Essential to the success of any thriving organisation is its ability to operative productively, utilsing the technology at its disposal to ensure the wider team have the tools needed to collaborate and complete tasks efficiently.
Currently, one of the most effective ways to achieve this is with artificial intelligence (AI), as a range of intuitive tools are constantly reaching the market with the promise of delivering a more complete user experience.
In keeping with this trend, Microsoft has developed its own AI service described as ‘an everyday AI companion’ known as Copilot – a conversational chat interface that allows users to search for specific information, generate text such as emails and summaries and create images based on personalised text prompts.
According to Microsoft’s official Copilot blog, the service is designed to reduce the amount of time spent on monotonous yet necessary tasks, providing increased capacity for creativity and innovation. Essentially, it gives you the freedom to focus on high payoff activities that are more deserving of your undivided attention. In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at the service and explore the key benefits it can deliver to your organisation.
How does Copilot work?
Integrated into Microsoft 365 and the apps you most frequently use, Copilot supports users by streamlining essential processes, giving you a head start during the creative process whilst unlocking additional productivity and upleveling skills.
For example, using Copilot in Word will provide users with a first draft to edit and iterate on, saving hours in writing, sourcing and editing time. Meanwhile, the service can help your team create engaging PowerPoint presentations using a single prompt, utilising content from existing documents to add further value. The same goes for Excel, where trends and visualisations can be created quickly with Copilot’s support.
From a productivity standpoint, the service’s potential benefits are also significant, promising a drastic reduction in the amount of time spent on routine tasks, such as replying to emails, summarising meetings or filtering through a busy inbox. It is a facilitator of automation, removing the need for time-consuming manual input, and in turn, freeing up resources across the business.
When you consider the vast amount of data that each organisation processes, having a tool that will extract the relevant information and present it as usable insights helps the flow of knowledge between departments, facilitating a more collaborative workforce in the process.
Naturally, there will be some reservations amongst users that are put off by the idea of familiarising themselves with an entirely new AI system, but the fact that it allows for voice interaction and is receptive to natural language should instil confidence in those individuals that are hesitant to take the plunge.
Industry specific improvements
By this point, many of you will be wondering how Copilot fits into your business specifically, especially when the potential benefits of its adoption seem too good to ignore. For this reason, we’ve highlighted some of its industry specific uses and advantages to help you make a more informed decision.
Pharma:
- Research and development support – The system has the capabilities to sift through research data and accelerate the drug development processes.
- Market analysis and strategy – Provides insights into market trends and consumer needs, aiding in strategic planning and marketing.
- Regulatory compliance – Helps businesses comply with strict regulations whilst ensuring enhanced process efficiency.
Manufacturing:
- Supply chain optimisation – Through predictive analytics and trend analysis, Copilot improves supply chain management across the business.
- Operational efficiency – Routine tasks can be automated, providing users with access to real-time insights that are both timely and accurate.
- Quality control – Copilot can be used to monitor and maintain quality standards across key manufacturing processes.
Retail:
- Improved customer experience – Shopping experiences are enhanced through the personalisation of customer interactions, strengthening your business’ reputation.
- Inventory management – The system can predict trends and automate stock level adjustments, allowing for the accurate management of inventory/products.
- Marketing and sales analysis – Customer behaviour and preferences can be monitored closely, improving the development of targeted marketing and sales strategies.
Finance:
- Compliance and risk management – Copilot ensures compliance with all the necessary financial regulations, mitigating the potential of risks or consequences for malpractice.
- Data analysis and reporting – Complex financial data is harnessed correctly, allowing reports to be built with increased efficiency and ease.
- Client relationship management – Enhances client engagement through personalised communication and the efficient management of client portfolios.
Of course, Copilot also delivers important benefits across other key industries too, but the overarching improvements remain the same. It is a system that unlocks greater efficiency and creativity – facilitating smarter ways of working for all users and departments.
Don’t hesitate – harness its true potential…
For those businesses considering Copilot, it’s important to remember that the service can be customised to meet your unique needs and requirements, with plugins available to extend specific capabilities where needed. It can also access company information at a group and user level but will only use it within the organisation and based on the user’s access level.
The service truly can deliver what you need it to, when you need it to – its ability to integrate with key applications makes it suitable for businesses of all size and structure, so there should be very little discouraging you from adopting it and seeing what improvements it can deliver.
If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription, then you can unlock its full range of capabilities and begin generating ideas and content that sets your business apart from the competition, automating the most monotonous business functions to streamline daily processes.
If you’d like to explore Copilot’s benefits further, then book a free consultation with our in-house team of specialists and find out how it can enhance company-wide operations.