Microsoft Copilot: Transforming the Workplace with AI

Microsoft Copilot is here and can be used in almost all facets of your business, from day-to-day administrative tasks to enhanced security and helping you develop reports, plans, and documents.

Learn all about how Copilot is transforming workplaces with its AI capabilities, the benefits it offers, and the key challenges to navigate in the AI age.

If you want to integrate Copilot into your workplace operations, get in touch with our team today.

Key Benefits of Microsoft Copilot & How It Reshapes the Modern Workplace

When discussing Copilot, it’s worth being aware of just how wide-reaching its implementation is within Microsoft’s suite of programs and security features.

Copilot and Microsoft Office – The Benefits

If your workplace makes use of Windows devices, apps, and the broader Microsoft security stack, you’ll find that Copilot has been integrated into all of these.

For example, whether you’re using the Microsoft Word app on your computer, smartphone, or through the web browser, you’ll find Copilot can help you change the tone, assist in ideation, provide a structure for you to follow, build an initial draft for you to expand upon, provide more intelligent edit suggestions, and more.

Copilot also works in:

PowerPoint – draft presentations through native prompts or ones derived from Word documents, ask Copilot questions and get summaries of your PowerPoint, and have it add slides or pictures based on prompts.
Excel – receive suggestions for formulas and chart styles, and gain deeper insights about the data on your spreadsheet.
Loop – assist in collaboration by creating baseline content that teams can build upon together.
Outlook – summarise email threads to get an overview of the discussion, get assistance in drafting emails, and receive coaching tips for tone, sentiment, clarity, and more.
Teams – receive summaries of up to 30 days of chats, write up transcripts from video meetings, answer relevant questions related to the meeting during or after it’s finished, automatically capture important notes from calls, etc.
OneNote – can use prompts to draft plans, create lists, generate ideas, and organise information so it’s easier to find what you need.
Forms – through prompts, Copilot can draft questions and other suggestions to include for creating surveys, polls, and other forms.

Copilot and Microsoft Security Stack – The Benefits

Copilot similarly offers assistance and can automate processes tied to your business’s online data security. IT security professionals can leverage the computing power of Copilot to identify risks within a matter of minutes or seconds rather than hours.

To read all about Copilot’s influential role in the broader data security of Windows devices, apps, and programs, read our blog The Future of AI & Data Security: Microsoft Copilot’s Role.

Copilot and Windows OS – The Benefits

Along with the efficiencies introduced to the Office 365 suite and Microsoft’s Security Stack, Copilot is also integrated into the most recent versions of the Windows OS (Windows 11). It doesn’t directly manipulate the operating system, but its native integration means it can help you more easily find what you need on your system. It can help with:

Settings and configurations
Troubleshooting potential problems
Software installation and management guidance
File management tips to help you be more organised
Provide advice on enhancing system security and privacy
Offer productivity tips and optimise workflows
Helping with regular updates and providing guidance on maintenance and achieving optimal performance

Reshaping Workplaces with Copilot

With all of these capabilities, from granular controls and enhanced security functions to broader guidance and efficiency gains, Copilot will undoubtedly reshape workplaces with measurable advanced computing intelligence.

Keep in mind that certain Copilot functions, such as those tied to enhance the Microsoft Security Stack, may require an additional subscription, such as Microsoft Security Copilot. The team at Setup4 can help you secure the necessary subscriptions to get the full Copilot experience in your workplace.

Navigating the AI-Related Challenges of Microsoft Copilot in the Workplace

While Copilot brings a lot of benefits to the table, it’s still important to be mindful of the current limitations and potential challenges that can be presented when collaborating with AI.

Core among these challenges or potential risks is that all generative AIs, including Copilot, are in their relative infancy and still prone to provide incorrect information from time to time. So, much like human beings, you should be mindful of AI’s potential to get things wrong.

These inaccuracies could exist in the answers they give to prompts, the summaries they provide of webpage content or email threads, the suggested code they provide for tasks, the transcripts they generate from calls, and so on.

Always keep this in mind and be sure to verify the information Copilot provides, especially if incorrect information could be detrimental to your operations, authority, or reputation.

While AI is likely to become more sophisticated and robust as time goes on, you should continue to do your due diligence in verifying the information and guidance it provides.