Eight months ago, Microsoft introduced Copilot, an AI assistant that helps you with your daily tasks in Microsoft 365. The question everyone is asking now, of course, is whether—and if so, how—Copilot impacts daily work. To try to answer that, Microsoft conducted a survey among its ‘early users.’ In this way, they hope to learn from their customers while they Expand Copilot.
Below, we share the most notable insights from this annual Work Trend Index from Microsoft.
How did users experience the productivity gains from Copilot?
A survey was conducted among 297 users in the ‘Copilot Early Access Program’ to find out how they use Copilot. Overall, they reported increased productivity and time savings.
On average, users reported a daily time savings of 14 minutes, or 1.2 hours per week. That time savings is remarkable, but of course, it’s especially important to reinvest that freed-up time wisely.
The Impact of Copilot on Meetings, Email, Information Search, and Writing
Microsoft also quantified Copilot’s productivity gains across four areas: meetings, email, information search, and writing. For example, participants—some of whom worked with Copilot and some without—were asked to summarize a recorded meeting, write a blog post, evaluate email messages, and look up information from multiple sources. It was striking that the users who worked with Microsoft 365 Copilot They consistently finished their work noticeably faster, but there was no difference between the two groups in the quality or accuracy of the work they produced.
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Role-specific challenges and opportunities
Sales
We surveyed 133 Microsoft resellers who Copilot for Sales use it at least once a week. On average, they saved about 90 minutes per week, and the vast majority said that Copilot for Sales made them more productive. They also found that it was easier to keep their CRM system up to date.
Customer Service
Employees at the Customer Service Microsoft's customer service team (one of the largest customer service organizations in the world) says that, thanks to Copilot 12%, they spend less time resolving each case.
10% of the tasks that normally require collaboration with colleagues were resolved independently when they had access to Copilot—which meant fewer customers had to be put on hold.
Transforming Business Processes with AI
In general, employees say they are drowning in their digital debt. They estimate that they spend more time searching for information (27% of their day) than creating (24%), communicating (24%), or consuming (25%). And they say that only half of the information they consume each day is necessary for their work.
When asked how generative AI could have a positive impact on work performance, “finding the information I need” topped the list. We then saw unique needs emerge for each role.
What happens next?
The data shows that Copilot has a real impact, but building an AI-driven organization requires a new way of working. Employees who treat Copilot not as a search engine, but as a capable, always-available assistant, will reap the greatest benefits.
Just like exercising or learning a new language, realizing Copilot’s productivity gains requires daily practice. Every employee will need to manage their new assistant and know when to delegate a task to AI and when to apply their own unique human intelligence.
Companies will also need to take a more conscious approach to data governance, because the AI assistant will try to use all the data at its disposal. It is therefore important to prepare your company for the efficient implementation of AI and Copilot. Our consultants and readiness checks can help you with this.
It’s also important to learn how to make the most of the time you save thanks to Copilot. Managers can spend more time coaching and supporting their teams. Salespeople can spend more time building relationships with customers and closing deals, and marketers can free up time to come up with new products.
You can find the full Microsoft Work Trend Index report here.
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