Microsoft Copilot is Revolutionizing Business

‍What You Need to Know:

• Copilot is a secure enterprise AI that synthesizes internal organizational data. Its responses use company data (emails, chats, documents) to provide actionable, tailored business insights directly within Microsoft 365.
• The primary differentiator is its robust data security and privacy model. Copilot strictly adheres to a user's existing Microsoft 365 permissions and operates with tenant isolation, guaranteeing proprietary data is not used for public model training or exposed to other organizations.
• Copilot offers a strong ROI but requires strategic implementation. Its efficiencies justify the cost, but successful deployment necessitates that organizations first "get their data house in order" (auditing permissions and data cleanup) and provide user training for safe and effective use.

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Copilot is Revolutionizing Business

Digital assistants have been a part of our lives for decades. Remember Clippy? In the late 2000s, digital assistants could call restaurants to make reservations and reschedule meetings. They were designed to increase productivity and simplify our lives, but did they? Many of us have experienced some level of dissatisfaction with a voice-activated assistant that did not perform as expected.

Technology is always evolving. Is Microsoft 365 Copilot (M365 Copilot) the digital assistant we have been anticipating? YES! It can provide summaries of project statuses by accessing emails, documents, and meeting notes. M365 Copilot is a functional, user-friendly digital assistant.

What is Microsoft 365 Copilot?

Copilot integrates with Microsoft 365 applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. Copilot understands user patterns and offers suggestions that match individual styles. Melding GPT with Microsoft Graph, it incorporates calendars, emails, chats, and more. Microsoft Graph is what connects all Microsoft applications with each other.

A notable feature is the Business Chat. Using your data, it allows simple prompts like "inform my team about the product strategy update" to trigger the AI to craft a comprehensive update from morning correspondences and meetings. If you miss a meeting the Business Chat can provide a summary of what happened and allow you to ask questions. It will automate the mundane but necessary tasks of your day, enabling you to focus on more important activities.

At Net Friends, we have been testing Copilot and are already seeing boosts in efficiency. Internally, the tool has helped us streamline preparation by generating useful meeting agendas. By analyzing past communications, Copilot surfaces relevant discussion points, transforming our regular 1:1 sessions with staff into more productive coaching and development opportunities. Applying the same strategy to client data, we have successfully used Copilot to identify hidden opportunities and automatically schedule the necessary follow-up tasks.

Copilot transforms functions as a data analysis assistant in Excel. It helps generate and explain advanced formulas, cleans and transforms messy data with simple prompts, and instantly extracts meaningful insights like trends, outliers, and summaries. Copilot accelerates reporting by creating relevant charts, PivotTables, and even modeling "what-if" scenarios. Making it simpler to analyze, visualize, and interact with data.

M365 Copilot vs. ChatGPT

Both Copilot and ChatGPT are built upon the same powerful GPT framework. Copilot is a specialized tool, built to securely apply the model's capabilities directly to your internal enterprise data stored within Microsoft 365. This grounding ensures that outputs are not just general knowledge, but actionable insights tailored to your organization.

Will Roberts, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Net Friends, notes: “Copilot offers the full ChatGPT experience, but it’s smarter for business. It safely uses your company’s data to deliver tailored, context-aware results.”

The key differentiator is data security. Copilot retrieves information without using your proprietary data for model training or exposing it externally. Furthermore, it operates with strict tenant isolation, guaranteeing it cannot leak or access data from other organizations using Microsoft 365.

What Are the Risks Associated with M365 Copilot?

While the benefits of Copilot are evident, there are potential concerns worth considering:

1. Employee Overuse: If an employee uses Copilot exclusively, it might diminish the unique human touch that is often neccessary, especially in communications. To ensure a balance, promote the use of such tools to enhance productivity, while maintaining the essence of human creativity and intuition.

2. Reliance on AI: There is a concern that excessive use of the product might result in employees feeling lost when confronted with a blank page, such as needing to draft a letter. AI simplifies the initial steps and accelerates the process. It cannot substitute the critical thinking and contextual knowledge that people bring to communications.

3. Internal Security: Like any other tool with access to sensitive information, there is always a risk of it inadvertently displaying or suggesting content that is not appropriate. Organizations must be aware of what the tool can access and set up appropriate permissions. If the AI can find privileged information and show it to an employee, that employee could also find it if they searched hard enough.

4. External Security: External security is not a significant concern. Copilot is built on Microsoft's infrastructure, known for its security measures. The data processed by Copilot is not shared externally, and Microsoft ensures that the information remains encrypted and safeguarded from potential threats. For organizations avoiding AI for security reasons, Copilot minimizes those security concerns.

5. Pricing: As with all advanced technological solutions, price becomes a focal point of discussion. Let us break it down: If Copilot costs a business $30 a month. An employee earning $50,000 annually would need to add the equivalent of 1.25 hours of productivity per month. Considering the time saved by automating basic tasks, generating quick email drafts, and receiving instant suggestions for presentations, the return on investment becomes evident.

For businesses with concerns about data security and governance, Copilot is a good option when accompanied with an installation and training strategy. The core security feature of Copilot is that it adheres strictly to a user's existing Microsoft 365 permissions, meaning it will not surface data that an employee cannot already access. However, a successful implementation requires first getting your data house in order, requiring auditing and cleanup, and ensuring proper data labeling and classification. Next step is user training to teach employees to use Copilot effectively and safely.

Net Friends Pro-Tip: Creating an AI acceptable use policy will help your employees protect sensitive data. (Learn more: Responsible AI Implementation)

How Can I Get M365 Copilot?

Copilot is a powerful tool that can make your business more efficient, especially for companies with concerns about data security. Offering the functionality of GPT with the security of being contained in your environment provides a high level of data protection.

As a Microsoft Partner, Net Friends is ready to help your business implement this tool. Set up a meeting with an IT Expert to discuss next steps.

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