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Implementing Microsoft Copilot in an organisation can yield significant gains in productivity, efficiency, and innovation. But as I navigate the world of AI tools and work alongside many of Datacom’s customers, it is clear some people are facing a range of different barriers to realising the benefits of Microsoft Copilot within their organisations.
This article outlines 10 of the “Copilot blockers” we’re seeing some of our customers struggle with and that are preventing them reaping the real benefits of this AI tool.
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Awareness, or the lack thereof, can be a significant blocker for the enablement of Microsoft Copilot within an organisation. If employees, management, or senior leaders are not fully informed about the capabilities and benefits of Microsoft Copilot, they may not see its value or understand how it can enhance their workflows and productivity. This lack of awareness can lead to indifference or an internal bias about adopting the new AI tool. Without clear communication and education about what Microsoft Copilot can offer, how it integrates with existing systems, and the specific advantages it brings to various roles and departments, the organisation is likely to encounter resistance or a very slow path towards its implementation.
To overcome the awareness barriers, run regular education or show and tell sessions to inform your organisation and to drum up the enthusiasm of the benefits of the new AI tool. Remember it’s not all about the cost. Think of this example I use regularly; we are happy to jump on a more costly Air New Zealand flight over a cheaper Jetstar flight if we are aware the benefits of paying more for the flight out way the higher priced ticket cost.
A lack of understanding of responsible AI can be a blocker for enablement in organisations as this area is guided by a set of principles and practices designed to ensure that AI technologies are developed and used in ways that are ethical, transparent, and accountable. Without this understanding, organisations will find themselves simply disabling Microsoft Copilot where possible within their tenant.
It is recommended you understand the Microsoft Responsible AI principles and apply them within your organisation, where applicable.
Employees, management, or senior leaders may harbor concerns about data privacy and security, fearing that sensitive organisational information could be compromised or misused. I hear these concerns particularly common in industries with strict regulatory requirements, such as healthcare, finance, or government sectors, where any perceived risk of non-compliance could have severe legal and financial consequences. If the organisation lacks trust in the security measures and compliance certifications provided by Microsoft Copilot, there will be substantial hesitation to fully integrate the tool into their operations. This mistrust can lead to reluctance in adopting the technology, as stakeholders prioritise safeguarding their data and adhering to regulatory standards over leveraging new digital tools.
It is essential you understand the architecture and movement of data when it comes to enabling your organisation with Microsoft Copilot to ensure you can trust your employees with the data and remain compliant.
Data sharing and residency concerns can also be significant blockers for the enablement of Microsoft Copilot within an organisation. Many organisations operate under strict data governance policies and regulatory frameworks that dictate where data can be stored and how it can be shared. These policies are often particularly common in sectors such as finance, law, healthcare, and government, where data sensitivity is high. If Microsoft Copilot requires data to be processed or stored in regions that do not comply with these regulations, or if the organisation lacks confidence in Microsoft's data residency assurances, it can lead to substantial hesitation or outright refusal to adopt the tool. Compliance with data residency laws and regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU, is paramount, and any potential misalignment can halt the deployment or rollout of Microsoft Copilot within that organisations Microsoft Tenant.
To address these barriers, organisations need clear, detailed assurances and documentation about data security measures, compliance with local data residency laws, and robust data privacy policies from Microsoft (which included the earlier barrier of Responsible AI) to confidently move forward with enabling Microsoft Copilot.
While it is very important to address the barriers to the adoption of AI tools like Copilot that can boost efficiency for your business, it’s equally important not to overlook the foundational steps like policies and governance which will give your organisation and your teams the right guidance for AI usage.
Many organisations have established strict policies and procedures for technology adoption and data management to ensure consistency, security, and compliance across all operations of the organisation. Introducing a new AI tool like Microsoft Copilot requires thorough evaluations, approvals, and potential revisions to these governance policies you might have in place already. This process can be time-consuming and resource-hungry, often involving multiple stakeholders and layers of management approval. If the governance framework is inflexible or overly bureaucratic, it can significantly delay the deployment of Microsoft Copilot, blocking its potential benefits and slowing down organisational adoption of this new AI tool.
Organisational culture can be a significant barrier or blocker to the enablement of Microsoft Copilot due to resistance to change and a lack of digital literacy among employees. Many employees might fear that the automation capabilities of Microsoft Copilot could replace their roles, leading to job insecurity and resistance to adopting the new technology, especially even more now in the current economic climate. Things are quite tough financially for organisations in New Zealand. Additionally, if the organisation has a culture that is deeply rooted in traditional processes and workflows, employees may be reluctant to deviate from their established routines or what they are comfortable with today. How many people do you know that are resistant to change? This resistance can be further compounded if there is a lack of sufficient training and support to help employees develop the necessary skills to use Microsoft Copilot effectively. Without proper training, the introduction of Copilot can lead to frustration or maybe a lack of understanding how it could benefit them.
When I look wider than the employee of an organisation, the attitudes and behaviors of leadership play is a crucial role in shaping organisational culture and can either facilitate or hinder the adoption of Microsoft Copilot. If your leadership team does not actively support and champion the use of Microsoft Copilot or doesn’t make any licenses available to you even though you may have requested it, employees are likely to perceive it as a low priority, reducing their motivation to embrace the tool.
