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Embracing the Rise of AI with Microsoft Copilot
Emerging technologies have always been a key factor in the success of competitive businesses, and AI-reaching mainstream usability is a game-changer. Among these technologies, Microsoft's Copilot has taken a leap forward with their Wave 2 update and promises an even more integrative, powerful approach to business operations by making AI a core component of productivity.
Microsoft Copilot: Transforming the Business Landscape
Microsoft Copilot first sparked interest in the technological community during its initial announcement in March 2023. Subsequent presentations unveiled the software at the Microsoft Build Conference, and in November 2023, it was made available to free users under the guise of Bing chat. Fast forward to September 16, 2024, Microsoft announced their latest major update: Wave 2, a version set to revolutionize business operations further and tighten major loose ends from its earlier versions.
New Offerings With Wave 2
Microsoft's Copilot Wave 2 has introduced more than 700 updates and 150 new features with the potential to reshape the way businesses function. Emphasizing real-time collaboration, it introduced a new feature, "Copilot Pages", and enhanced existing applications such as Word, Excel, OneDrive, and Outlook to increase efficiency and collaboration massively.
Real-Time Collaboration with Copilot Pages
Comparable to Google Docs, Copilot Pages is a real-time collaboration tool where teams can work on a single platform. Moreover, information integration has been made easier with the ability to share and access data across teams. These changes reflect a significant step forward in the functionality and applicability of generative AI at the workplace.
Enhanced Efficiency with Copilot-Enabled Microsoft Apps
The incorporation of Copilot across various familiar Microsoft apps could significantly enhance the overall efficiency of an organization. Specifically, Excel now allows integration of native Python for data analysis and visualization, PowerPoint introduced a Narrative Builder for easy presentation creation, and Outlook with an email prioritization feature for better email management.
The Edge with AI for Your Business
Analyses have shown that despite its cost, Copilot is recommended across all sizes of businesses. The reason lies in the value-for-money returns promised by this software. From recording and summarizing meetings in Teams to referencing web data, work data, emails, and meetings in Word, Microsoft has cleverly designed Copilot to be essential rather than a mere luxury add-on.
The Future of Business Operations
Given the sweeping advancements brought about by Microsoft Copilot's Wave 2, it is clear that businesses who can integrate such technology will hold the key to future successes. The focus now is not just on whether businesses use AI but rather how well they can integrate it into their day-to-day operations. The Wave 2 updates seem to answer this question convincingly, making AI more than a simple tool and turning it into a core aspect of productivity.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt about it: AI is here to stay. As such, it is crucial for businesses and decision-makers to recognize the potential of tools like Microsoft's Copilot. It’s time to start embracing AI and making strides towards stronger AI and data strategies to remain competitive in this evolving digital landscape.
Topics Covered in This Episode
1. Microsoft Copilot Wave 2 Updates
2. Microsoft 365 Copilot Pricing
3. OneDrive Updates
4. Microsoft Teams and Copilot
5. Copilot Agents
6. Example Use Cases
Podcast Transcript
Jordan Wilson [00:00:17]:
Could the new Microsoft Copilot wave 2 be the next mini ChatGPT moment but for business? I think when we think about generative AI, it's kind of like a line in the sand. Right? Like, we always, talk and think about that ChatGPT moment and how that kind of redefined what's possible. But has that actually made its way into our day to day work, or do we still have to seek out, you know, these tools like chat gbt? And I think there's been so much promise with Microsoft Copilot, and now we might be seeing it play out with Microsoft's, new announcements, just hours ago on Copilot Wave 2. And I think that Microsoft is trying to at least, turn your workspace into an AI powerhouse. So we're gonna be highlighting, you know, Microsoft said there's been more than 700 updates, a 150 new features. So we're not gonna be going over all that, but we're gonna be going over what's new and real business use cases that are now possible with Microsoft Copilot wave 2. Alright. What's going on y'all? My name is Jordan Wilson, and this is Everyday AI.
