Copilot has been seen as the most tangible example of the channel selling AI, but how is it going for those that have got behind Microsoft’s offering?
By
Steve Bell
Published: 19 Nov 2024
Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing at such a blistering pace that it makes the speed of ever-evolving computing technology – such as Moore’s Law, which predicted the doubling of chip size every two years – seem like the meanderings of a three-toed sloth, the slowest mammal in the world.
Today, it’s landed firmly in the channel in the shape of Microsoft Copilot. Anybody who is anybody in the channel, with even the most tenuous of links to Microsoft, is not chatting ChatGPT – rather, they’re beating the drums of excitement about Copilot.
Microsoft has moved quickly with its aim to embed AI across its entire ecosystem, under the unified Copilot brand, integrating it across its product lineup. This mirrors the rapid climb of AI in general, and unlike the hype that accompanies many new technologies, AI is being rolled out – albeit often in experimental pilots – across many industries.
Industry analysts such as Gartner and other pundits typically point to the benefits accrued by early adopters of new technologies as the early bird catching the worm. But in the case of AI, it can be more like uncovering and plundering an entire bucket of worms.
It’s hardly surprising then that the potential of Copilot is stoking a fire in the channel as some partners begin running experimental pilots with a profit-boosting eye on the huge customer base deeply dependent on Microsoft tools and already flirting with AI.
Solgari, a Microsoft partner that has been up well before the dawn, has made Copilot a central plank in its business by delivering “out of the box” AI-powered customer engagement functionality for contact centres. Think of Microsoft Teams and Dynamics 365 using Copilot to integrate enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) to serve up responses to customer requests on a plate, every single detail, and within seconds. It’s a powerful step change.
Solgari’s CEO John Colgan says that adopting AI is a move that must be made: “The demand for AI-powered solutions among customers is rapidly increasing…partners who fail to embrace this trend risk being excluded from major tech-based decisions in the future.”
So, what are the opportunities with Copilot, how do channel partners ensure they’re in the Copilot mix, and how do they get there?
Hit the breaks or speed ahead?
Copilot took its first bow in 2021 as a coding assistant integrated into GitHub, the near ubiquitous developer’s tool. A significant launch phase in March 2023 integrated AI into Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, providing users with AI-driven help directly within these tools.
In late 2023, Microsoft then expanded into different AI tools across its product lineup, such as Sales Copilot, Service Copilot and others. These phased launches illustrate how Microsoft has moved quickly to get its AI functionality so close to a customer’s face they can’t ignore it. All of which bodes well for channel partners.
If you could look inside Copilot algorithms, you would find instructions such as generate, automate, manage, respond, report, analyse, create, troubleshoot, support, customise, approve and so on.
To get a sense of what Copilot does with these instructions, think of it has a little black box. Data is fed into it at one end and its algorithmic magic gets to work. When it’s done, the output at the other end is a swathe of benefits and insights related to the data fed into it and the applications the AI is driving.
Central to this is partners’ ability to customise Copilot to meet the unique needs of their customers. This can be anything from integrating company specific data into Copilot, creating customised workflows, automating repetitive tasks, integrating into existing systems, and leveraging data from external tools and platforms beyond Microsoft.
The demand for AI-powered solutions among customers is rapidly increasing…partners who fail to embrace this trend risk being excluded
John Colgan, Solgari
Nick Cochrane, head of innovation at Infinity Group, expresses what many partners who haven’t taken off with Copilot yet are thinking about: “We…believe Copilot’s largest strength is its ability to be customised to address client’s specific needs, whether that be through the building of custom Copilots, data integration or collaboration with other tools.
“We spend a lot of time researching Copilot to understand how it can interact with Microsoft’s other core products. This enables us to share genuinely valuable use cases with our clients. We’ve seen some hesitation around AI adoption, but by integrating with the tools they’re familiar with in a beneficial way, we’ve been able to encourage AI usage in the right way.”
However, as Cochrane mentions there is hesitation among customers in adopting AI. On paper, the value of AI is plain to see, but how many new tech implementations have ended up as a high-profile disaster? Given the number of systems integration and systems development, its risk is relatively small, but if the code does hit the fan, it can splatter everywhere. And potential clients understand this.
For instance, the ubiquitous umbrella term, digital transformation, can mean just about anything. And AI adoption can certainly fall into this category. But how many digital transformation endeavours have failed to hit the mark? It’s not something customers want to advertise, but get talking to people and it’s far more than might be expected. So, it’s hardly surprising that despite AI’s promise and potential, customers are naturally inclined to put on the brake rather than speed ahead.
As Solgari’s Colgan adds: “The relatively slow rate of adoption remains a challenge, as many customers prefer to pilot these technologies in small, isolated departments before considering full-scale implementation. This cautious approach, while understandable, delays the realisation of widescale benefits.”
