Microsoft 365 Copilot is a groundbreaking solution that combines the power of next-generation AI with Microsoft Graph and Microsoft 365 apps. It leverages large language models (LLMs) to transform your words into the most powerful productivity tool on the planet. This innovative technology is designed to unleash creativity, unlock productivity and uplevel skills – revolutionising the way we work.
Below, we will dive deeper into what it does, its benefits for organisations and what sets it apart from other AI tools.
What does Microsoft 365 Copilot do?
Unleashes creativity in Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Creativity is at the heart of every great endeavour. With Microsoft 365 Copilot, you can jump-start the creative process and never face a blank slate again. Whether you’re working in Word, PowerPoint or Excel, Copilot provides you with a first draft to edit and iterate on, saving hours of writing, sourcing and editing time.
In Word, Copilot empowers you to be more creative by generating ideas, shortening sentences or offering feedback. It serves as your trusted writing partner, helping you refine your unique ideas and drive them forward.
For PowerPoint, Copilot assists in creating beautiful presentations with relevant content from your past documents. It seamlessly integrates with your existing work to enhance your creative output.
And in Excel, Copilot simplifies data analysis by quickly identifying trends and generating professional-looking data visualisations.
Unlocks productivity in Outlook and Teams
We all want to focus on the tasks that truly matter. But too often, we find ourselves bogged down by legwork. Microsoft 365 Copilot is here to lighten the load and unlock your productivity potential. In Outlook, Copilot streamlines your email management by summarising long email threads and suggesting quick replies. It helps you clear your inbox in minutes, allowing you to focus on more important work.
What about Teams? Copilot revolutionises meetings by providing real-time summaries of key discussion points, identifying areas of alignment and suggesting actionable items. It ensures that every meeting is productive and efficient.
Additionally, Copilot integrates with the Power Platform, enabling anyone to automate repetitive tasks and create chatbots without the need for extensive coding knowledge. It empowers you to go from an idea to a working app in minutes, boosting productivity across your organisation.
A new knowledge model for organisations
Beyond individual productivity, Microsoft 365 Copilot creates a new knowledge model for organisations. It taps into the vast reservoir of data and insights that often remain untapped and inaccessible. This knowledge model is powered by Business Chat – an entirely new experience that works across LLMs, Microsoft 365 apps and your data.
Business Chat allows you to extract valuable information and insights from your calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings and contacts. It can generate status updates, provide recommendations and surface relevant information from a sea of data. This seamless integration of AI and your business data enables knowledge to flow freely across your organisation, saving valuable time and resources.
Uplevel your skills
Microsoft 365 Copilot not only enhances your existing skills but also helps you quickly master new ones. Traditionally, utilising the full functionality of productivity apps required memorising numerous commands and navigating complex menus. Copilot changes the game by allowing you to unlock the rich functionality of Microsoft 365 apps using natural language.
For instance, instead of searching through menus to animate a slide in PowerPoint, you can simply ask Copilot to “animate this slide.” It understands your intent and performs the desired action, simplifying the user experience. As Copilot continues to learn and evolve, it will acquire new skills and be able to perform even more sophisticated tasks and queries.
The real impact for your organisation
The true impact of Microsoft 365 Copilot is far-reaching. Developers who have embraced GitHub Copilot, a similar AI-powered tool, have reported significant improvements in productivity and job satisfaction. According to GitHub, 88% of developers using Copilot claim to be more productive, while 74% say they can focus on more satisfying work. Additionally, 77% of users report that Copilot reduces the time spent searching for information or examples.
This promising data suggests that Microsoft 365 Copilot has the potential to unlock productivity for everyone, regardless of their role or industry. By leveraging the power of AI and natural language processing, Copilot enables individuals and organisations to achieve more in less time.
How Copilot is changing the AI game
Enterprise-ready AI
Microsoft has set its Copilot system apart from other AI solutions. How? It goes beyond simply embedding OpenAI’s ChatGPT into Microsoft 365. The Copilot system is a sophisticated processing and orchestration engine that combines the power of LLMs, including GPT-4, with Microsoft Graph and your business data.
One of the key strengths of the Copilot system is its grounding in your business data. Unlike traditional AI models that rely on a limited corpus of data, Copilot leverages real-time access to your content and context in Microsoft Graph. This ensures that its responses are accurate, relevant and contextual, anchoring them in your specific business content and working context.
Moreover, Microsoft’s comprehensive approach to security, compliance and privacy is deeply ingrained in Copilot. It inherits all the valuable security features, compliance boundaries and privacy protections of Microsoft 365. The system is designed to protect tenant, group and individual data, ensuring that sensitive information remains secure and confidential.
Commitment to responsible AI
Microsoft is committed to building and deploying AI technologies responsibly. The company adheres to a set of AI principles and a Responsible AI Standard to ensure that their AI systems prioritise user well-being and do not cause harm. Microsoft employs a multidisciplinary team of researchers, engineers, and policy experts to review AI systems, refine training data and mitigate potential harms.
The company actively addresses concerns related to data bias, harmful content and transparency. Copilot is designed to make decisions transparent, prompting users to review, fact-check and adjust content based on their subject-matter expertise. Microsoft’s commitment to responsible AI ensures that Copilot is a tool you can trust.
Moving forward with Microsoft 365 Copilot
In the coming months, Microsoft plans to expand the availability of Copilot across all its productivity apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, Viva and the Power Platform. This ambitious expansion aims to bring the benefits of AI to every aspect of work and empower individuals and organisations to achieve more.
As Microsoft continues to learn and refine Copilot, they value feedback from a small group of customers. This iterative approach allows them to improve the models and scale the technology effectively. Microsoft’s ultimate goal is to serve the unmet needs of customers and create a brighter future of work for everyone.
How much does it cost?
After lots of anticipation, Microsoft released the pricing for Copilot in July 2023. They revealed that it will cost $30 per user, per month for organisations using Microsoft 365 with an E3, E5, Business Standard or Business Premium plan.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is a game-changing tool that redefines the future of work. By harnessing the power of next-generation AI, Copilot empowers individuals and organisations to unleash creativity, unlock productivity and uplevel skills. It seamlessly integrates into Microsoft 365 apps, providing a consistent user experience and enhancing the functionality of each application.
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