Software News
O’Ryan Johnson
September 25, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT
Also, Microsoft MVP Amy Babinchek tells CRN there are three big to-dos before any organization should put the tools to work: check permissions, scrub the data, and train the users.
The launch of Copilot, an AI layer that will soon be infused in nearly every one of Microsoft’s leading applications, is giving users power to control and process data on command, and it is promising to unleash an uptick in productivity that parallel’s the birth of the PC itself, said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
“Copilot is one experience that runs across multiple surfaces,” he said at an unveiling event for Copilot this week in New York City. “It brings the right skills to you when you need them. It adapts to you. You no longer have to be the orchestrator of your apps, operating systems and devices. We are building Copilot into all of our most-used products and experiences and allowing you summon its power as a standalone app, as well as from Bing, on Edge, to Microsoft 365, and the newest versions of Windows.”
[RELATED: Microsoft Reveals Copilot, AI Features Across Windows, Bing, Edge; New Surface Devices Launched]
The event showcased dozens of capabilities across Microsoft products, and its Surface devices, that allow users to use natural language requests to write documents based on notes, documents, chats, and then rewrite them into emails, blogs, text messages, or any other form of written communication.
“So the context and intelligence of the web, your work data and what you’re doing in the moment, on your device are presented together in a single unified experience, centered around you, informed by your preferences and permissions,” he said on stage.
Amy Babinchak, the owner of Harbor Computer Services of Royal Oak, Mich., told CRN that there are three important to-dos before any organization adopts Copilot: check user permissions, scrub the data, and train the users.
“Businesses should engage in a data permissions audit before starting with Copilot,” she said. “It is very likely that they do not realize who has access to what and neither do the employees. It has access to everything the user has access to and will surface it when asked … Businesses are going to be surprised by how much that is. Guaranteed.”
Additionally, Babinchak said data cleansing will be a needed prior to the start of the implementation or Copilot’s results will suffer.
“Let’s say you ask it to perform some specification gathering for a new sales prospect. If Copilot has access to out-of-date information it might use it,” she said.
Training employees to use prompts will also be a critical skill if organizations are hoping to leverage the greatest benefits from Copilot.
“Being able to craft precise prompts which are paragraphs and paragraphs long to get the exact response and task performed in the way you are expecting, is a skill that no one has yet,” she said.
Babinchak said the organizations that invest in laying the groundwork for Copilot and gaining the in-house skills necessary to leverage it will be able to reap huge rewards.
“Those that invest in preparing their staff for this new technology are going to have a big advantage over others,” she said. The implications for productivity enhancement are enormous.”
Here are some of the biggest GenAI features of Copilot.