Jordan Wilson [00:01:29]:
Thank you for tuning in on the livestream podcast and the free daily newsletter where we help everyday people like you and me grow their companies and their careers by not just understanding what's going on in the world of generative AI, but actually using it, actually taking advantage of it. Right? So if you are listening on the podcast, please make sure to check out your show notes. There's a link to our website. You need to go there, your everydayai.com. Every single day, yeah, we have the live stream and the podcast, but we also break, it down in the newsletter. A lot of complimentary and supplementary information that we maybe just didn't have time to get into the podcast. So make sure you go check that out. Alright.
Jordan Wilson [00:02:05]:
Before we get into today's episode, which I'm extremely excited about, I got a first. You know what? I'm gonna switch it up today. Gotta shout out Doctor Harvey Castro back in the house. Good to see you. Michael and Brian and Tara, Marie, Christopher, Jay, everyone else. Thanks for tuning in. Let me know what questions do you have about, copilot wave to get your hot questions in. Who knows? It's it's Tuesday.
Jordan Wilson [00:02:30]:
I might come with some hot take answers to your questions, but first, let's get to the AI news. So, Slack is now integrating AI bots from other major providers to enhance workplace communication. Slack is making significant strides in its integration of AI technology, aiming to transform how users interact with bots and agents in the workplace. This move is particularly noteworthy as it reflects the growing trend of incorporating AI into everyday business tools, which could reshape communication dynamics for companies. So Slack has announced the addition of AI powered agents from various companies, including Salesforce, Adobe, Anthropic, Cohere, Perplexity, and Writer, enhancing its functionality. The company is expanding its AI features to include transcripts from informal video chat sessions known on Slack as Huddl's, which could improve collaboration among teams. This development comes, ahead of Salesforce's annual Dreamforce conference, which is, unraveling, this week, emphasizing Slack's commitment to generative AI as, well, Slack and Salesforce's commitment to generative AI as a mean for agents to operate autonomously rather than just assisting human users. That seems to be the, kind of the goal for today, right, or the, the common theme.
Jordan Wilson [00:03:55]:
Alright. Our next piece of AI news, Oracle's Larry Ellison is making headlines as he talked about an AI driven mass surveillance future. Yeah. A little weird, but maybe good, but kinda weird. Alright. So Larry Ellison, the famous cofounder of Oracle who's 80 years old but looks like he's 40, has stated that the company is poised to become a key player in the development of mass surveillance technology powered by artificial intelligence. So his comments made during a recent Oracle financial analyst meeting raised significant concerns about privacy and accountability in society. So Ellison emphasized that Oracle's infrastructure is uniquely suited for AI applications, claiming that many companies, choose Oracle to build their AI models due to the its unique networking architecture.
Jordan Wilson [00:04:45]:
So Ellison predicted a future where constant monitoring through AI would ensure accountability for both police officers and citizens, stating every police officer is going to be supervised at all times. He described a scenario where police body cameras would be perpetually recording with no option for officers to disable the feed, thus aiming to prevent abuse of power and enhance public safety. He also proposed the use of drones for police pursuits and AI analysis of satellite imagery to improve agricultural practices, indicating a broad vision for AI applications beyond surveillance. So while Ellison's vision may enhance security, it also raises, obviously, a ton of questions, and critical ethical, concerns regarding privacy and civil liberties, particularly as Oracle continues to partner with government entities. Yeah. Talk about Big Brother. You know, we're not even, hinting at it anymore. Just saying, hey, we all need a bigger Big Brother, and the Big Brother needs to be everywhere.
Jordan Wilson [00:05:45]:
Alright. A lot more, on those stories and everything on our newsletter, so make sure you go to your everyday ai.com. Alright. Let's jump straight into it. Let's talk about Microsoft Copilot Wave 2, just announced hours ago by Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, and let's go over what's new and some business use cases. Alright. Let's party. And, hey, whether you're listening on the livestream, or the podcast, I wanna know, is your company is your organization let me know yes or no even for our livestream audience.
