On March 16th 2023, Microsoft launched its latest AI-powered innovation in Microsoft 365, called Copilot. The latest software conceived by the tech giant has been designed to bring next-generation AI into a single system, combining the power of large language models (LLMs) with individual user data stored in Microsoft Graph and Microsoft 365 apps that people use every day, such as calendar, Outlook, documents and Teams, and harness it (to quote Microsoft) to unleash creativity, unlock productivity, and level up skills.
By offering users the chance to spend more time collaborating, Copilot has been created to transform productivity. It is believed that users will work in an entirely new way as the software has been designed to remove the drudgery of work tasks by being able to not only understand, but summarise, analyse, organise, collaborate, communicate, create and automate using the user’s business content! You can even use commands such as “animate this slide” or “translate this into English”.
Copilot has also been designed to learn new skills so that it can be used alongside CRM systems and pull customer data for use in communications. Whilst this all sounds very impressive, it is emphasised that the user is always in control and can use, edit or discard content created by Copilot with confidence.
The developers envisage growth in productivity for users as Copilot is used as a workhorse for the mundane, enabling the user to focus on the more important tasks.
As a part of Copilot, Microsoft have also announced the launch of Business Chat, using LLMs, apps and data to create announcements using natural language prompts, such as “Tell my team about the new product launch”, and based on meetings, e-mails and chat threads, it will generate a status update – pretty awesome! Imagine the uplift this could provide your organisation in comms, without taking you any more time.
Users can also be assured that Copilot and Business Chat work within Microsoft 365’s existing commitments to data security, compliance and privacy policies and processes (very important to us!). Microsoft have also ensured that data won’t leak across user groups, presenting only data that can be accessed using the same technology that’s been used for years to secure customer data.
Microsoft have initially launched a private preview of Copilot for the Fortune 500. Once the testing process is well underway, with feedback and improvements made, it is hoped that Copilot will start to be rolled out to more users across all of their productivity apps.
Pricing and licensing will be released in the coming months and as a Microsoft partner, we will continue to provide updates on this exciting new software. Watch this space!
