Understanding the Microsoft Copilot Pro Value Proposition
Executive Summary
Microsoft Copilot Pro is a subscription-based service providing priority access to its Generative AI tools, and - more importantly - deep integrations into Microsoft 365 office productivity applications Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and Teams.
Microsoft has priced Copilot Pro for Business at AUD $44.90/user/month, billed on an annual basis - a substantial commitment for SMEs and enterprises.
Productivity benefits from Copilot Pro flow most obviously to workers new to a business, such as customer support representatives, who need tools to partially automate workflows associated with answering high volumes of email, and anyone in the organisation that needs to quickly produce customised presentations.
Businesses considering adopting Copilot Pro are advised to assess how their internal capacities mesh with the productivity improvements offered within Copilot Pro. Businesses may want to adopt a phased approach, beginning with a pilot study to show a quick ROI.
Privacy, security and data sovereignty questions mean that Copilot Pro may not be appropriate for businesses operating with sensitive or restricted data.
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Introduction
On the 16th of January 2024, Microsoft released new plans and pricing for 'Copilot Pro'. Previously available only to its largest enterprise customers, Microsoft has now made Copilot Pro available to all of its home and business users. At least half a billion Windows 11 desktops have access to Copilot Pro - to be followed in Q1 2024 by another billion Windows 10 desktops. More than 75 million already use Copilot.
What is Microsoft Copilot?
Introduced in May 2023, Microsoft Copilot added a generative AI assistant - an AI 'chabot' modelled on ChatGPT - to its Windows 11 operating system, first via Microsoft's Edge web browser, then, in September 2023, through full desktop integration.
Technically, Copilot is Microsoft's version of OpenAI's GPT-3.5, GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo 'large language models'. GPT-3.5 powers the free version of OpenAI's ChatGPT, while GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo are available to paid subscribers of the ChatGPT+ service.
Copilot comes in three 'flavours' - 'creative', 'balanced' and 'precise'. Creative mode is more likely to use allusion, allegory and symbolism in its responses, while precise mode doggedly sticks to straightforward language about the subject at hand. Both offer free access to Microsoft's version of GPT-4, while balanced mode - a middle-of-the-road choice located between creative and balanced modes - offers access to GPT-3.5.
These models are not precisely the same as those offered by OpenAI; although the models supporting Copilot are those created by OpenAI, Microsoft's AI engineering team has substantially modified the way 'prompts' put to Copilot are processed, and how those outputs are presented to the user.
Copilot tends to use more words in its responses than ChatGPT, and will generally provide references to any factual information it generates in those responses.
Use cases for Copilot include drafting text, summarising documents, and creating images from text prompts. Copilot's Windows 11 desktop integrations allow for limited control of the computer: simple actions such as toggling 'do not disturb' or 'dark' modes, etc.
In December 2023, Microsoft announced they would be bringing Copilot features to Windows 10 - despite the operating system being tagged for 'end of life' on 14 October 2025. When that rollout completes - sometime by the middle of 2024 - Copilot will be available across approximately 1.5 billion Windows desktops.
Copilot is free for personal use.
What is Copilot Pro?
A new subscription-based service from Microsoft, Copilot Pro offers subscribers 'priority access' to Copilot, access to the latest models from OpenAI, and deep AI integrations with the Microsoft 365 suite of office productivity applications.
'Priority access' to Copilot means that at times when Microsoft's Azure AI infrastructure is under heavy load, requests from Copilot Pro subscribers will be prioritised over the users of the free version of Copilot.
Microsoft's licensing deal with OpenAI extends only to GPT-3 and GPT-4-based large language models, including its latest model, GPT-4 Turbo. If and when OpenAI introduces a long-rumoured next-generation 'GPT-5', there is no guarantee that it will be available through Copilot Pro.
The most interesting and potentially most useful feature of Copilot Pro comes via its integrations with the key productivity applications in Microsoft 365: Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and Teams.
Each of these applications has new 'Copilot Pro' features that can automate some of the basic 'getting started' tasks. Additional 'review' features - where Copilot Pro offers 'improvements' to documents and emails - could potentially improve both productivity and quality of work.
How much does a Copilot Pro subscription cost?
