Introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot

- By Nasir Zaidi

Microsoft recently announced the launch of Microsoft 365 Copilot, a next-generation AI tool that uses large language models (LLMs) and Microsoft Graph data to enhance productivity, creativity, and uplevel skills for users of Microsoft 365.

The company believes that with Copilot, humans will have more agency and access to technology through the most universal interface — natural language.

The AI tool is integrated into Microsoft 365 apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, unleashing creativity, unlocking productivity, and uplevelling skills. In this blog, we will explore what Microsoft 365 Copilot is, how it works, and its benefits.

What is Microsoft 365 Copilot?

Microsoft 365 Copilot is an AI-powered productivity tool that works as a copilot for Microsoft 365 users. It combines the power of LLMs with Microsoft Graph data to transform words into the most powerful productivity tool on the planet.

It allows users to interact with Microsoft 365 apps using natural language, enabling them to be more creative in Word, more analytical in Excel, more expressive in PowerPoint, more productive in Outlook, and more collaborative in Teams.

Copilot is an entirely new experience that works across LLMs, Microsoft 365 apps, and your data — your calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings, and contacts — to do things you’ve never been able to do before.

How does Microsoft 365 Copilot work?

Copilot is integrated into Microsoft 365 in two ways. It works alongside users, embedded in the Microsoft 365 apps they use every day to unleash creativity, unlock productivity, and uplevel skills.

Business Chat, an entirely new experience, works across LLMs, Microsoft 365 apps, and user data to do things you’ve never been able to do before.

You can give it natural language prompts like “Tell my team how we updated the product strategy,” and it will generate a status update based on the morning’s meetings, emails, and chat threads. With Copilot, users are always in control.

They decide what to keep, modify, or discard. Copilot in Word helps users jump-start the creative process, enabling them to never start with a blank slate again.

Copilot gives users a first draft to edit and iterate on, saving hours in writing, sourcing, and editing time. Copilot in PowerPoint helps users create beautiful presentations with a simple prompt, adding relevant content from a document they made last week or last year.

Copilot in Excel enables users to analyze trends and create professional-looking data visualizations in seconds.

What are the benefits of Copilot?

Microsoft 365 Copilot transforms work in three ways: it unleashes creativity, unlocks productivity, and uplevels skills. Copilot in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel makes it easy for users to accomplish tasks, allowing them to focus on what matters most. Copilot in Outlook helps users clear their inbox in minutes, not hours.

And every meeting is a productive meeting with Copilot in Teams. It can summarize key discussion points — including who said what and where people are aligned and where they disagree — and suggest action items, all in real-time during a meeting.

GitHub data shows that Copilot promises to unlock productivity for everyone. Among developers who use GitHub Copilot, 88% say they are more productive, 74% say that they can focus on more satisfying work, and 77% say it helps them spend less time searching for information or examples.

Copilot doesn’t just supercharge individual productivity. It creates a new knowledge model for every organization, harnessing the massive reservoir of data and insights that lies largely inaccessible and untapped today.

Business Chat works across all your business data and apps to surface the information and insights you need from a sea of data.

This feature makes it easy to find information across all of your business data and apps, and knowledge flows freely across the organization, saving valuable time searching for answers. Business Chat is available from Microsoft 365.com, Bing, and Teams.

Uplevel skills:

Copilot makes you better at what you’re good at and lets you quickly master what you’ve yet to learn. The average person uses only a handful of commands from the thousands available across Microsoft 365.

With Copilot, all of that rich functionality is unlocked using just natural language, making it easier to learn and use the advanced features of the Microsoft 365 suite.

Copilot will fundamentally change how people work with AI and how AI works with people. As with any new pattern of work, there is a learning curve, but those who embrace this new way of working will quickly gain an edge.

Copilot System: Enterprise-ready AI

Microsoft is uniquely positioned to deliver enterprise-ready AI, and Copilot is a prime example of this. Copilot is built on Microsoft’s Azure AI platform, which has been trusted by millions of businesses worldwide for years. With its advanced AI capabilities, Copilot can handle complex business tasks and help organizations make more informed decisions.

Copilot has been designed with privacy and security in mind. It uses the latest encryption technologies to keep your data safe, and it adheres to all of the industry’s best practices for data privacy.

Conclusion

Microsoft 365 Copilot is a game-changer for the way we work. By combining the power of AI with our own natural language, we can work smarter, not harder.

Copilot unleashes creativity, unlocks productivity, and uplevels skills, making it easier for individuals and organizations to achieve their goals. With Copilot, the possibilities are endless, and we’re excited to see what the future holds.