Microsoft 365 Copilot has officially made its debut, reshaping the landscape of AI companions. Swiftly following the launch, Microsoft introduced a series of updates that brought forth transformative features. The additions include Copilot Pro, the removal of the previous 300-seat minimum user requirement, and the introduction of Copilot GPTs, providing users with the ability to finely tailor Copilot’s behavior based on their unique interests.
Having successfully entered the scene, Microsoft 365 Copilot is making waves, especially among mid-market organisations. Clients, currently immersed in the Copilot experience, are directing their attention to seamlessly integrating Copilot within their Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
Consistently providing updates on Copilot’s evolving features and capabilities within Microsoft 365 apps and other surfaces, Microsoft is showcasing the AI companion’s prowess. While the initial releases demonstrated its capabilities in popular apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, subsequent updates have illuminated Copilot’s multifaceted functionalities.
Microsoft 365 Copilot goes beyond conventional ‘questions and answers’ functionality, offering a deep understanding of users, their tasks, priorities, and organisational nuances. It effortlessly locates forgotten files, connects contextual dots at remarkable speed, and seamlessly integrates with essential business apps.
Fueled by the Semantic Index and multiple LLMs atop the Microsoft Graph, Copilot interprets user queries to provide sophisticated, meaningful, and multilingual responses. Recent insights from the Microsoft 365 Copilot Overview exemplify its conceptual understanding. For instance, when asked about a specific report, Copilot doesn’t simply search for files with those words; it comprehends the context, user roles, and intent to deliver precise results.
Functioning as an intelligent virtual assistant, Microsoft 365 Copilot continues to redefine the work experience by simplifying tasks, eliminating drudgery, and reclaiming valuable time. Explore the future of AI collaboration as Copilot transforms your interactions within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
It all sounds truly game-changing – like all new developments from Microsoft. But the success you have with Copilot will be firmly grounded in your business data, and your ability to integrate Copilot into your entire ICT infrastructure.
As Zachary Cavanell explains in the Microsoft Mechanics Blog2, “A lot of the magic that makes this possible is the Microsoft 365 Copilot system on the backend. This provides a powerful orchestration engine between the large language models, the Microsoft Graph and Microsoft 365 apps.”
This includes building plugins to integrate your own line of business apps directly into Copilot. A recent Microsoft Teams Blog3 explains: “The integrations available to both ISVs and customers include OpenAI plugins that connect ChatGPT to APIs; Microsoft Teams message extensions, which allow users to interact with a web service through buttons and forms in Teams, Outlook, and Microsoft 365 app clients; and Microsoft Power Platform connectors, which offer a set of prebuilt actions and triggers for developers to build their apps and workflows.”
Delivering real-time access to both your content and context in the Microsoft Graph will enable Copilot to generate answers anchored in your business content – your documents, emails, calendar, chats, meetings, contacts, and other business data – and combine them with your working context – the meeting you’re in now, the email exchanges you’ve had on a topic, the chat conversations you had last week – to deliver accurate, relevant, contextual responses4.
2. How to get ready for Microsoft 365 Copilot; June 23, 2023
3. How to transform work with plugins for Microsoft 365 Copilot and AI app; Sept 21, 2023
4. Introducing Microsoft Copilot; Mar 16, 2023
Tecala has recently launched a new business unit, called ‘Automation, Data and AI’ (ADA), which is engaging with mid-market organisations to ensure they get the best outcomes from Copilot, as well as many other automation and AI technologies.
To integrate Microsoft 365 Copilot into your existing IT infrastructure you’ll need to address the issue of how you manage the planning, configuration, and implementation with your existing Microsoft 365 and broader ICT environment.
As a first step, it will be essential to assess your current infrastructure, identify compatibility requirements, and ensure adequate resources for a smooth integration. Next, you’ll need to set up your user accounts, licences, and security settings in Microsoft 365 to ensure they’re all aligned with your organisational structure.
Building the platform with Cyber Security front and centre will ensure your organisation operates in a secure environment with flexibility, agility, and adaptability. Copilot is integrated into Microsoft 365 and automatically inherits all your company’s valuable security, compliance, and privacy policies and processes. Two-factor authentication, compliance boundaries, privacy protections, and more make Copilot the AI solution you can trust.
Ongoing monitoring, maintenance, and regular updates will ensure optimal performance and security of Microsoft 365 Copilot as it becomes an integral part of your workplace. Ensuring it remains in lock-step with your broader business and operations vision is the responsibility of Senior Consultants and can be embedded in a Strategic Technology Roadmap.
The Tecala Microsoft 365 Copilot Readiness Assessment has been developed by our ADA team in collaboration with Microsoft.
It delivers three outcomes to ensure a successful Copilot configuration:
1. Understand where it will be used and by whom, for example:
a. New product and service development.
b. Customer services, via the Call Centre.
c. Day to day productivity tasks, including productive meetings.
2. Review your existing Microsoft 365 usage and your objectives with Copilot
a. Are you already using Microsoft 365?
b. Does your existing configuration already support Copilot?
c. What needs to be done to implement, set up, and enable services?
3. Identify the most effective approach for rolling out your Copilot platform within Microsoft 365 platform
a. Ensuring high data integrity and curating the right data into your data model (pool).
b. Ensuring security and privacy of your data.
c. Configuring your Azure tenancy account to enable Copilot.
d. Setting up your accounts.
e. Setting up your Roles Based Access Controls.
f. Getting the right licensing in place.
g. Education and training to ensure your teams get the best possible outcomes for Copilot experiences.
In this blog we put a spotlight on the importance of high quality, processed data to be the foundational resource for your automation and AI initiatives.
Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) continues to transform the lives of more than half a million Australians with disabilities.
