Recap provides a practical solution by making missed content far more accessible. With this feature, employees can catch up on discussions while commuting, working out, or even during short breaks between tasks. No need to carve out extra time to sit down at a desk, open a transcript, and scroll through pages of text.

“With Audio Recap, any recorded Teams meeting can be rendered as an audio recap, like a podcast. Instead of reading through a transcript or replaying the entire recording, it lets you take a recorded meeting and turn it into a podcast session.”

Lesley Montgomery, principal product manager, Microsoft Digital

Audio Recap also reflects the reality and needs of today’s digital-first culture, where people expect information to be quick, available on mobile, and consumable on their own terms. Just as TikTok popularized short-form video and podcasts redefined long-form storytelling, Audio Recap is a new medium for workplace knowledge sharing—one that respects time, privacy, and attention spans.

“With Audio Recap, any recorded Teams meeting can be rendered as an audio recap, like a podcast,” Montgomery says. “Instead of reading through a transcript or replaying the entire recording, it lets you take a recorded meeting and turn it into a podcast session.”

Audio Recap allows for a high degree of customization, and users can tailor how their recap is delivered—choosing the timeframe, selecting up to eight meeting transcripts, and picking from three distinct podcast styles to match their listening preferences:

• Executive: Dual-host format highlighting strategic insights, critical decisions, and essential context
•  Newscast: Single-voice delivery focused on key facts for quick, no-frills catch-up
•  Casual: Conversational dual-host style offering lighter, more engaging summaries

This level of personalization ensures that each employee gets the version of the recap that works best for them. Some may want the highlights in five minutes; others may prefer a more narrative-style recap to catch subtle details.

“I literally just did an audio recap of some meetings this week,” says Sara Bush, a principal PM manager within Microsoft Digital. “And they were so good that I took the transcript for one and made it into a PowerPoint deck—all using AI, in minutes. I chose the newscast version, which is more succinct.”

Audio Recap also streamlines meeting reviews through consolidation. Instead of jumping between multiple meeting links or trying to track down recordings, users can view all recorded meetings in a single, unified space. By stitching together multiple recaps, Audio Recap creates a smoother experience and helps reduce friction in catching up on important discussions.

This also ensures employees don’t miss critical updates, even if their calendars are packed. Imagine a day with five overlapping meetings. Instead of toggling between recordings and transcripts, an employee can simply request audio recaps of each meeting and listen to them in sequence. It’s like having a personalized “meeting playlist” that makes the workday easier to manage.

Designed for users, built on privacy and convenience

Audio Recap was developed out of a collaboration between our product groups and our team here at Microsoft Digital, acting as Customer Zero for the company, which means testing features internally before the company rolls them out to customers. Our focus has been squarely on user benefit, not just product capability. By looking closely at how Audio Recap fits into real workflows, we’ve ensured the feature aligns with user needs. The guiding principle for us is to meet employees where they are and let them consume meeting information in ways that feel natural, intuitive, and efficient.

Privacy is another element that Audio Recap adds to the meeting replay experience. Reading transcripts or replaying video meetings can lead employees to feel exposed, especially in shared workspaces where colleagues might glance at their screen. With audio, employees can simply plug in their headphones and consume content discreetly. This not only protects sensitive information but also adds comfort and flexibility. Whether at home, in the office, or on the go, users can catch up on meetings without feeling tethered to a desk.

“You can be mobile, take it with you, and listen on the go—without worrying about someone looking over your shoulder,” Montgomery says. “It’s flexible, convenient, and makes catching up on meetings a fun and engaging experience.”

Staying current with generation TikTok

The workplace is evolving alongside cultural shifts in how people consume content.

“With this solution, we’re solving for time. We’re simplifying and democratizing communication in the ways that people take it in best, or prefer to take it in.”

Sara Bush, principal PM manager, Microsoft Digital

Quick, engaging formats on mobile devices dominate outside of work—and employees expect similar options inside the workplace.

Audio Recap taps into this trend by making meeting content consumable in the same way people enjoy podcasts or streaming audio.

By offering meetings in podcast form, Microsoft Teams continues to evolve as a modern, forward-looking platform that keeps pace with the changing expectations of a digital workforce.

“With this solution, we’re solving for time,” Bush says. “We’re simplifying and democratizing communication in the ways that people take it in best, or prefer to take it in. For example, this podcast summary for my drive to work is a perfect format for me, whereas that quick video format might be just right for somebody else.”

Audio Recap is part of the company’s broader effort to reshape how work gets done in a digital-first era. By giving employees the freedom to decide how they consume meeting information, Teams becomes not just a tool for collaboration, but a productivity amplifier.

Meetings are a necessary part of work, but how we handle the content they generate doesn’t have to feel outdated. Audio Recap makes catching up not only easier, but also more enjoyable—and where time and attention are in short supply, this shift is invaluable.