Microsoft 365 Copilot was launched keeping in mind the growing need for increasing productivity and the contemporary security concerns. The tool has proven to be pivotal for boosting efficiency in various organizations across sectors. In a recent Microsoft blog, published on 25th January 2024, Yusuf Mehdi, Executive Vice President, Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, celebrated that the tool has witnessed massive traction among its users. Since its launch on 1st November 2023, the tool has been responsible for about a whopping 5 billion chats and 5 billion image generation till the time the blog was published.
Following Copilot’s impressive impact on large-scale organizations, Microsoft was all set for an expansion of its user base. Apart from being used in large-scale MNCs, the tool was being increasingly leveraged for personal use. Soon, Copilot was made available for small and medium-sized enterprises leading to the tool’s adoption at different levels of the industry. Behind the growing popularity of the suite lies a simple hack: the AI capabilities of Copilot which supercharges basic day-to-day organizational activities carried out across the Microsoft 365 suite.
In this blog, we will explore how Microsoft 365 Copilot helps boost organizational output and the various use cases of the tool.
The primary use of Copilot is to drive organizational productivity whether it is via intelligent content generation based existing documents or response generation on emails. The tool can also be used for creating PowerPoint presentations out of in-house documents, or for smart follow-ups on tasks on Teams. With basic hands-on tasks automated, the true potential of domain experts can be better captured as they get more time for strategic and creative work.
However, these same actions can be achieved via other AI tools. So, it is worth asking: Where do the capabilities of Copilot for Microsoft 365 differ from other AI tools?
A key advantage of Copilot for Microsoft 365 is that the tool offers far more privacy and security when compared to AI environments that are dependent on OpenAI services. This is because the tool leverages private instances of Large Language Models (LLMs) through Azure AI Studio. By limiting the AI environment, organizations gain greater control over their data and workflows as the confidential input for response generation will not be inadvertently shared without authorization. Copilot comes with an orchestration engine linked with Microsoft Search and Microsoft Graph, ensuring that the responses are compliant with user permissions and other ethical uses of AI.
The benefit of a restricted AI environment doesn’t end with security. As the AI responses are based on in-house instances of Azure AI Studio, the output is also likely to be relevant – which is not always the case with OpenAI services that are prone to hallucination and misappropriation of context.
While the capabilities of Copilot already offer never-seen-before efficacy, Microsoft’s Copilot Studio can further help professionals save more time and bring in new waves of innovation. The following are the key features of Copilot Studio:
Here are some industries where AI assistants such as Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Studio can be implemented to boost productivity:
Infrastructure Management: AI assistants are instrumental for automated checks, incident handling, resource allocation, compliance, and reporting tasks. Compliance, reporting, and resource allocation can be particularly time-consuming as they require a lot of attention to detail, making the power of AI crucial.
Purchase Order (PO) Tracking and Approval: Automation in order processing, approval workflows, vendor communication, and audit trails are some of the uses of AI assistants.
Data Analysis and Engineering: AI assistants can be leveraged for Predictive Analytics, data cleansing, reporting, etc. By integrating information from diverse sources and analyzing historical data with AI, companies can easily anticipate future trends and fast-track decision-making. The tool can be helpful in ensuring accuracy in data sets through regular data cleansing as well as for automating report-making, helping the organization stay updated on key insights.
License Renewal Process: License renewals can be tedious as they require heavy paperwork. Moreover, the renewal dates need to be regularly tracked to ensure compliance requirements are met in a timely fashion. This is where an AI assistant shines as it not only sets renewal reminders but also aids in the documentation process, compliance checks, and payment processing.
Risk Analysis and Mitigation: Risk management professionals can do far more than identifying risks and assessing their impact while using AI assistants. Risk assessment is a dynamic process with real-time data influencing calculations. Simplifying the tasks of analysts and risk managers, the AI tools not only can crunch data instantly but also suggest mitigation strategies on the go.
Customer Service Enhancement: AI assistants can personalize and automate support. Several business hours can be saved as bots answer routine queries, leaving support agents to only address complex issues. This also means companies can run a lean support team as repetitive queries are addressed by AI.
Supply Chain Optimization: Predictive logistics and inventory management are some of the uses of AI assistants in supply chain management. As these AI tools can help companies keep a real-time tab on routes and inventory, optimizing order fulfillment becomes effortless.
Employee Onboarding and Training: The assistants can be helpful in automated onboarding and continuous learning efforts. Companies can save their workforce efforts during onboarding and training sessions through AI tool applications such as interactive chats.
Human Resource Management: Talent acquisition and engagement have never been since the advent of AI assistants. For example, AI can be useful for recognizing the best candidates via resume analysis as well as for running workplace engagement and satisfaction surveys.
The use cases clearly demonstrate that AI assistants can be game changers but much like most advanced technologies, these tools prompt certain questions among users. For example, companies may have apprehensions about data security measures of the tool. Addressing this problem, Copilot and Copilot Studio provide end-to-end encryption and data protection protocols.
Similarly, preventing bias in the output is a top priority of AI assistants. In this regard, these Microsoft tools strive to make the best use of feedback loops, reducing as much bias as possible.
Another major concern organizations may have about AI assistants is the user-readiness around the technology. However, the tools being intuitive and attuned to natural language can be easily adapted, offering optimum productivity in no time.
Organizations that are worried about the integration of the AI assistant with existing systems should note that a phased rollout and comprehensive training of end-users can be helpful. A gradual transition and a tech-savvy cohort of professionals ensure that the company hits the ground running when the digital transformation is complete. Further, in case maintenance support is needed, redundant backups and manual override capabilities are necessary for ensuring uninterrupted operations and making the best of Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Studio.
Do you want to implement Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Studio in your organization? Contact us today!
Reference : Microsoft-Blogs
Shrey Aggarwal
Automation Engineer
Mohit Juneja
Automation Engineer