Jordan Wilson [00:06:23]:
Is your organization using, Microsoft Copilot 365. Right? Like, that is the enterprise version where it is connected to all of your programs, all of your data. Right? I've I've talked to you you know, companies reach out to us all the time, to hire us to help them with their front end strategy or, essentially large large language model implementation, and it seems weird. Right? So talk to companies from as small as 20 to companies literally with tens of thousands of employees. Right? And they're like, hey. We essentially wanna train, 100, you know, or tens of thousands of employees, on Microsoft Copilot, and we're working through conversations. But, you you know, it seems like all across the board, some companies have fully implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot, which is Microsoft's AI offering across their entire, organization, whereas some even large companies that have AI teams haven't done so. So, you know, I'm curious.
Jordan Wilson [00:07:21]:
You know? It looks like some people are saying yes in our audience. Some people are saying not yet. But here is what you need to know, and we're gonna dive into all of the specifics here. Alright. So this was just announced yesterday. And, kind of the three main areas that Microsoft seems to be focusing on are web, work, and pages. So a lot more on pages, you you know, as we go along here. So but looking more of AI as a collaborative partner, in bringing in Copilot into more places, where businesses work and really looking at not just productivity and efficiency, but just driving business outcomes.
Jordan Wilson [00:07:59]:
So again, really the, 3, kind of main areas that I'm gonna be talking about on today's show is a little bit more on Copilot pages, which is new. And then just looking at some of the new these wave 2 features, across the different Microsoft 365 apps, and then the introduction well, not the introduction, but the unveiling, of, some some new features and functionality inside of, Copilot agents, which I'm personally pretty pretty excited about. Alright. Here we go. So let's first talk about what's new. Well, according to Microsoft, there have been more than 700 Copilot updates since launch and a 150 new features. Yeah. That's a lot.
Jordan Wilson [00:08:47]:
So right now, everything is powered by OpenAI's GPT 4 o with enhanced orchestration. A big kind of what's new in Copilot wave 2, and I do believe that is the the the name of this, which I don't hate. At first, when I saw the announcement, I'm like, okay. Wave 2. And I'm like, okay. I don't hate it. Right? Like, we talk about, you know, updates like iOS 18, right, which was just announced yesterday. You know, I remember back, you know, Windows 95, Windows 98.
Jordan Wilson [00:09:18]:
So, you know, I think this is actually better. So we so we have kind of a point, or a reference in time that we can talk about. Like, oh, this came out during wave 2 versus just like, oh, Microsoft released this sometime in the last 18 months. Alright. So powered by OpenAI's GPT 4 o right now. But, Microsoft did say that they had future plans to incorporate OpenAI's new o one model for advanced reasoning capabilities. Y'all, when that happens, things can potentially go bonkers. Alright.
Jordan Wilson [00:09:52]:
I still don't think people really understand how powerful, OpenAI's o one model is. And just FYI, stop calling it GPT01. That's not what it is. Alright? So, OpenAI now has essentially 2 different series. They have the GPT series. So, presumably, we'll be seeing a GPT 4.5 or a GPT, 5, you know, in the coming months, quarters, etcetera. But then we also have now this, g p t or sorry, the, open AI o one. Right? So right now, we have o one preview and o one mini.
Jordan Wilson [00:10:22]:
So, Microsoft did say that they, do we have plans to integrate and implement this into Copilot? The real question will be when, because right now, it's pretty expensive. But so, you know, you might I don't know. You might see a more premium, a more premium tier of of Microsoft Copilot, 365 coming in the future. So that is kind of what's new, and then also another rebranding one. Not crazy about this, but maybe it makes sense. So, the Copilot Business Chat has been renamed Biz Chat. So that's kind of serving as a central hub for customer data. Also worth noting, Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing.
Jordan Wilson [00:11:11]:
So you do need to have, obviously, Microsoft 365 license, and then the 365 Copilot is an additional monthly charge per user. So at least as of today, it is $30 per user per month for enterprise customers. And let me just say this right now. To large right. Small, medium, large organizations, stop looking at that $30 a month price tag as a reason to not implement this across your organization. That is I'm sorry. Can I be can I be real on on hot take Tuesday? That's dumb y'all. Like, go go watch the the 30 minute, presentation.
