5 Ways to Secure and Accelerate Adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot

Microsoft 365 Copilot is a game-changer for productivity and is rapidly becoming the go-to onramp for AI-powered capabilities across knowledge worker job functions. It integrates seamlessly with applications like Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Teams to streamline your workflow and enhance efficiency throughout your day. And Microsoft continues to increase its value by frequently releasing new features.

Unlocking its potential organizationally is where leaders and IT teams today are challenged. Understanding how to direct Copilot initiatives for role-based or process-based benefits can be a conundrum to navigate, especially when employees have brought their own AI solutions and habits to work in the past year.

Here are 5 ways you can quickly gain productivity enhancements and provide employee direction for your AI assistant initiatives while keeping your data secure:

1. Securely Prepare & Deploy AI-powered Capabilities for Your Enterprise

Your employees are using generative AI at work. According to Microsoft’s 2024 Work Trend Index report, 78% of employees are bringing their own AI to work (BYOAI). This has grown from early reports of BYOAI in 2023. While executives are focusing on the big picture for AI strategy and implementation, their employees are self-solving for productivity gains without formal guidance. This puts data at risk and causes great consternation for your IT department due to data leakage risk, compliance issues, intellectual property concerns, and lack of oversight.

By engaging with one integrated AI source for work-related correspondence and productivity, you will be able to encourage the use of AI for everyone while putting a damper on risky usage. Additionally, due to Copilot’s adherence to your existing role-based permissions, you can rest assured knowing your sensitive data is secure.

2. Deliver Data-driven Results

Copilot integrates seamlessly with enterprise-wide interfaces such as SharePoint and Outlook, and Microsoft recently introduced the ability to use Copilot in Excel with Python to streamline and accelerate data-driven workflows. This functionality is facilitated by Microsoft Graph, which collects information from emails, documents, chats, calendars, and other M365 applications, making it accessible to Copilot. Consequently, Copilot is designed to provide relevant company data on demand in various formats. It achieves this by utilizing Large Language Models (LLMs) to generate human-like text and deliver meaningful responses to prompts, whether automatically or through user input. Therefore, preparing your company data for search, establishing proper controls, and configuring Copilot securely is essential to prevent data exposure.

Hitachi Solutions Data & AI team offers an Analytics Assessment for organizations to gain a complete and informed understanding of their data estate.

3. Drive Adoption

Like the early days of Power Platform and low code development, identifying AI champions is a great way to begin building a community of Copilot stakeholders. Checking to see if your organization has met the prerequisites and assigning licensing according to job functions are two key early gates for preparedness to drive successful adoption. This makes it easier to engage employees everywhere and to provide communications and governance for best practices for generative AI usage throughout the workplace.

Microsoft uses the term “just enough access” for data and offers general guidance on building a Copilot Center of Excellence. Hitachi Solutions’ Advisory team of experts can help prioritize, strategize and build an effective training and adoption strategy specific to your unique business model, challenges, and goals. Hitachi Solutions offers executive workshops for strategic direction, training & adoption, organizational readiness, and human-centered experience for AI transformations.

“Working with Hitachi Solutions (Advisory) team to rethink our data strategy has been transformative. We’re making smarter, evidence-based decisions based on all levels of our operations.” —Manufacturing Customer

4. Establish performance metrics

While performance metrics may differ according to each business model, there are some key indicators applicable to everyone, including data security and productivity, and organizational impact. There are some new features in the Copilot Dashboard, which help track adoption trends, estimate impact and review results. Microsoft has included trendlines, a value calculator, comparative metrics and access delegation to the dashboard, which makes it easier to track user adoption, functionality, and return on investment.

5. Build Your Copilot Capabilities with Extensions

For the more advanced Copilot user team or to enable collaboration at scale, Microsoft extends Copilot’s functionality to OneNote and Copilot Pages (formally Microsoft Loop). This helps organize notes, brainstorm ideas, and plan projects by suggesting prompts and assisting in content creation.
Copilot Agents for Microsoft Teams can enhance productivity even further by knitting together data across different applications. Agents are what you make them, literally with extensions. They can be simple automated bots or developed into a more complex functionality. Microsoft defines an “agent” as an “artificial intelligence that can answer questions and automate processes for users.” Each agent has three building blocks, including “persona,” “plugins,” and “planners.”

Hitachi Solutions’ Application Innovation team employs the use of Copilot extenders to solve customer challenges when it’s the right solution.

Final Thoughts

Microsoft 365 Copilot ties together different applications, making your work more efficient and connected. It’s a robust tool that enhances the Microsoft 365 experience, and its continuous updates promise even more integrated features to come as you work to adopt usage and governance.
If you’re intrigued by what Microsoft 365 Copilot can do for you, don’t hesitate to reach out to us and let us help you explore its full potential for productivity gains. It’s an exciting time for Microsoft 365 users!

New to Copilot?

Working with your team to integrate Copilot? Register for our webinars, beginning with “Demystifying Copilot” and continuing with “The Business Value of Copilot for Executives” on October 17.