Microsoft Copilot (Business)

AmeCoda helps organizations apply Microsoft Copilot practically in their daily work.

With the Copilot Scan, the AI Ready Program, workshops, e-learning and follow-up guidance, we look at where Copilot can add value within your organization and how employees will actually use it.

We think along about use cases, best practices, new Copilot features and possible next steps. From workshops on Copilot Chat and Premium to AI apps and Agents.

Yes. Based on the Copilot Scan, workshops and our experience at other organizations, we think along about relevant use cases, best practices and possible next steps.

For example, we look at work where Copilot can help, which features are interesting, where Agents can add value and which settings deserve attention.

The final choices around settings, security, access, compliance and technical setup always remain with your organization and your own IT manager or IT partner.

No. AmeCoda focuses on advice, training, adoption and guidance around Microsoft Copilot.

We do not configure the Microsoft environment ourselves and do not build Agents, automations or technical integrations.

We do help make the possibilities, points of attention and choices understandable, so that you and your IT can make well-founded decisions.

Microsoft Copilot is the umbrella name Microsoft uses for all its AI assistants. It covers several versions and add-ons.

In short: Microsoft Copilot is the brand name, Copilot Chat the free entry point and Microsoft 365 Copilot the full version inside your Microsoft 365 environment.

Microsoft Copilot Chat, also called Copilot Basic, is Microsoft's AI chat environment for business users. Think of it as ChatGPT, but from Microsoft and inside your own Microsoft environment.

With an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription, Copilot Chat is available without a separate paid Copilot license.

Copilot Chat does have limitations. It mainly works with what you provide yourself, such as a question or an uploaded file, and with information from the web. Copilot Chat does not search your email, Teams conversations and SharePoint by itself. For that you need Microsoft 365 Copilot.

This makes Copilot Chat an accessible way for employees to work with AI within the Microsoft environment.

Which features are available can differ per Microsoft 365 subscription, tenant and settings.

Copilot Chat is included with eligible Microsoft 365 subscriptions, without having to buy a separate paid Copilot license for every user.

That is why many organizations call it the free version of Copilot.

It is important to distinguish between Copilot Chat and the paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license (Premium). The paid version offers much broader possibilities to let Copilot work with your daily work and business information.

Always check the current license terms with Microsoft or your Microsoft licensing partner.

Copilot Chat is mainly intended as a business AI chat environment.

With Microsoft 365 Copilot, also called Microsoft Copilot Premium (the paid Copilot license), Copilot is much more strongly connected to your Microsoft 365 environment and daily work. Copilot is then built into Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams and Search, so you can find documents with one click.

This lets you ask Copilot questions that are much closer to your daily work.

Copilot can then combine relevant information from emails, Teams conversations, files, meetings and SharePoint, as far as the user has access to it.

That is one of the biggest differences with Copilot Chat alone.

Microsoft 365 Copilot also lets you use basic agents that answer based on documents and short instructions, for example an HR or IT support agent based on your manuals.

Yes. Besides OpenAI's models, Microsoft 365 Copilot also works with powerful AI models from Anthropic, such as Claude Opus. Which models you can choose differs per app and feature.

Note: in European tenants, the Anthropic models are off by default. Your IT admin has to turn them on in the Microsoft 365 admin center. They also fall outside the EU Data Boundary, Microsoft's commitment to process data within the EU.

So discuss with your IT manager or IT partner beforehand whether, and for whom, you want to use these models.

See Microsoft's own documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/connect-to-ai-subprocessor

Especially if you already work a lot with Microsoft 365, Copilot can add a lot of value.

In many organizations, information is spread across Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Word files, Excel files and other documents.

Copilot can help find and combine this information faster.

Copilot can then use available information from your Microsoft environment to give you context and overview faster.

Yes. With the paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license, Copilot is extensively integrated into Microsoft 365 applications.

In addition, Copilot can combine information from different Microsoft 365 sources, depending on your licenses, permissions and settings.

Yes. That is an important part of Microsoft 365 Copilot, the paid Copilot license.

Copilot can use information within the Microsoft 365 environment that a user has access to.

A user does not automatically get access through Copilot to information they have no permissions for.

SharePoint can be a central place for a lot of business knowledge.

Copilot can use this information as context and combine it with other available information from Microsoft 365.

For example, you can ask about a customer or project and combine information from SharePoint with relevant emails and Teams conversations.

This means employees have to search through fewer folders and systems themselves.

In various situations, yes.

Microsoft offers connectors and other options to make information from additional systems available to Copilot solutions. Think for example of Dynamics 365, Salesforce and other business applications.

Which integrations are possible and desirable depends on your systems, licenses, access rights and technical setup.

AmeCoda can think along from the perspective of Copilot's possibilities. We do not build or implement these integrations ourselves.

Agents are AI applications that can be focused on a specific task, information source or work process.

With Microsoft 365 Copilot you can create simple agents yourself that answer based on documents and short instructions. Think of an HR agent that answers questions based on the employee handbook, or an IT support agent based on your manuals. For more advanced agents with actions and integrations you use Copilot Studio.

Agents can start relatively simple and later be extended with extra knowledge sources, actions and automations.

AmeCoda helps organizations understand where Agents can add value and teaches employees to create Agents themselves.

Microsoft Copilot Studio is Microsoft's platform for building more extensive Agents, Workflows and automations. Copilot Studio works with Copilot Credits and runs on the Microsoft Power Platform.

An Agent can for example retrieve information, use other systems or perform actions.

For more complex applications, Copilot Studio can work together with parts of the wider Microsoft Power Platform, such as Power Automate and Power Apps.