There are two classes of subscriptions - 'Copilot Pro' for personal users, and another for 'Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365', covering professional and business users. These subscriptions differ in the range of productivity apps with Copilot Pro integrations: personal users have access to core Microsoft 365 apps - Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook, while professional/business users also have access to Copilot Pro features in Teams and OneDrive.
This table lists monthly subscription fees for personal users of Copilot Pro:
United States of America - USD $20.00/month
United Kingdom - GBP £19.00/month
Australia - AUD $33.00/month
New Zealand - NZD $37.00/month
Canada - CDN $27.00/month
For professional and business users, subscription fees are calculated on a 'per user, per month' basis, billed annually. Here are the fees for Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365:
United States of America - USD $30.00/user/month, billed annually
United Kingdom - GBP £24.70/user/month, billed annually
Australia - AUD $44.90/user/month, billed annually
New Zealand - NZD $48.50/user/month, billed annually
Canada - CDN $40.70/user/month, billed annually
Using Copilot Pro in the browser and on the Windows 11 desktop
Once a subscription to Copilot Pro has been purchased - attached either to a personal or business account with Microsoft - access to Copilot Pro is immediately available through any web browser at https://copilot.microsoft.com. A Copilot Pro subscription is indicated by a small boxed 'Pro' next to the Copilot logo.
Users of Microsoft's Edge web browser have access to Copilot Pro both through the website and through the Copilot icon located at the upper right hand side of the browser window.
Windows 11 users that have received an upgrade from Microsoft to ‘Windows Copilot’ (as of February 2024, this remains a subset of Windows 11 users) have access to Copilot Pro through the Copilot icon on the taskbar or through the access key combination (Windows + 'C').
In 'creative' mode Copilot Pro web and desktop interfaces offer users a toggle between GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo. The GPT-4 Turbo model is newer, more refined and performance-optimised - but has also had some recent fixes to remedy a problem with ‘laziness', where the chatbot either gave foreshortened or incomplete responses.
The 'balanced' and 'precise' modes do not offer a choice of model; 'balanced' mode likely continues to use GPT-3.5, while 'precise' mode likely continues to use GPT-4.
Copilot Pro in Microsoft 365: A Taste of the Future
The biggest benefit of Copilot Pro comes from its deep integrations across the Microsoft 365 (formerly, Microsoft Office) application suite. With a Copilot Pro subscription, new features become available in several Microsoft 356 apps, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and Teams.
As of the early February 2024, Microsoft 365 has only a few integrations with Copilot Pro - just a small sampling of what could one day be offered to users. Having publicly adopted a philosophy of 'make haste slowly', Microsoft rapidly integrates new AI features into their products, while simultaneously limiting their scope.
This table lists some of the current integrations of Copilot Pro with Microsoft 365:
Word - Draft, Rewrite, Visualise as a Table, query, analyse document
PowerPoint - Create presentation / slide, summarise, organise, query presentation
Excel - Add formula, analyse, highlight, sort/filter
Outlook - Draft email, 'Coaching' review of email
Teams (professional/business only) - Transcribe, summarise
None of the current features in Copilot Pro for Microsoft 365 fully automate workflows - nor will they displace employees. However, in the right circumstances, these integrations could improve productivity.
Any productivity improvements are likely to be highly individual, as Copilot Pro will tend to support a user through tasks where they have some weaknesses, or where they need automation support, and will only rarely be used otherwise. The varied nature of tasks and the varied workflows around those tasks makes productivity increases difficult to predict in advance of a trial.
Who will benefit from Copilot Pro?
Individuals who dislike writing, or do not have strong writing skills, could find great benefit in Microsoft 356 with Copilot Pro. In its integrations with Outlook and Word, Copilot Pro removes much of a user's 'blank page' burden. Used as an editor, Copilot Pro can review written materials and suggest improvements. However, privacy and security implications - explored below - need to be considered carefully before sharing any data with Copilot Pro.
While only a minority of users need an AI 'nudge' to get started with a writing task, almost every writer can benefit from a review by a competent editor - so long as any suggestions translate into performance improvements, rather than a drag on productivity.
Anyone tasked with responding to a high volume of emails could find Copilot Pro in Outlook valuable. The tool can quickly generate contextually-relevant replies. Upon reviewing those Copilot Pro-generated replies, the user can add any needed details, then send them out. This could potentially save hours per week.
