According to Analytics Insight, 80 percent of companies plan to adopt intelligent automation tools by 2025. With AI and machine-learning technologies experiencing rapid adoption and businesses anxious to seize the momentum and realize AI advantages, it’s important to get the facts straight first.
With that, let’s get you up to speed on one of the most talked about AI tools on the market right now – Microsoft Copilot.
Microsoft Copilot – first announced in September 2023 – is an AI-powered chatbot and virtual companion designed to improve collaboration and productivity, automate workflows and support individuals and businesses as they adapt to changing technology, communication and workplace needs.
Based on OpenAI’s large language models (LLM), Copilot was first launched as Bing Chat in February 2023.
The broad Copilot suite includes the following components, some of which are still in preview mode:
Microsoft 365 Copilot is perhaps the most compelling use case for businesses, with real-time intelligent assistance and productivity improvements designed to help users automate and integrate tasks across a variety of applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams and more.
Copilot was initially released in November 2023 and restricted to enterprise businesses, limiting the scope of users who could test out the true benefits of this generative AI solution. However, in mid-January 2024, Microsoft announced they were expanding Copilot availability to include small and medium-sized businesses – which means organizations of any size can now purchase Copilot as an add-on to qualifying Microsoft 365 licenses.
With all the excitement surrounding Copilot and other generative AI tools, it’s easy to overlook an area of critical importance. The concept of responsible AI – in particular, security and data privacy measures – should be carefully considered to ensure data and workstreams accessed by Copilot are optimally protected from potential leakage, misuse, or compromise.
While there is still much for us to learn about Microsoft Copilot, at a minimum, we advise businesses to consider the following AI security measures to safeguard information.
Despite wider availability for Copilot for 365, many Copilot features and integrations are still being tested by early adopters and large enterprises. We expect to see Microsoft roll out and further enhance integrations with SharePoint, Teams, Power BI and other aspects of the Microsoft and Windows ecosystem as they get feedback from early users and refine the most advantageous and secure features for both individuals and businesses.
Our technology teams at Omega Systems are staying current on Copilot developments and new rollouts as well as educating customers on the necessary security and data privacy features that should be implemented ahead of AI adoption. If you have questions about Copilot or how your best can best integrate AI technology into its workflow, please reach out directly to your account manager or contact our Sales team.