Last week, Microsoft announced that it will roll out Microsoft 365 Copilot to businesses large and small. Since its introduction in November 2023, only large enterprises have been able to benefit, with over 40% of Fortune 100 companies signing up to the Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program.

But now, everyone can unlock a new era of productivity with the very latest in Generative AI (Gen AI) tooling. From content generation to real-time business insights, Microsoft 365 Copilot can help you work smarter, not harder.

This means businesses can finally move away from laborious manual processes and get in the fast lane with their AI-powered assistant taking the wheel.

In this article, we will give you some background on why this announcement really is a game-changer for your brand, and how you can access this Microsoft 365 upgrade.

Meet Copilot: Your embedded Microsoft 365 sidekick

Microsoft 365 Copilot is an embedded AI feature that runs across the entire Microsoft 365 product suite. It’s designed to inject in-the-moment guidance to help teams tackle their daily grind in four key ways:

• Supercharged productivity: Microsoft 365 Copilot offers contextual suggestions to help employees master Microsoft’s features and maximise productivity at all times.
• Enhanced creativity: The feature sparks inspiration, creates content from scratch and acts as an on-hand sub-editor – offering suggestions to improve your creative output.
• Accurate insights: From crunching numbers to summarising text, Microsoft 365 Copilot puts accurate, business-specific insights at your fingertips, driving smarter decision-making.
• Fortified systems: Rest easy as Microsoft 365 Copilot adapts to your security and governance protocols automatically; it can even suggest ways to shore up your existing defences.

How to unleash Microsoft 365 Copilot

Microsoft is lifting the 300-seat purchase minimum, so you can buy as many copilots as you need. But there is a catch: you still need underlying licensing permissions from a Microsoft 365 subscription for each seat you buy.

With that in mind, the following customers will be able to unlock Microsoft 365 Copilot as an add-on service:

• Standard or Business Premium Microsoft 365 subscription holders.
• Commercial customers with Microsoft 365 E3/E5, Office 365 E3/E5 and Microsoft 365 Business. Office 365 E3 and E5 license holders will also benefit from a Semantic Index for Copilot to help subscribers get AI-ready with actionable responses to prompts.
• Customers with an Entra ID subscription can also access enhanced data privacy protections within Microsoft 365 Copilot at no extra cost.

But please note that not all versions within these tiers are compatible; you’ll need to check your plan qualifies before buying the add-on from your Cloud Service Provider (CSP), Enterprise Agreement (EA), MCA-E, EAS, EES, or the Microsoft website.

An up-to-date Microsoft 365 subscription provides the security foundations for Gen AI adoption success. Namely, the latest Microsoft 365 tools deliver robust security and effortless identity and endpoint management capabilities. It also provides enhanced information and threat protection services to ensure your focus is on driving Gen AI innovation, rather than worrying about your security posture.

Microsoft 365 Copilot is everyone’s opportunity, but you need to plan for Gen AI adoption

Microsoft 365 Copilot opens up a world of opportunities, but you need to make sure that your organisation is AI-ready. Start by diving into Microsoft’s Copilot for Microsoft 365 homepage which is packed with advice on preparing for Copilot and guides to responsible AI adoption.

Next, identify areas where you think Microsoft 365 Copilot can deliver the biggest wins. This might be within finance, IT departments, or your admin team. Trial the feature with a handful of users so you can address early concerns, like training and making the business case for broader Gen AI adoption.

Revolutionise your tech stack with Microsoft 365 Copilot: Copilot Readiness Assessment

Atech is here to guide your organisation’s transformation into a Gen AI powerhouse through the latest Microsoft technologies.

We recently released our Copilot Readiness Workshop (designed with Microsoft), allowing organisations of all sizes to delve into the tool’s possibilities for users and stakeholders.

We’ll guide you through the technical requirements and recommend the next steps to enable Copilot, tailoring the process to your unique data governance and user adoption needs.

The workshop can be delivered remotely or in-person, and we’ll provide a readiness report as an output for you to begin your journey to implementation and activation.

Get in touch to learn more.