Jordan Wilson [00:11:53]:
We're gonna have that in our in our newsletter, and we're obviously gonna be breaking down the highlights today. What $30 a month. Right? Like, probably half of your executives are are making, you know, 3 to 5 times that, probably more. Right? And if you don't think that this can save you, 30 minutes a month, then I I have no hope for your organization, period. And I'm I'm I'm not saying that as, you know, I'm not out here shilling Microsoft. I'd say that the same if you're a Google organization for Google Gemini, for ChatGPT Enterprise. Right? If you're not paying these 20 to $30 a month, subscriptions, like, you've if I'm being honest, you probably shouldn't be leading your team. I don't care.
Jordan Wilson [00:12:36]:
I don't care if you have tens of thousands of employees, and, yes, that is a huge line item, but you need to be implementing this now. This is an investment that is going to pay off, but this is not one of those things you should be kicking the can on, for for months or quarters. That is, a bad idea. Alright. So that is kind of what's new, and we're gonna be going over that a lot more, but let's also quickly look at the evolution a little bit here of Microsoft Copilot. Okay? So, Copilot was first announced now about 18 months ago. So in March 2023, then in May 2023, we saw Copilot unveiled at Microsoft's build conference. In November, last year, 2023, we kind of saw Copilot released for all, you know, free users as well.
Jordan Wilson [00:13:27]:
So we saw at that point, it was Bing chat, and then we went through this first, level of unbrand or sorry, unbranding, rebranding, or maybe it's unbranding. So we saw Bing chat become essentially Copilot. Right? So if you're still saying Bing chat, there is no Bing chat anymore. Right? Obviously, that's Copilot. And then we have another, rebranding for when, on the business side, there is a work chat, so a biz chat. So there's kind of 2 different tabs when you are using the Copilot chat. Alright. That'll probably make a little bit more sense as we kind of, unveil some of the you know, we have some screenshots, and we're gonna be going over feature by feature.
Jordan Wilson [00:14:06]:
And then so the the last big, you know, and these are kind of the big I'd say 4 big, shifts or announcements over the last 18 months. And then the last one now is Copilot wave 2. So, essentially, we had an initial announcement. And then at the Build Conference both last year and this year, you know, a lot of new things were teased and, you you know, kinda previewed, but this is September 16th, so September 2024. This is kind of b 2. Right? So, you know, pretty pretty exciting. Right? Especially if your company uses, Microsoft Copilot, especially Microsoft 365, Copilot, kind of the the premium, that $30 a month, offering. This is pretty big.
Jordan Wilson [00:14:47]:
This is essentially v 2, wave 2. Alright. Let's now go over this. And you know what? I don't hate this. This new concept here of Copilot as the new UI for AI. Right? Satya Nadella and and, you you know, this is everywhere, plastered on the Microsoft website, but I'm actually thinking, I don't hate it. I don't hate this take. You know? Being the new user interface for artificial intelligence.
Jordan Wilson [00:15:25]:
I've talked about this many times on the show, but Sadi Nadalba, Microsoft CEO, said it yesterday, essentially saying that large language models, are going to become slightly commoditized. Right? Because their capabilities, you know, it's it's it's nonstop. They're going back and forth. So it's not about, you know, the differentiator for your business is not going to be whether you're using Anthropic Cloud or using Google Gemini or using, ChatGPT Enterprise or using, you know, Copilot. It's actually going to be how are you using it, and is it connected to your data? Right. So that's kind of when we talk about, this Microsoft's new saying of the new UI for AI. Well, it's their attempt to better integrate web work and business data into a single system. That is the downside to a lot of the large language models that we use right now is, you know, it's you kind of have to build the silos.
