Microsoft 365 Copilot

17 April, 2023

17 April, 2023

Microsoft is bringing the power of next-generation AI to your everyday work with the introduction of Microsoft 365 Copilot. It combines Large Language Models (LLMs) with your data in the Microsoft Graph and the Microsoft 365 apps. But how exactly does that work?

Copilot is integrated into Microsoft 365

Copilot is integrated into Microsoft 365 in two ways. First, it works embedded in the Microsoft 365 apps you use every day: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams and more. This helps your employees with greater productivity in, for example, Word, boosting creativity in, say, PowerPoint, and improving skills for all Office apps. But Microsoft is also introducing a whole new experience to: Business Chat. This functionality combines LLMs with the Microsoft 365 apps and your data from your calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings and contacts. You can give Business Chat natural language commands such as “Tell my team how we updated the product strategy,” and it will generate a status update based on that morning’s meetings, emails and chats.

With Copilot, you’re always in control. You decide what to keep, modify or discard.

Microsoft 365 Copilot transforms work in three ways

More creativity
Increased productivity
Enhanced skills

1. More creativity

With Copilot in Word, you can get the creative process off to a flying start, so you never have to start with a blank page again. Copilot gives you a first draft to edit and revise on, saving you hours of writing, source research and editing. Sometimes Copilot is right, other times it is wrong – but it will always move you forward. You are always the author and remain in control of your unique ideas, which you can direct Copilot to shorten, rewrite or provide feedback. Copilot in PowerPoint lets you create beautiful presentations with a simple prompt, adding relevant content from a document you created last week or last year. And with Copilot in Excel, you can analyze trends and create professional data visualizations in seconds.

2. Increased productivity

We all want to focus on the 20% of our work that really matters, but 80% of our time is spent on routine tasks that slow us down. Copilot helps with that. From summarizing long email threads to quickly drafting suggested responses, Copilot in Outlook helps you clear your inbox in minutes. Copilot also allows for more productive meetings in Teams. For example, it can summarize key discussion points, including who said what and where people agreed and disagreed, and suggest action items. All in real time during the meeting. And with Copilot in Power Platform, anyone can automate repetitive tasks, create chatbots and go from idea to working app in minutes.

Searching for documents, notes, files other data often takes a lot of time in any organization. Copilot makes this easier. In effect, it creates a knowledge database by leveraging the vast reservoir of data and insights that are currently largely inaccessible and untapped. Business Chat works across all your business data and apps to extract the information and insights you need from a sea of data. So that knowledge can flow freely through the organization and save you valuable time searching for answers. You can reach Business Chat through Microsoft 365.com, through Bing when logged in with your work account, or through Teams.

3. Improved skills

Copilot makes you better at what you’re good at and allows you to quickly learn what you don’t yet know. The average person uses only a handful of commands, such as “animate a slide” or “insert a table,” out of the thousands available in the Microsoft Office apps. Now all that functionality is unlocked with just natural language. And this is just the beginning.

Copilot will fundamentally change the way we work with Office. As with any new way of working, there is a learning curve, but those who embrace this new way of working will quickly gain an edge and become more productive with Microsoft Office apps.

Want to know more about Copilot?

As an official Microsoft Gold Partner, help you with efficient implementation and support of all Microsoft cloud services. Our IT specialists are Microsoft Certified Professionals and possess in-depth technical knowledge of the Microsoft platform. So they can guide you with making informed choices about using Microsoft 365 Copilot, for example. Fill out the form or call +31 252 241544

Egwin Dutour

IT Consultant

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