Microsoft Copilot - the practical guide.

Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft's family of AI assistants, built on OpenAI models and Microsoft's own systems, embedded across Windows, Edge, Bing, Teams and Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook). It is the default generative AI for any organisation already standardised on Microsoft and benefits from tight integration with enterprise data via Microsoft Graph, conditional access and Purview compliance.

Knowledge workers and IT-led organisations on Microsoft 365 and Windows. Particularly valuable for sales, marketing, finance and operations teams that live in Outlook, Excel and Teams. Less of a fit for shops standardised on Google Workspace or for users who want a fully provider-neutral assistant.

Free Copilot is available in Bing and Edge with limits. Copilot Pro for individuals is around $20/user/month. Microsoft 365 Copilot for business is $30/user/month on top of an eligible Microsoft 365 plan, often with annual commitment. Copilot Studio for custom agents is metered separately by message packs.

Right when your team already uses Microsoft 365 and you want AI grounded in your own emails, files and chats. Strong for enterprise governance, audit and data residency. Wrong fit for Google-shop teams or for use cases that need open-model flexibility, fine-tuning or non-Microsoft data sources.

Quality varies significantly between surfaces - Excel and PowerPoint Copilot still lag Word and Outlook. Tenant rollouts often need data hygiene, sensitivity labels and SharePoint permissions cleanup before Copilot is genuinely useful. The $30/seat fee adds up quickly across a large org; pilot before mass rollout.