Jordan Wilson [00:16:24]:
Right? And then once you do build the silos of generative AI with these large language models, they're siloed. Right? They don't all talk to each other. Your data doesn't live there, and that's why I've always said, even for companies that are all in on, ChatGPT, I tell them, this should only be a stop gap. Right? This should only be a, you know, 3 month to 9 month, period of time where companies maybe have to figure out, their data strategy before kind of going all in on Microsoft 365 Copilot. I'll say this right now. Not super impressed with what Apple unveiled, both in June at WWDC, and then at their Glow Time event last week in terms of, kind of generative AI in large language models for businesses. Right? I think it's great for personal, and I don't see myself giving up my my iPhone anytime soon. But if I'm being honest, and I've been talking about this for a year, I almost have to switch over to a a PC now.
Jordan Wilson [00:17:27]:
I don't see how in the future, and I would say the same thing for, small teams unless there's, you know, some part of Mac, that that your team cannot function without, which I get a lot of creative teams, might go that route. But I think Microsoft has almost become a no brainer when it comes to your business operating system, because of this Copilot 365 and this new push. And even though even if it is just branding on the surface, I love it. You you know, and and Copilot Pages specifically, kind of, trying to be this new, canvas for real time collaboration. So let's talk about that now. A new feature called Copilot Pages. It's interesting that, you know, Sadie and Nadella kept saying, artifacts over and over. Right? Maybe people have this positive, affinity or positive correlation with the word artifact because of anthropic Claude's feature artifact, which is amazing.
Jordan Wilson [00:18:34]:
Essentially renders, you know, code in real time. I think it's one of the most powerful single features of any tool. It was kind of interesting that, Microsoft CEO Sati Nadella kept saying, the word artifact over and over. Right? Maybe it's because we have positive feelings toward that. So Copilot pages is this. Right? I'm gonna try to simplify this. So if you've used what used to be called Bing chat, but then was just kind of, quote, unquote, normal Copilot on the web, and now it's Copilot on the web, but also biz chat. Right? So there's still some branding challenges there for Microsoft.
Jordan Wilson [00:19:07]:
But once you use it, that data just kind of lives there. Right? So not anymore with Copilot Pages. So this is a dynamic persistent canvas for multiplayer AI collaboration. So if you're listening on the podcast on today's livestream and the video, and you can always go click, check out the show notes and watch this, but it was all in the co, the, kind of, the keynote yesterday for this wave 2 announcement. But this is a way to essentially take all this very useful information that you get out of a Copilot chat. Right? So it's it's grounded in the web. Right? So Copilot can search the web via Bing, and then you can also ground it in your own data. But then from there, it doesn't just live and die there in your own personal kind of Copilot chat.
Jordan Wilson [00:19:55]:
So with pages, think of pages, the simplest way is, okay, it's a Google Doc. Right? That's what it is. You know, but where multiple people can collaborate in real time. Right? So no longer is the is it almost this, you know, strenuous process when you're working with Copilot and you have to say, okay. What am I gonna bring in? How am I gonna share this with my team? You know, what should they or should they not have access to? Right? So now it's as simple as it looks like 1 or 2 clicks going from Copilot in the same pane. So think of a left, left pane, right pane. In the left pane, you are chatting with Copilot, and then, you choose what to send in the right pane, and this is your pages. Right? So then, everyone on your team can be working async.
Jordan Wilson [00:20:44]:
Right? And they can be doing this, at the same time, their own kind of copilot research on the left hand side, and then on the right hand side, bringing this into a collaborative environment, and then also referencing, your other documents inside of that kind of live canvas. So we'll see if this sticks, but this is probably, I think, one of the biggest new, collaboration features that Microsoft announced in this wave 2. You know? Curious livestream audience. What do you think of this? Tara's asking, like perplexity pages. Yes, Tara. It is, except it is collaborative. That is the only, the only difference. Right? And I do have a list here.
Jordan Wilson [00:22:14]:
So many of these kind of new features and updates, and I'm gonna be talking about them as we go through them, point by point. They're just kind of oh, this is like blank tool from blank. Yes. It is.