AmeCoda covers these possibilities through advice and training. We do not build or implement Agents and Workflows ourselves.

Yes, many applications within Copilot Studio work with Copilot Credits.

Usage depends on what an Agent or Workflow actually does. A simple action can use less than a complex Agent that uses several models, data sources, tools and actions.

With the new Copilot Studio experiences, not only running but in some cases also building, testing and evaluating solutions can use Copilot Credits.

Microsoft supports, among other things, prepaid Copilot Credits and pay-as-you-go.

We therefore always advise looking at expected use and possible costs in advance together with your IT or licensing partner.

Workflows are the automation capabilities within Copilot Studio. They let you build recurring processes from triggers and actions.

A Workflow can for example start automatically when something happens, run at a scheduled time or be called from an Agent.

Within Workflows, regular actions and AI actions can be combined. Think of retrieving information, processing documents, using a model, passing on data or starting a follow-up action.

Workflows use Copilot Studio capacity and can consume Copilot Credits.

Copilot Credits are the usage unit Microsoft increasingly uses to charge for advanced AI work.

Where a traditional license often costs a fixed amount per user, Copilot Credits usage depends on what an AI application actually does. The more complex the task, the more computing, context, models and tools may be needed and the higher the usage can be.

Microsoft may change the available features, rates and terms. Always check the current Microsoft documentation before rolling out a new application organization-wide.

Copilot Cowork goes further than asking a chatbot a question. You give Copilot a goal and Cowork can then carry out several steps to reach that goal.

Cowork can work with context from, for example, email, files, meetings, calendar and Teams.

Cowork requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot license and usage is additionally charged through Copilot Credits. More complex tasks can use more Credits than simple ones.

Copilot Code is a new environment within Microsoft Copilot that lets employees build solutions and AI apps from natural language. You describe what you want to make and Copilot helps build the solution.

This makes Copilot not just an assistant to work with, but also an environment in which employees can develop new applications themselves.

Copilot Code uses Microsoft's new usage-based AI model and can therefore consume Copilot Credits. How many Credits are needed depends on the application and its use.

Copilot Autopilot is Microsoft's new proactive AI experience. Where you normally give Copilot a task yourself, Autopilot is meant to follow work for longer and carry it out proactively.

Microsoft describes Autopilot as a personal Agent that can keep working, even when you are not actively using Copilot yourself.

Autopilot falls under the new usage-based Copilot capabilities and can consume Copilot Credits. Availability, capabilities and costs depend on Microsoft's rollout, your licenses and settings.

Yes. For more advanced agentic work, Microsoft increasingly uses a combination of a user license and usage-based billing through Copilot Credits.

The number of Credits depends on the amount of work Copilot does, the models used, the context needed, runtime and the tools used.

That is why we always advise discussing with your IT or Microsoft licensing partner in advance which features are activated and how costs are monitored.

Yes, through advice, training and guidance.

We help you understand what these capabilities mean, where they may add value and which questions matter before you start.

AmeCoda does not build these solutions itself. Technical development, automations, integrations and implementation remain with your organization or IT partner.

We share relevant considerations and what we see in practice at other organizations. We look, among other things, at the possible benefits, risks and points of attention of choices around Copilot.

We explain the possibilities and points of attention, share best practices and show which trade-offs other organizations make.

The final decision and responsibility for changing, activating, securing and monitoring settings always lie with your organization and your own IT manager or IT partner.

AmeCoda thinks along and advises, but does not apply these settings itself.

Microsoft offers various security, privacy and compliance measures for its business Copilot services, including Enterprise Data Protection.

Microsoft states that business prompts and responses fall under enterprise data protection and are not used to train the underlying foundation models. Copilot also respects existing Microsoft access rights.

That is why we advise always coordinating technical, security and legal choices with your own responsible people and IT partner.

See Microsoft's own documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/copilot/microsoft-365/microsoft-365-copilot-privacy

A one-off workshop is often not enough to embed Copilot in daily work for the long term.

That is why, within the AI Ready Program, we combine explanation with practical exercises, assignments from your own work environment and several touchpoints.

After that, we can stay involved as an AI partner with follow-up workshops and in-depth guidance. We adjust the level to different groups within the organization, for example with a workshop on Agents for employees who are already further along with Copilot.

This way employees develop their skills step by step and learn not only what Copilot can do, but above all where it adds real value in their own work.

With the Copilot Scan we map in advance how your organization works and where Microsoft Copilot may add value.

We look at work, recurring tasks, Microsoft applications in use, current knowledge and possible applications.

We use the results to make workshops and examples fit your organization better. That way we don't just cover generic examples, but above all applications your employees recognize.

Microsoft Copilot is evolving quickly. Besides Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 integration, more and more possibilities are emerging around Agents, Workflows, Cowork, Copilot Code, Autopilot and new AI models.

That is why we stay involved with many organizations after a first program. We follow relevant developments, share best practices and translate new possibilities into your daily work.

That way you don't have to figure out every Microsoft update yourself and can keep building step by step.

We help SMEs, larger organizations and individual teams that want to get more out of Microsoft Copilot.

We run workshops on site throughout the Netherlands and also offer online and hybrid guidance.

We start with an introductory conversation. We discuss which Microsoft environment you use, what employees already do with Copilot, where time is lost and which work is interesting for AI.

Then we advise a suitable first step. That could be the Copilot Scan, the AI Ready Program, a single workshop, an in-depth workshop or the AmeCoda Academy.

Already using Copilot? Then we build on your existing knowledge and experience.