Copilot for Microsoft 365 is transforming work, saving time and making people far more productive.
This is according to Kejendree Pillay, Microsoft portfolio manager at First Distribution, who was speaking during a webinar hosted by First Distribution and Microsoft, in partnership with ITWeb.
Pillay said: “Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 leverages AI to help automate tasks and allow you to work smarter, not harder. Its data analysis features are amazing, and it makes complex data easier to understand. It’s customisable, and there’s a Copilot for everyone: Marketing, Sales, customer service, finance, operations, data and IT professionals and HR.”
Pillay mentioned that according to Microsoft surveys, 68% of users believe Copilot enhances their work quality, 70% reported increased productivity, and 77% expressed they wouldn’t want to stop using it.
She added: “Copilot has made me more productive – it saves 30% of my work day.”
Polls of webinar attendees found equally positive sentiment: 59% believed it would significantly increase their productivity; 41% said they were most excited about Copilot's data analysis and insights capabilities, and 23% were most interested in automated content generation; 55% had concerns about data privacy and 36% were concerned about the accuracy of AI-generated content.
Pillay highlighted that Copilot utilises data from users’ OneDrive and SharePoint accounts. Importantly, users can only interact with data they have the necessary permissions to access.
She said: “Security must always be top of mind, especially when it comes to AI. Copilot adheres to Microsoft’s stringent security standards and ensures data is always protected. Copilot can help manage data efficiently, reduces the risk of errors, and ensures data integrity.”
An annual billed monthly payment option is coming soon, which will change the game for organisations planning to adopt Copilot for Microsoft 365 in their environment, she said. “Because it is a cloud-based licence, it will work on both PCs and Macs."
Microsoft Copilot features
Demonstrating some features of Microsoft Copilot, Pillay said: “In Teams, it summarises key topics based on transcriptions. It can also suggest follow up questions, highlight where you have been mentioned and what your follow up tasks should be. You can ask Copilot for information such as key decisions made in the meeting – whether you attended the meeting or not. This means you no longer have to take down and transcribe meeting notes and e-mail them, because Copilot generates AI notes which you can e-mail to team members.”
She said Copilot, which works on the latest version of Outlook, can suggest e-mail replies and create drafts using terms used daily.
“There are so many times you are a part of conversations that involve lengthy e-mail chains. With Copilot, you can summarise what everyone said in the conversations. Copilot will also generate new e-mails, with a variety of styles. Coaching by Copilot also helps users improve their emails,” Pillay said. "Because it is based on user input and context, it learns and improves every day."
Excel, a pain point for many users, is simplified with Copilot. “You can ask it to summarise or highlight particular data, add a formula, quickly interrogate the data and ask Copilot to put it into graph forms for reporting,” she explained.
In Word, Copilot helps users draft copy such as press releases, interrogate and search documents. Documents must be saved in Microsoft 365, and Copilot is then able to search and reference them, she said.
“Copilot also enables users to easily create and organise presentations in PowerPoint. You can actually speak to Copilot as well,” said Pillay. “There is more to Copilot - there is also a Microsoft Copilot for Sales, Copilot for Service and Copilot for Finance, which is still in preview."
Top 10 ‘try first’ features
Pillay suggested the top 10 ‘try first’ features of Copilot for Microsoft 365:
1. Recap a meeting.
2. Summarise an e-mail thread.
3. Draft an email.
4. Summarise a document.
5. Explain a project or topic.
6. Provide ideas for something.
7. Assist with writing.
8. Clarify: "What did they say?"
9. Revise content.
10. Translate a message.
For more information about Copilot for Microsoft 365, go to https://epsidon.everlytic.net/public/messages/view-online/syNP0xxJJgAXCBEr/iBWR8AjpqQMl5h9l.
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