Microsoft has made its Generative AI-powered assistant Copilot available in enterprise versions of its widely used Microsoft 365 (formerly Office) suite of productivity apps. This move has the potential to transform the working lives of millions of people by making it easier to automatically generate content within documents, presentations, and spreadsheets.
But it will come at a premium: the Copilot feature is currently priced at a steep $30 per month per user, which will further inflate the cost of Microsoft licenses within enterprise customers. However, Microsoft believes that the increased productivity gains will justify the cost.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Application and License Support
Copilot for Microsoft 365 will be restricted to certain levels of 365, per the FAQ: “Customers must be licensed for Microsoft 365 E3/E5 to be eligible. Microsoft 365 Consumer and Education customers are not currently eligible to purchase Copilot.”
All applications part of the Enterprise 365 license suite will include support for Copilot, according to Microsoft. “Copilot includes access to Microsoft 365 Chat and integrations with Copilot in Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Teams, Loop, and other Microsoft 365 apps.”
Copilot is generally available worldwide but is not yet available in sovereign (or GovCloud) cloud environments. According to Microsoft, 365 Copilot GCC High and DOD will be announced later in 2024. Languages supported include English, Spanish, Japanese, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, and Chinese simplified.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is just one of many Copilot Offerings
It’s important to note that there are various versions of Copilot that Microsoft will be deploying across its suite of solutions. Security Copilot, Copilot for Windows, Dynamics Copilot, Sales Copilot, and Github Copilot are some of the publicly acknowledged versions and each will have their own premium subscription cost.
It remains to be seen how widespread the adoption of Copilot will be (especially across its entire solution portfolio), but it is clear that Microsoft is betting big on generative AI as the future of work.
Other software companies are also developing generative AI tools, but Microsoft has several advantages, including its close relationship with OpenAI, its massive 365 install customer base, and its ability to tap into data held in Microsoft applications.
There are certainly plenty of implications and concerns before enterprises adopt generative AI on a widespread basis. Efficiency, productivity gains, and a general emphasis on “upskilling” workers to embrace generative AI are already understood. What isn’t understood clearly yet is protecting intellectual property, privacy, and accounting for unexpected outputs.
What if a person accidentally lets Copilot write an email that contains something offensive and they have an HR incident? Are we about to face a barrage of “the AI wrote that, not me” excuses? To be fair, this is hardly a Microsoft problem—it’s an industry-wide problem that involves any software or tech company adopting AI.
One thing is for sure: tech companies aren’t slowing down investments and innovative development of AI and generative AI technologies. We’re all going to have to upskill and get comfortable quick or risk being left behind by our more tech-savvy peers.
