HOW MICROSOFT COPILOT PRO WILL RE-SHAPE BUSINESS LANDSCAPES

In the business world, for most of us, moments of true transformation are rare. Yet we all probably get to experience a few of them in the course of our careers, simply because of the marvellous era of innovation that we have the privilege of living in. 

For me, I clearly remember during my agency days, my first few months of working with the advanced automation possibilities within Hubspot. It was a real moment of transformation in my own career, when embracing a new tool redefined my work efficiency to a new and much greater level. 

I think that Microsoft's release of CoPilot Pro this week (for businesses of all sizes, no longer just for enterprises) is possibly one of these transformative moments for us all, not just in technological advancement but as a catalyst for rethinking our business strategies and augmenting our natural creativity.

Let me explain why…

Re-shaping business strategies

Microsoft CoPilot Pro will dramatically alter business strategies. It just will. 

Imagine for a moment that your employees and teams can complete the majority of the tasks that make up their roles in half the time or less, with enhanced quality. 

This isn't a possible future; it's the reality that this week’s release of CoPilot Pro brings to the table. 

I think the implications of Copilot Pro’s release (considered within the wider context of the generative AI advancements over the past 24 months) are profound. 

Very quickly, businesses will need to rethink their models. As a business leader, how will you adapt when efficiency soars and the standard of work elevates? Where and how will you choose to redeploy the re-gained time, energy and creativity of your employees? 

Augmenting human creativity and decision-making

All that being said, the true power of CoPilot Pro isn’t actually in task automation. 

It’s in augmenting human creativity and decision-making. 

Here’s an example…

A client of mine, previously burdened with writing 300-400 manual reports annually, each taking over 10 hours to complete, now produces superior reports in about an hour per report, thanks to AI augmentation of the process. 

Admittedly that is using a custom AI automation that we built for the task (much cheaper and much easier than it sounds), not using Microsoft Copilot Pro. 

But it’s within the same ballpark as the kind of transformation CoPilot Pro will give to the masses. 

Here’s some examples of the way you and your employees will evolve your work styles within the Microsoft ecosystem of apps, once you access CoPilot Pro…

• Word: The easiest way to picture Copilot Pro within Word is to imagine what it would look like to use ChatGPT directly within a Word doc. For example, a user drafting a Word report can get suggestions on style, tone, and structure from the AI. Or, it can summarize long documents, suggest improvements for clarity and conciseness, and even draft whole sections of writing based on bullet points or brief outlines that you give it.
• Excel: In Excel, CoPilot Pro significantly improves data analysis and visualization. You can ask CopPilot Pro to analyse trends, forecast data, or create complex charts, simplifying tasks that previously required deep Excel knowledge. For instance, you can request, "Show me a trend analysis of sales data for the past five years," and CoPilot Pro will execute the necessary commands. (Note to readers: Early feedback so far from beta users of CoPilot Pro has given lukewarm feedback on the usefulness/effectiveness of the tool in Excel. I expect this to improve quickly though as Microsoft and OpenAI develop it further.
• PowerPoint: When working on presentations, CoPilot Pro can take a Word document and use it to design and generate a great first draft of a Powerpoint doc. It can suggest layouts, color schemes, and even populates slides with relevant copy, imagery and speaker notes.
• Outlook: CoPilot Pro enhances email management in Outlook. It can draft emails based on short prompts, suggest replies, and help manage your inbox by prioritizing emails and suggesting follow-up actions. For example, after a Teams meeting, you might instruct CoPilot Pro to draft a follow-up Outlook email summarizing the key points and action items from the discussion (see below). Given how much time the average desk worker spends in their email, I think the capabilities of CoPilot Pro within Outlook alone will be worth the subscription price.
• Teams: In Teams, CoPilot Pro assists in meeting facilitation and note-taking. It provides real-time summaries of ongoing meetings, suggests responses during chats, and if you join the meeting late it can give you a summary of what you’ve missed, with special emphasis on anything that relates to you. And anecdotally, the automatically generated meeting minutes and task assigning functions of the AI are better than anything a human can do.
• For a full list of all CoPilot Pro’s features, and plans and pricing, click here.

When you read between the lines of all of those features, Microsoft Copilot is really about elevating human potential, not replacing it. This is something I’m huge on in my guidance and mentoring of client businesses and their leaders. 

As long as we’re aware and informed of the risks and challenges of tools like Copilot Pro, not just its benefits and potential, I believe that by merging AI's efficiency with human ingenuity, we're stepping into an era of enhanced creativity and more informed decision-making for businesses and their people.

Addressing concerns, and strategies for integration

With great power comes great responsibility. 

I have two major concerns that always arise when I discuss the integration of tools like Microsoft Copilot: the potential for inadequate training leading to suboptimal use and privacy violations, and the risk of data privacy breaches. 

The solution to both lies in high quality education and training (wink wink), ensuring that all workers are equipped to use these tools ethically and effectively. 

As well as this, I’m big on the view that establishing stringent data privacy protocols is a non-negotiable for any leaders of companies deploying AI tools like Microsoft Copilot. 

Businesses must tread carefully, ensuring that company data and intellectual property are safeguarded in this new digital environment. 

I can’t emphasise that enough.

Elevation awaits...

I’m as wary of AI hype as the next person. In my job, it’s a daily exercise to cut through swathes of it, and to distill the medicine from the snake oil.

However, I do believe that this week’s release of Microsoft’s CoPilot Pro is more than a technological advancement; that it's part of generative AI’s continued invitation to all of us to reimagine the future of work. 

I think it's a call to action for businesses and their leaders to be proactive, not just in adopting AI, but in harnessing it as a tool for growth, innovation, and ethical practices.

We're now firmly in a world where AI doesn't just change how we work; it elevates it. 

The potential for growth, efficiency, and creativity using platforms like Microsoft Copilot is immense. 

But it demands more than just technological adoption; it requires a strategic, thoughtful, and ethical approach. I am lucky and inspired that I get to work everyday with business leaders who are doing just that - with a commitment to augment our human potential and safeguard our ethical standards. 

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Note: I’m not affiliated with Microsoft or CoPilot Pro, financially or otherwise.