Optimizing Agile Project Management with a Copilot Extension for Jira: Integrating AI, Automation, and Business Intelligence

Agile project management relies on responsive tools that support automation, intelligent assistance, and data-driven decision-making. While Jira is widely adopted in agile environments, it lacks advanced features for proactive support, workflow automation, and business intelligence. This paper presents the design and evaluation of a Copilot extension for Jira that leverages Microsoft Copilot Studio, Power Automate, and Power BI. The solution enables conversational interaction within Microsoft Teams, automates task workflows, and delivers real-time analytics through dynamic dashboards. Developed using the Scrum framework across iterative sprints and evaluated with a quasi-experimental pre/post design in two Jira projects, the extension improves task automation, project visibility, and user interaction. Contributions include streamlined ticket handling, enhanced decision-making with KPIs, and a user-centric conversational interface. Results indicate significant gains in efficiency and reporting latency, illustrating how AI + BI + automation can augment Jira for agile teams.