Analysis- Microsoft is very committed to the integration of artificial intelligence in companies with the launch of Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. That AI assistant should help to work faster and smarter. Despite the promising possibilities, the adoption of AI is still in the initial phase. Customers are worried about privacy.
Microsoft uses a three -step plan to get companies on the AI. That starts by encouraging them in an accessible way to discover the benefits of AI via a free version of Copilot Chat. This tool, powered by the Large Language Model (LLM) GPT-4 from OpenAi, enables users to ask questions and to get answers directly based on AI-generated information from web data. The idea is that companies develop a positive picture of AI and in the long term want to make the step towards more advanced applications, Paul Honout, responsible for the modern workplace at Microsoft Nederland, ended up to Computable at the end of January 2025 shortly after the launch of Copilot Chat.
If the first introduction to AI is successful, the second step comes. It contains the automation of business processes with the use of digital assistants, or AIagents extended. Specific tasks within the organization can be automated using AI. Companies have a choice of a library in which AI agents are available per roll, or they can build an AI agent themselves. M and’s now, according to Microsoft, millions of AI agents are in use. This second step focuses on streamlining daily business processes, such as customer management, administration or document processing and makes it possible to implement AI in a more structural way within the organization.
The third and final step in Microsofts AI adoption plan is the full integration of AI into business processes. In this phase, companies can have AI questioned throughout their business environment. Microsoft 365 Copilot offers access to data that is stored in applications such as Word, Excel, teams and PowerPoint. Other Microsoft software such as CRM or ERP systems can also be asked via the AI agent. Organizations and users can design themselves to which tools Copilot has access. This data is searched by the AI to give answers to business -related questions quickly and effectively. In this way, companies must gain insights from data from all kinds of systems, without manual intervention. For this step, Microsoft offers a subscription model, where the Premium version of Copilot offers additional functions, such as the Copilot Control System for improved security and management.
Experiment
Many organizations experiment with AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot Chat, Google’s Gemini and Open AI’s Chatgpt and other generative AI solutions, but large-scale implementations are still rare in practice. During the Microsoft event Breaking Boundaries Computable was present at the end of January 2025, it became clear that companies are mainly in the experimental phase. The more than four hundred people present from various sectors are looking for ways to successfully integrate AI. Microsoft Copilot partners, such as Wortell, Capgemini, E-office, Let’s Copilot and Avanade shared their experience.
Copilot customer Siemens Healthineers spoke about the implementation of AI in his business processes. The German multinational that provides care technology started in 2023 with three hundred licenses for Copilot on seventy thousand employees and expanded this to five thousand licenses in 2024. Those involved in the Copilot project explained that there were initially many concerns about laws and regulations. The CyberSecurity department also looked at constantly and the works council of the care group had questions about possible loss of employment, they say during the Microsoft event in Hilversum. For example, there was no answer to a question such as: How long do you keep a prompt? In addition to uncertainty about that short text with which an AI tool is controlled, the Copilot pioneers also noticed that rumors quickly arise with an AI project. For example, the idea was suggested in information to connect the AI tool to a certain system. Although that was just an idea, that link would actually come. AI implementations are under a magnifying glass. The guidance must be carefully and structured, the Germans summarize. Companies that are now working with Copilot have more knowledge and experience at their disposal than those pioneers.
Data and privacy
Microsoft emphasizes that Copilot 365 is not trained with customer data and that the models are continuously adjusted to guarantee privacy. According to the supplier, Copilot thus offers a much safer environment than similar free AI applications that are unclear what happens to the data. According to Microsoft, paid licenses from Copilot offer plenty of conditions for data and privacy protection. Yet there are concerns about privacy. For example, IT organization for education and research, Surf, after a Data Privacy Impact Assessment (DPIA) at the end of 2024 the use of Copilot in education for the time being for the time being off because of four privacy risks. The use is also not recommended within the government.
Surf wrote as a result of the DPIA: ‘It is not clear which personal data Microsoft collects and keeps about the use of Microsoft 365 Copilot. Furthermore, the data that users receive if they make a request for inspection are ‘incomplete and incomprehensible’. It is also plausible that Microsoft 365 Copilot generates incorrect and incomplete personal data and users do not notice that they work with incorrect data because they are too relying on the generative AI tool ‘. The municipality of Amsterdam also decided not to start a pilot project with Copilot because of Uncertainty about the storage of privacy -sensitive data.
Microsoft expects to come out in the short term with news about adjustments in Copilot of the four risks mentioned in the DPIA. There was close consultation with the educational world and the government about this. According to Microsoft, Copilot also meets all Existing privacy, security and compliance obligations for Microsoft 365 for commercial customers. This includes the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG) and the data limit of the European Union (EU). Also about the Data security and privacy Van Copilot is extensively shared by Microsoft. For customers, however, there is still much uncertainty, for example about the American cloud act that in exceptional cases the government of US President Trump offers the possibility of claiming data from customers through US suppliers.
Dpia
In the meantime, Microsoft is not waiting for the results of conversations about the points mentioned in the DPIA of SURF and, for example, organizes meetings where civil servants are trained in the possibilities and use of AI in the public sector. This way, potential users must also gain more insight into the possibilities of AI in the workplace.
The IT group faces a challenge. The three steps of his plan offer a potentially powerful solution for companies that want to integrate AI, but the concern about privacy and compliance can delay the wider adoption of AI. The company that Investments of 80 billion in AI announcedinvested heavily in OpenAI and shook up its own development branch For a complete focus on AI and Agents must continue to work on transparency and tackling concerns about privacy, the discussion about data sovereignty within the EU has been added since the appointment of Trump as President of the US. The plans for AI adoption are in full swing, but in the coming months, Microsoft will be crucial to place his AI solutions in the right balance of innovation and trust.
