Earlier this year, Microsoft announced the addition of an AI assistant called ‘Copilot’ to both Windows and its Microsoft 365 suite of applications, including Office. Microsoft have just announced general availability dates:

• Microsoft Copilot will be available in Windows 11 from Tuesday 26th September
• Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft 365 Business Chat will be available from Wednesday 1st November

To help keep you up to date with this new technology, we’ve put together some information to help your organisation prepare for its release.

What is Microsoft Copilot?

Copilot is an AI-powered tool that will be embedded into Microsoft’s most popular products, including Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and PowerPoint. It coordinates data from OpenAI large language models (LLMs), Microsoft Graph and the Microsoft 365 Business apps in order to assist users with day to day tasks, such as content creation, data analysis and summarising information.

When will it be available?

Microsoft has just announced that it will become available from today, Tuesday 26th September.

What licences will we need to be able to use it?

Copilot will be available to all users with Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Standard licences. You will also be required to have a OneDrive account and the new version of Outlook for Windows, which is currently in preview.

How much will it cost?

In July, Microsoft suggested that the price will be $30 per user per month, in addition to existing subscriptions.

What will Copilot be able to do?

Microsoft hopes that the tool will allow “you to focus on the most important work and less on the busy work.” Here are some examples of the tasks it will be able to perform in their most popular apps:

• Microsoft Word: Generate or edit text. Rewrite certain passages according to prompts or instructions. Microsoft stresses, however, that this will produce “a first draft, bringing in information from across your organisation,” rather than the finished article.
• Microsoft Excel: Format data and generate graphs or tables. Suggest formulae and identify trends.
• Microsoft PowerPoint: Shorten or summarise presentations. Adjust style and formatting. Insert Stock images and generate slides from a source document.
• Microsoft Outlook: Draft emails with varying length and tone. Summarise content from email threads and highlight action points.
• Microsoft Teams: Transcribe meetings and provide summaries and debriefs.
• Business Chat: A chat interface able to bring information from multiple sources – such as from all Microsoft 365 apps and Microsoft Graph – to answer questions and perform tasks.

Is Microsoft Copilot secure?

As might be expected with new technology, there have been some concerns about the ethics and security of AI use – for example, how the data and information you enter into Copilot is used and distributed beyond your own use. Microsoft has been keen to highlight that Copilot is compliant with their existing privacy and security commitments, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as it sits within their existing apps. They have also announced that any prompts, responses, and data from your organisation accessed through Microsoft Graph won’t be used to train their LLMs.

If you would like to purchase Copilot licences, please contact us to discuss adding it to your Microsoft subscriptions.