Is Your Business Ready for AI? Understanding the Challenges and Opportunities of Microsoft’s Copilot

Microsoft Corp. is betting that artificially intelligent assistants will transform workplaces around the world, generating new excitement and revenue for a very old product: the Office productivity software used by hundreds of millions of workers.

The lineup of AI assistants, which Microsoft calls Copilots, can automate manual tasks and generate or summarise text and images. But this is no plug-and-play offering, according to customers and people who advise them. First, companies must figure out what data to feed into a Copilot so it can perform effectively without creating a new target for hackers or revealing information employees aren’t supposed to see and that takes time.

In a published post in Bloomberg, Adam Preset, a Gartner Inc. vice president and analyst said, “It is a success in terms of being the most visible business productivity enhancement based on artificial intelligence that exists today”. He’s talked with more than 1,000 clients about deploying Microsoft Copilots. “But in terms of its impact on work by the average digital worker, the jury is still out.”

In the nearly two years since OpenAI introduced ChatGPT to the world, the technology industry has raced to deploy and refine tools based on the sort of large language models that power the popular chatbot. Microsoft, which has access to OpenAI’s technology through its $13 billion investment in the startup, has embarked on a company-wide effort to embed assistants in its products.

A computer with Microsoft Copilot+ PC Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Train, Train, and Train

In Excel, Microsoft discovered that Copilot couldn’t be a spreadsheet wizard if it didn’t speak Python, the coding language widely used for data analysis. And though Copilot can generate a functional PowerPoint presentation, it has struggled to take the sort of step-by-step input necessary to create a great one. Fixes to those issues have rolled out or are coming in future updates, Spataro said. Meanwhile, companies are slowly learning what information to feed into the software. It can help automate repetitive tasks, but this must be defined and tested with multiple scenarios.

Data Readiness for AI Projects

When M365 Copilot rolled out last year, the software by default could reach into any store of data an employee was permitted to access. Microsoft has since given corporate IT departments the capability to whitelist the troves it wants Copilot to tap into and made it harder for workers to go fishing for things like poorly secured passwords. Unlike a new feature in a software update, successfully deploying Copilot tends to require hiring consultants or devoting training resources that could be spent elsewhere.

“Most companies are not ready” to use Copilot without changing how they label and store information, said Matt Radolec, a vice president with Varonis Systems Inc., which helps companies secure Microsoft Copilot and other cloud-computing products. “It’s only as good as what you put into it.” This data readiness is crucial, as interest in AI projects, particularly driven by end users’ desire for Co-Pilot and other Gen AIs, continues to grow.

Future Prospects

Most industry observers expect Copilot to eventually generate significant recurring revenue for Microsoft. Analysts with UBS Group AG surveyed big corporate technology buyers earlier this year and found they were testing M365 Copilot with about 14% of their employees. It would be a victory for Microsoft if just half of those workers wound up staying on as paying customers, the analysts wrote in a research note in June.

Microsoft’s AI assistants, particularly the Copilot suite, promise to revolutionise office productivity by automating tasks and enhancing efficiency. However, achieving this potential requires significant preparation, especially in terms of data readiness. Companies must carefully manage and prepare their data to fully leverage the capabilities of AI assistants while maintaining security and privacy. As businesses navigate these challenges, the adoption of AI in the workplace will likely continue to grow, driving substantial improvements in productivity and creating new opportunities for innovation.

Reference: Microsoft’s AI Assistants Will Revolutionize the Office — One Day – Bloomberg

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