Anyone with the need to generate presentations quickly - or modify existing presentations - could find Copilot Pro in PowerPoint a welcome productivity tool. For example, members of a sales and marketing team who spend time customising presentations for potential customers could use Copilot Pro to do so more quickly - and possibly with a greater degree of customisation.
Overall, Copilot Pro in Microsoft 365 will offer the greatest benefits to the least experienced.
That said, someone with strong communication skills - like an experienced writer - could benefit greatly from a tool that can act as editor, advisor, and 'a second pair of eyes'. The greatest strengths of Copilot Pro align with language tasks such as drafting, editing and suggesting text, so could benefit anyone who spends time at those sorts of tasks.
There is no one-size-fits-all test for who will benefit from a Copilot Pro subscription. Any decision will be driven by individual capacity and experience, organisational demand, workflow and use case.
Caveats: Security and Data Sovereignty
To make full use Copilot Pro – and specifically its integrations with Microsoft 365 – Microsoft mandates the use of its OneDrive cloud-based file storage.
All files to be operated on by Copilot Pro in Excel must be stored in OneDrive (or its predecessor, SharePoint). Copilot Pro in Word and PowerPoint prefer OneDrive files, but will also operate on files stored on a local file system.
In January 2024, Microsoft announced that for all Copilot Pro subscribers, shared documents stored in OneDrive will be summarised and made available to all users sharing those documents. This means that all documents in Copilot Pro-enabled OneDrive storage - unless specifically prohibited by the user on a case-by-case basis - would be read by Copilot Pro, analysed, and summarised.
For some organisations, this would represent a significant security risk, and could imply a loss of data sovereignty. That makes Copilot Pro's OneDrive requirement an important consideration for businesses in the legal, financial and medical sectors.
The value proposition: For some a big plus, for others, not so much
Is Copilot Pro worth its substantial monthly subscription fee?
The typical hourly compensation (with benefits, superannuation, etc.) for an Australian office worker will equal or exceed the monthly fee of AUD $44.90/month.
Does Copilot Pro add an extra hour of productivity per month? If so, then the value proposition makes sense.
Without training, a user may not know how to harness Copilot Pro to get full value from it. Training costs and professional development time need to be part of any value proposition.
Is it possible to know whether productivity gains will be realised before making a substantial investment in both Copilot Pro and those training costs?
The answer depends on the individual user and their workflow.
For some Copilot Pro users - particularly those still acquiring skills and experience in their role - the benefits will be obvious and immediate.
For many others - perhaps even the majority - productivity benefits will only reveal themselves over time, as users adapt these tools to their workflows. In this case, a pilot study with a small group of employees could help an organisation explore the real-world value of Copilot Pro within the business. Any study should be done hand-in-hand with an organisation's IT department - in order to evaluate the safety and security of all data involved in the pilot.
For those whose productivity does not rely principally on office-related tasks, the benefits will likely be marginal.
Concluding thoughts
Microsoft Copilot Pro represents the first mainstream effort to employ generative AI to enhance office-related productivity. However, these new tools enhance productivity unevenly. Some tasks and some users will receive the lion's share of the productivity benefits from Copilot Pro. Others will see few gains - or none at all.
In preparation for making a purchase decision, organisations will first want to assess their own internal capabilities, measuring those against the kinds of productivity improvements on offer with Copilot Pro. Where there's a good fit between capability and tool, Copilot Pro is likely to be a good investment.
As we are in the early days of an AI-driven transformation in workflow and productivity, organisations should not feel pressured to adopt Copilot Pro - or any AI tools. In its first release, Copilot Pro feels anything but mature. It's useful, but many cases it offers more promise than reality.
Over the next several years, as these AI tools grow more robust, their use cases and productivity benefits will become obvious, and their value proposition easier to understand.
Finally, if you'd like any insight or guidance on how your organisation can use Copilot Pro to transform workflow and productivity - or AI tools on offer from Google, Salesforce, and many others - we're here to help.
Mark Pesce
Co-founder, Wisely AI
February 2024
Understanding the Microsoft Copilot Pro Value Proposition
Copyright (c) 2024 by Mark Pesce and Drew Smith
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International