Embracing the AI Revolution with Microsoft 365 Copilot

Navigating new horizons.

In the wake of ChatGPT’s surge into the limelight in late 2022, the buzz around AI has been palpable. Microsoft, always at the forefront of innovation, quickly assimilated this transformative technology into its ecosystem, unveiling a plethora of AI ‘Copilots’. From back-end administration and security to end-user productivity, there’s a Copilot for everyone.

At the forefront is Microsoft 365 Copilot; a powerhouse that infuses advanced AI capabilities directly into your Office applications and services. Imagine a supercharged Clippy, ready to revolutionise the way we work.

Powering productivity

Early research suggests that there are some significant productivity gains to be had by those who implement Copilot. For example, findings from Microsoft’s 2023 Work Trend Index indicated promising results:

The potential of this technology is undoubtedly exciting, but some common questions are cropping up in conversations with our customers and peers: What are the real-world use cases? Is it any good? How do I use it? Do I need it?

The Bistech perspective

Our team has been putting Microsoft 365 Copilot through its paces since its release and, while it’s not perfect, there are some key areas in which it really excels. Here are our top four:

• Content generation and/or assisting with writer’s block by providing a foundation for you to modify and refine. It’s like collaborating on a document with a teammate instead of working alone, and that teammate also happens to have vast amounts of knowledge at their fingertips.
• Learning curve reduction of how to use applications effectively — you don’t need to be an expert author/pro developer/Excel whizz. Copilot enables you do most things quickly, with little knowledge, and to a good standard.
• Summarising key points from various sources, such as meetings, emails and documentation allowing you to easily catch up and/or focus on information that is relevant to you.
• Rephrasing and reorganising lengthy paragraphs into clear, concise language. Furthermore, it has a coaching feature that proactively makes suggestions on how to improve the content, for example to make it more or less formal.

Laying the foundation for optimal AI

AI has the potential to significantly enhance company productivity, that much is true. But it also has the potential to leave your business vulnerable. So, before embracing the AI Revolution, it’s crucial to consider the following:

• AI Usage Policy: What’s your corporate AI usage policy? Ensuring your users are only using secure, sanctioned tools is a critical step in ensuring that your data is protected.
• User permissions and data classification: Copilot will surface all data that a user has access to, which is often too much. It’s important for companies to have a strong understanding of their data’s sensitivity and implement robust measures to prevent unauthorised access.
• Data integrity: The age-old saying “garbage in, garbage out” has never been more pertinent. AI thrives on quality data. Redundant, Obsolete, and Trivial (ROT) data will result in irrelevant or incorrect AI responses. Now is the opportune moment to refine your data governance and retention strategies.
• Data accessibility: AI can only use data that it can access. This may sound obvious, but for organisations with data spread across a variety of storage solutions, it represents a real challenge. Data that has been migrated to modern platforms like SharePoint and One Drive will yield the best results.
• User engagement: User training and adoption is a crucial element in the transition to AI-centric working. Early indicators suggest that teams who collaborate with Copilot experience more substantial adoption and success compared to isolated individual deployments.
• Business justification: For most businesses, AI is yet to prove its value. In an era of tightened IT budgets, speculative investments demand a strong business case with a clear ROI.

The journey with Microsoft 365 Copilot is not only about adopting AI — it’s about establishing a firm foundation to minimise risk and putting the right business processes in place to maximise value. That’s where Bistech can help. As a Microsoft Solutions Partner to three designations (Modern Work, Security, Infrastructure and Azure), we’re well-equipped to champion you on your AI journey. To ensure you’re Copilot ready, call us today on 03330 11 22 55.