Copilot sometimes struggles to understand the context or intent behind certain user or employee entered requests, leading to irrelevant or incorrect suggestions or replies. Some of the replies we have seen during Microsoft Teams recaps from the transcript have made us laugh …
While Microsoft Copilot excels at basic tasks, it can have difficulty with more complex commands or maybe reading a PDF I have given it to interpret. Users may find that they still need to perform certain tasks manually.
The accuracy of Microsoft Copilot’s suggestions can vary and it is worthwhile experimenting with different prompts. You may end up spending additional time reviewing and correcting the Copilot AI-generated content or output because it didn’t understand your prompt correctly or adding information not relevant to what you asked it.
To overcome these barriers and get the most of AI tools, organisations should invest in comprehensive training programs, provide continuous learning opportunities, and foster a culture that encourages the adoption of new technologies. By doing so, they can ensure that employees of their organisation are equipped to fully leverage Microsoft Copilot, driving the key value areas, which include (but not limited to) greater productivity, efficiency, and innovation.
Microsoft Copilot typically operates on a subscription-based model, which means ongoing costs for licenses. These recurring fees can add up over time and strain budgets, particularly in organisations with tight financial constraints.
Licensing cost with AI tools like Microsoft Copilot can pose significant barriers to their enablement and widespread adoption within an organisation, especially during the tough economic times organisations are challenged with in 2024.
Enterprise organisations may be able to absorb the costs with more ease, however the upfront cost of acquiring licenses for Microsoft Copilot can be prohibitive for many organisations, especially those small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Some organisations may opt for a small hand full of Microsoft Copilot licenses for a trial or proof of concept projects. This hand full of licenses could be utilised for use cases within their organisation to reduce the initial costs of adopting the new technology or upskilling the team on the capabilities of the product, before maybe building a business case to purchase more licenses.
To round out my list of blockers, for #10 I wanted to focus on ‘Use Cases’. In our team we are always discussing “What is the value of this (think of any technology or feature) to the organisation or customer we are working with?
An organisation may struggle to understand the business use case scenarios where Microsoft Copilot can add value. Therefore, if the use cases are not understood or gathered within an organisation, Microsoft Copilot would be ignored, or the organisation may wait for other organisations to gather those value-add use cases before they start.
Here are some potential use cases and areas of business where Microsoft Copilot could be adding value – it’s not an exhaustive list but it could help kickstart new use cases for your organisation:
Business type/area: Legal firms, marketing agencies, and corporate departments.
Use case scenario: Automatically draft contracts, proposals, reports, and marketing content.
Benefit/value: Saves time on that initial drafting phase and ensures consistency in language and formatting. It might not provide your draft 100% accurate, but at least you have saved yourself a lot of the upfront grunt work.
Business type/area: Finance departments, data analysts, and business intelligence teams.
Use case scenario: Analyse financial data, generate insights, and create comprehensive reports.
Benefit/value: Speeds up the analysis process, can reduce errors, and provides actionable insights you can work on within your organisation.
Business type/area: Call centers, customer support teams, and service desks.
Use case scenario: Provide Microsoft Copilot AI-driven responses to customer inquiries, generate response templates, and summarise customer interactions or information.
Benefit/value: Improves response times to your internal or external customers, ensures consistent and maybe increased communication, and overall enhances customer satisfaction, where that be internally within your organisation or to your external customers or stakeholders.
Business type/area: Project managers, team leads, and cross-functional teams.
Use case scenario: Generate project plans for starter, track progress, and create status updates.
Benefit/value: Enhances project visibility, ensures timely updates, and helps in resource allocation and project communication.
Business type/area: Executives, sales teams, administrative and general staff.
Use case scenario: Automate email responses, generate follow-up emails, and summarise lengthy email threads.
Benefit/value: Reduces the time spent on email management and ensures timely and appropriate responses.
Business type/area: Corporate teams, managers, and team leaders.
Use case scenario: Summarise meeting notes, generate action items, and set reminders.
Benefit/value: Ensures that important information is captured, and action items are tracked and followed up on.
Business type/area: Marketing teams, content creators, and social media managers.
Use case scenario: Generate blog posts, social media content, and marketing documentation.
Benefit/value: Accelerates content creation processes and ensures a steady flow of engaging content at a quicker rate.
Business type/area: HR departments, training coordinators, and educational institutions.
Use case scenario: Create training materials, onboarding documents, and educational content.
Benefit/value: Streamlines the creation of training programs and ensures that new employees, end users or students have access to comprehensive resources.
Business type/area: Executive teams, strategists, and business planners.
Use case scenario: Generate SWOT analyses, market research reports, and strategic plans.
Benefit/value: Enhances the quality of strategic documents and provides data-driven insights and will speed up the time taken to put all this together.
Business type/area: Development teams, IT support teams, and system administrators.
Use case scenario: Generate code snippets, documentation, and troubleshooting guides.
Benefit/value: Increases development efficiency and time to create your code, ensures proper documentation, and aids in faster issue resolution.
