Article Six Steps to a Successful Copilot Adoption
Six Steps to a Successful Copilot Adoption
By Insight UK / 16 Aug 2024
Introducing the newest member of the Microsoft family
Launched in November 2023, Microsoft’s Copilot has rapidly become a game-changer for businesses worldwide. Its ability to automate tasks, generate creative content, and streamline workflows promises to revolutionise how we work. However, the successful adoption of Copilot requires careful planning, execution, and ongoing management.
Understanding the challenges
While the potential benefits of Copilot are significant, organisations must navigate the key challenges that may accompany its adoption, in order to foster a successful implementation. Concerns around data security – particularly sensitive company data – are a key issue for businesses when it comes to implementing large language models (LLMs) that provide AI-powered productivity capabilities.
Before any decision is made on introducing Copilot, businesses need to be aware that giving LLMs access to the wrong, or inappropriate, data can lead to misinformation that could cause misguided business decisions and harm customer trust, and it could even expose the company to compliance violations or data privacy breaches.
Overcoming these data security concerns boils down to ensuring the correct permissions and access controls are applied. Businesses need to know that their employees are only able to access the data they have permission to view. They also need to ensure that sensitive company data doesn’t end up in the outside world, via Copilot gaining access to highly confidential data.
Resistance to change, particularly in relation to the implementation of AI, is likely to be another key challenge for businesses. As AI is a relatively new technology, employees may need to be reassured that Copilot will not be a threat or a risk to their livelihoods, and rather that it will complement and streamline their roles.
In light of this, effective change management strategies, clear communication and employee training will all be crucial to addressing these concerns. To help navigate this challenging landscape, Insight has created a step-by-step guide to aid companies in the successful adoption of Copilot:
1. Plan how you will use Copilot: This is the most important part of any Copilot implementation. Businesses must clearly define the specific functions and areas where Copilot can add the most value. Conduct a thorough needs assessment to identify potential use cases and prioritise them based on business objectives.
2. Secure executive buy-in: While it’s paramount that employees from across the workforce are open to the implementation of this technology, to get an initiative such as this off the ground, it’s essential that you have buy-in from senior leadership. Gaining support from leadership will help to drive adoption and resource allocation. Developing a compelling business case will demonstrate the potential ROI of Copilot.
3. Establish champion groups: To ensure a seamless adoption, it’s useful to create dedicated teams of Copilot champions from different departments to test, pilot and provide feedback on the tool. These champions can also serve as internal advocates and knowledge sharers.
4. Ensure robust permissions: Once the initial steps have been taken, it’s essential to establish clear data access controls and permissions to protect sensitive information. This means mapping out what organisational data you want Copilot to have access to. For example, sensitive data from departments such as HR and payroll is unlikely to be used in relation to the tool.
5. Implementing the correct protection technologies: Once these permissions have been mapped out, it’s essential that the necessary security measures are put in place to ensure a smooth transition. For example, data can be encrypted using ‘sensitivity labels’ to label anything from documents and folders to emails, to guarantee that the appropriate level of permissions are applied to anything that might be shared internally or externally. Data masking and anonymisation is another key technique which can be used, as it allows the LLMs to work with realistic data without exposing any sensitive information. While these are some useful examples, there are a whole host of security measures, that can be applied to protect sensitive company data from being compromised via Copilot or other models.
6. Provide comprehensive training: Businesses must offer employees targeted and relevant training programmes to equip them with the skills and knowledge to most effectively use the new technology. Here it’s important to consider different learning styles and needs, and also provide ongoing support through help desks. Though Copilot is often considered to be very instinctive, the big area of development for users will be understanding the concept of prompts, and how to optimise them to get the best result. In addition to this, Copilot interacts with familiar programmes such as Microsoft Word and Excel – software that everyday users will not be used to seeing changes in. As a result, this is another key training consideration that will need to be addressed.
In theory, tools such as Microsoft Copilot have the potential to transform workplaces, reducing and automating a significant amount of administrative responsibility, streamlining workflows and improving efficiency and productivity. However, organisations will not see any of these benefits – and the technology could actually harm the smooth running of operations – if they do not put an effective change management and implementation strategy in place. Overall, the approach to adoption must a holistic one that acknowledges both the opportunities and challenges associated with this technology. It’s becoming abundantly clear that – despite concerns – we are moving into the ‘the era of the AI workforce’. As such, this will require organisations to ensure that their employees are being protected from, as well as benefitting from these tools.
For more information on how to safely and successfully implement Microsoft Copilot, get in touch with one of our consultants today.
Peter Rising
EMEA Practice Lead: Cybersecurity, Insight
Peter Rising has over 25 years’ experience in IT. He has worked for several IT solutions providers and private organisations in a variety of technical and leadership roles focusing on Microsoft technologies. Since 2014, Peter has specialised in the Microsoft 365 platform, more recently shifting his focus to Microsoft 365 Security and Compliance. He holds a number of Microsoft certifications, and has twice been recognised as a Microsoft MVP for contributions to the technical community.
Peter has authored several books on Microsoft administration and study guides, and has two YouTube Channels where he shares his passion for community, and technology.
