As a managed service provider (MSP), implementing Microsoft 365 and Copilot for Microsoft 365 are key to unlocking greater efficiency, increased productivity, and other benefits for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). A crucial part of the Copilot preparation process involves starting with a Copilot pilot program (say that five times fast). This entails enabling a small team and training them on specific functions to get targeted feedback.
In this blog, we’ll detail everything you need to know when launching a pilot program for Copilot.
The impact of Copilot
The benefits of incorporating AI through tools such as Copilot are clear. This is not just adding a product to the client’s tech stack, but rather, it signifies a technological shift in the organization.
In fact, according to one report, 75% of knowledge workers are currently already using AI at work. The benefits to workers include time savings (90%), the ability to focus on their most important work (85%), more creativity (84%), and greater enjoyment in their work (83%).
However, not everyone at the organization needs a full Copilot license on Day 1. Starting with a handful of employees in a Copilot pilot program helps you and your clients keep costs down while maximizing impact.
Tips for a successful Copilot pilot program
When it comes to your pilot program, planning is key. Start with a pilot project that includes Copilot champions from a specific user group or groups, allowing you to report and repeat on your pilot user progress as further adoption plans are made.
Steps for a successful pilot project include:
- Onboard – Engage users in a guided training session for real-world Copilot use.
- Encourage communication – Establish a Teams channel for the pilot program to enable collaboration and sharing.
- Monitor usage – Encourage regular Copilot use by allocating time for users to explore and share their discoveries with the group.
- Collect and share feedback – Review usage and feedback before widely sharing with the organization.
Who should be a part of the pilot program?
You’re all set to start a Copilot pilot program, but which employees should you choose? To start, look at current usage trends. The organization’s heaviest users of Microsoft 365 products will be well positioned to reap the benefits of a Copilot license.
Next, define the use cases for your pilot program. The team you choose should have a clearly defined goal or specific way they’ll implement Copilot, such as writing meeting recaps or drafting emails. This extra layer of specificity ensures it’s effectively integrated into workflows across various roles and levels.
Lastly, you’ll want to allocate Copilot to an entire team within a specific business function to avoid distributing licenses too thinly. When a group within the same job function have access to Copilot, it’s easier to share insights and learn from each other. And the more employees in the pilot program use Copilot consistently and effectively while feeling empowered to share what they’ve learned, the more impactful it will be to introduce Copilot to the greater organization.
Copilot use cases
Take a look at how Copilot is used across different departments to help you better ascertain who should be in a pilot program and how Copilot can be used after it’s completed.
Human resources
Employees in HR can use Copilot to:
- Create a more efficient hiring process with Copilot helping to write emails and summarize responses.
- Write a job description by asking Copilot in Word to suggest skills, qualifications, and responsibilities.
- Conduct a group interview in Microsoft Teams and ask Copilot to summarize the contributions of each candidate.
- Discover the best candidates for a position by having Copilot extract skills, experience, and qualifications from a set of resumes.
Marketing
Those in marketing roles can use Copilot to:
- Quickly create a marketing pitch in record time.
- Discover trends and outliers in the latest market research by using Copilot in Excel to identify which markets to target with promotions.
- Draft a targeted promotion plan with suggested taglines using Copilot in Word.
- Transform the engineering team’s design documentation from a Word doc into a pitch deck in PowerPoint with Copilot.
Sales
Sales teams can use Copilot to:
- Drive better sales presentations with an AI assistant.
- Create a bulleted list of notes using recent email threads before a client meeting to better understand any questions that need to be addressed.
- Give the customer your full attention in a meeting by relying on Copilot to handle meeting notes.
- Draft a final proposal using Copilot to incorporate content from emails, meeting notes, and presentations.
IT
Strapped IT departments can leverage Copilot to:
- Help deploy a critical update by speeding up documentation and communication.
- Create a project plan for an upcoming rollout based on a previous project plan and product documentation.
- Meet on Teams to discuss a plan and use Copilot to keep track of unanswered questions.
- Create a presentation on a product rollout or update by using Copilot to create slides based on a project plan Word doc.
Finance
Finally, finance departments can use Copilot to:
- Focus on the high-value tasks to complete an acquisition.
- Summarize the due-diligence information from the operations and legal teams.
- Add a section to the offer sheet discussing conditions for a deal based on a previous meeting transcript.
- Refine a deal analysis in Excel based on negotiations and changes in the economic environment.
Other needs to consider for your pilot program
When putting together the pilot program, there are several other key organizational needs to consider:
- Deployment – Ensure the organization implements Copilot seamlessly from a technical standpoint. Deployment teams need preparedness for onboarding, feedback, rollout, and team training.
- Change management – Monitor the adoption progress, helping the client gather feedback and foster a collaborative environment.
- Executive sponsorship – Getting key executives involved helps drive adoption and infuse confidence in the technology among employees. An executive sponsor that’s also a Copilot champion signals that embracing and integrating generative AI into day-to-day processes isn’t just accepted, it’s encouraged.
- Risk management – Represent your client’s best interest by ensuring compliance to relevant AI regulations, ethical standards, and security measures. Support the creation of AI initiatives are transparent, accountable, and trustworthy.
Remember that it may be difficult for SMBs to fulfill the requirements for each of these needs. That’s where you can step in as your client’s trusted technology partner, filling in gaps in technology, personnel, and oversight.
Getting started with your pilot program
If you or a client is interested in getting started with a pilot program for Copilot, check out our Copilot ROI calculator to start the journey and find out how the organization can benefit best from introducing Copilot. And if you need help on the journey, Pax8 is here to lend a helping hand; reach out to your Pax8 rep to start the conversation.