So, how do partners get around this? Clearly, customers need to be won over, which partners need a deep understanding of Copilot and how it can be applied to different industries.
For instance, in retail, it can be used to generate dynamic pricing strategies, analyse sales trends, and automate inventory management. In healthcare, Copilot can be a wizard at summarising patient records and ensuring data is managed according to stringent healthcare regulations. It can certainly lighten the load in the legal profession by drafting legal documents, reviewing contracts for specific clauses or conducting due diligence.
In finance, Copilot has the potential to be the uber brain that keeps everything running, from automating routine tasks, creating customised financial planning, providing data for strategic and tactical decision-making to tracking and flagging non-compliance issues, and so much more.
Infinity Group’s approach to Copilot is to test it in house. After six months doing this, Nick Cochrane says: “During that time, we’ve documented over 100 use cases, covering every business function. These have included creating training documents, writing RFPs and tender responses, improving code performance and quality, resolving customer incidents, generating FAQs, onboarding new starters, streamlining complex emails, and understanding and presenting new topics.”
Geoff Kneen, CEO of Advania, has also taken the same inhouse approach with compelling results: “Copilot has seriously improved productivity across our organisation. From streamlining meeting recaps and action items to aiding in hiring and sales, its versatility benefits teams of all types. HR professionals now don’t start from scratch on tasks and can leverage Copilot to draft job specifications. Sales teams have enhanced their prospect engagement, and service delivery managers have gained valuable insights from their ticketing data.”
Infinity Group reckons that from a small cross-business working group, its entire business could save 630 hours per week. The buried treasure among all this AI-driven automation is the example it provides for customers, concisely summed up by Cochrane: “When we promote AI to our clients, it is crucial that we’re leaders in this topic and able to share our own success stories.”
To integrate or not to integrate?
Copilot’s APIs and low-code/no-code tools can also be leveraged to connect with clients other AI systems, providing another partner opportunity to drive revenues. Copilot has specifically been designed to integrate with platforms and tools that aren’t built in the Microsoft stable.
So, beyond partners building Copilot into their existing service portfolios for AI-powered operations, an opportunity also lies in bring your own artificial intelligence (BYOAI). This acronym is clearly set to sit at the top of the industry’s already existing mountain of sometimes undecipherable technology ciphers.
And it’s one that could spell profit in big flashing lights. BYOAI is relevant to enterprises that have already invested heavily in AI, but still want to take advantage of platforms such as Copilot. Of course, the level of integration complexity will depend on just how compatible Copilot is in reality rather than in claims.
We believe data is one of the most crucial considerations before any business adopts AI
Nick Cochrane, Infinity Group
While Copilot can be customised to meet specific needs, doing so can be complex and time-consuming, partners might face difficulties in effectively integrating it with existing systems. And this can lead to service disruptions and a heavier load on IT resources.
In short, partners will need to know their Copilot AI from other AI. Further, these upsell integration opportunities are unlikely to be crowding a partner’s vision just yet. Rather they are likely to appear further down the line when AI in the enterprise becomes as commonplace as CRM, SAAS, ERP, BI and so on.
This brings us to another complex question: Copilot licensing costs. The precise details of the multi-tiered complexity of Copilot licensing are opaque but it’s clear that implementing and maintaining AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot can be unambiguously expensive.
That said, Infinity Group’s Cochrane says: “We…anticipate that a Copilot licence would pay for itself in 12 days through productivity savings.”
However, Damocles’ sword does hang over smaller VARs and managed services providers. Though they may hold sway and have significant influence over their customer base, the initial Copilot investment – along with ongoing subscription fees, training and integration costs – could well outweigh the benefits.
AI-driven attacks
The ubiquitous hacker is also a vital issue. Nick Cochrane adds: “We believe data is one of the most crucial considerations before any business adopts AI. We are lucky to have in-house security experts who…ensure we have the correct foundations for AI, with carefully labelled data that prevents breaches.”
In short, robust security needs to be part of the foundational groundwork for Copilot integration. Integrating AI such as Copilot into business processes can involve handling vast amounts of data, including sensitive information. Any vulnerabilities could expose this data to security risks, leading to business busting horrors such as huge regulator-imposed fines, legal action and a reputation so burnt it’s toast.
And it’s clearly a serious threat. BT’s recent announcement that it identifies 2,000 signals, believed to be driven by AI, indicating a potential cyber attack across its networks every second illustrates the need for an unwavering focus on security. Even the smallest oversight could lead to a breach.
Microsoft is urging and supporting partners through various training programmes and certifications to help them get up to speed with Copilot and how it can be used. Clearly, it would like partners to adopt with the speed of a cheetah rather than that of a three-toed sloth.
Despite its exciting profit growing potential, partners would be wise to approach Copilot as some early bird peers have done, with considered conservative caution and in-house experimentation. Becoming an expert, to assuage customer anxieties, is the way forward.
