Microsoft 365 Copilot was introduced in March, and the company is now rolling out more capabilities as Copilot is made accessible to more clients. The Microsoft 365 Copilot was tested with 20 enterprise customers like Chevron, Goodyear, General Motors, and Dow. The collective feedback agreed that Copilot has the potential to revolutionize work, meetings, and production.
“The potential of Microsoft 365 Copilot is undeniable, and it’s energizing to explore the possibilities as we couple the ingenuity of our people with the functionality of the tool. Early access has given us visibility into how it can further streamline processes, speed insights, spark ideas, enhance productivity and evolve the way we work. We’re proud to team with Microsoft as we continue to achieve new levels of innovation and advance the future of energy.” – Guy Moore, Workforce Enablement Lead, Chevron
Now in June, the Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program is announced as an invitation-only, paid preview that will roll out to 600 global customers initially. To facilitate every customer’s readiness for AI, Microsoft will also start rolling out Semantic Index for Copilot – a new capability in Microsoft 365 E3 and E5. Semantic Index for Copilot is a sophisticated feature that understands user and company data on a whole new level. The Semantic Index for Copilot is vital for obtaining meaningful and actionable responses to Microsoft 365 Copilot prompts.
The Shift to AI
The shift to AI is well underway, and business is looking to Microsoft once again to understand how the new capabilities will transform the workplace yet again. Microsoft’s 2023 Annual Work Trend Index surveyed 31,000 people in 31 nations and analyzed trillions of pieces of aggregated data to understand what the new era of AI means for the workplace. The data is clear: the speed and volume of work have grown exponentially, and employees are struggling under the weight of work. Because of this, innovation and productivity are at risk – and AI is considered the answer to the dilemma.
The report discovered three critical insights business leaders need to understand now as they look to responsibly adopt and implement AI:
Digital debt costing us innovation: Digital debt – the volume of data, emails, and chats – has increased beyond employees’ ability to process it all effectively and still concentrate on innovation. In an environment where creativity is critical to productivity, digital debt is significantly impacting business growth. 62% of employees report spending inordinate amounts of time looking for information and coordinating communications – and 66% say they don’t have enough time and energy to do their job or think strategically.
AI-employee alliance: Most employees are afraid AI will ultimately replace them. But while 49% of survey respondents had concerns about job security, an overwhelming 70% would still delegate as much work as feasible to AI to ease their workloads. This is one topic that employees and leaders agree on. According to Microsoft, managers are twice as likely to want to empower people with AI – not replace them. In fact, eliminating headcount was not on their list of reasons to want AI – reasons instead included increasing productivity, automating tasks, increasing employee well-being, and enabling employees to focus on meaningful work.
Every employee needs to work with AI: Soon, we won’t be able to imagine work without AI, and a paradigm shift this significant will require new aptitudes. 82% of business leaders expect that employees will require new skills in an AI environment, as proven by a 79% year-over-year increase in the number of LinkedIn job postings referencing “GPT” in the text.
As the march towards AI continues, Alliance IT is here to help guide your business through innovations and changes in the future. For more information on taking advantage of all of Microsoft’s new platforms and capabilities, call the IT experts at Alliance IT today.