Jordan Wilson [00:22:42]:
So similar to Perplexity Pages when you can kind of chat with perplexity, You know, push a button and it just kind of converts it into a nicer page, a nicer document. So this is very similar, except this is collaborative. It is async. Right? So in Microsoft's example, they had a handful of people going through, and if someone's adding, docu you know, if someone's adding information to a certain part of this page, this Copilot pages, you can kind of see their cursor, see where they're moving, see where they're working. So, a pretty pretty exciting, update. And this is, I believe this is already rolled out to Microsoft 365 Copilot customers. So that's that's pretty good. Also, Microsoft did announce that this will be coming, for free to Microsoft Copilot users, with the Microsoft Intra accounts in the coming weeks.
Jordan Wilson [00:23:35]:
So, it should be available if your organization is on Microsoft 365 Copilot, that enterprise version. Otherwise, keep an eye out. Microsoft did say it should be rolling out for free users as well, which I think is a smart play. Right? You always want to give, I think, free users a taste of, your most powerful features. Alright. Now we're gonna go by just 1 by 1 and quickly talk about some of the new updates inside of Microsoft's apps, and this is what it's all about. And I think this is why, ultimately, even though I love ChatGPT, and I love working with teams, getting them up and running, you you know, on ChatGPT teams, ChatGPT enterprise, and I think it's great for teams who are, quote, unquote, newer to AI. But if your organization is not, quote, unquote, newer to AI, if you already have had a strong foothold, in the Microsoft 365 and you're essentially humming and you have a good data strategy, good DevOps, I'll say you shouldn't waste your time then with ChatGPT teams or enterprise.
Jordan Wilson [00:24:41]:
That is a ramp up. I do think the ultimate end goal is to be using something like Microsoft 365 Copilot. And like I said, I don't think there is a competitor right now, because I think absolute best case with Apple. Right? That's the only other, operating system that businesses use. I know there's Linux, but, you know, essentially, it is you're either Microsoft Windows or you are now Apple, you know, macOS. And with Apple Intelligence, you know, we might finally get some of these features, by December, maybe February or March. Right? But so many of these features have already been in Microsoft Copilot for more than a year, and now they are starting to really interconnect them. And that is where I think with wave 2, this is huge.
Jordan Wilson [00:25:28]:
That's why it's like, yo, I don't even know for me personally. I don't know if I can continue to work on a Mac. It's gonna be very hard for me to switch over to a PC, even though I was a Microsoft certified professional when I was, like, 16. But I've been on I've been on Macs for what's that? 20 plus years. Right? So we need a support group, right, for Mac people, switching over to Microsoft Copilot. But let's talk about what's new, the new Copilot features in Excel. And probably the biggest one is native Python inside of Excel. Alright? And don't worry.
Jordan Wilson [00:26:04]:
If you're not a a a dork, right, and this is obviously great for, data analysts, you know, kind of data scientists, people who are in business intelligence who have probably already been working with Python. Right? So Python is, I'd say one of the more powerful programming languages, especially in the the age of AI. So don't worry. This is low code, no code. Alright? So all you really have to do to be able to take advantage of these Python, programming capabilities is just talk in real language. Okay. And essentially what that means and this is now generally available as well. Okay? All of the Copilot features and functionalities we're gonna be talking about here are generally available.
Jordan Wilson [00:26:45]:
So what this means is now you can work with text data, and visualization inside of Excel. So as an example, you can just say, hey. Show me the insights on this data, right, or or build me a chart on this data. No coding required. And Copilot in Excel is going to use Python, and it is going to code those for you. It's going to build them, and then you can iterate on them with natural language. Right? Again, your data real time large language models. Right? This is obviously tapping into, GPT 4 o right now, which up until, you know, a week ago was the world's most powerful large language model.
Jordan Wilson [00:27:24]:
And, you know, like I said, Microsoft, did announce plans to be working on bringing open AI, o one into the fold as well. So pretty exciting updates inside of Excel. Next, PowerPoint. I would say this new narrative builder, which is generally available as well, is probably the, the key feature here. Right? PowerPoint, Keynote. It was a joke. Alright. So narrative builder, generally available now, helps creates, helps create presentations and drafts iteratively.
Jordan Wilson [00:27:56]:
Alright. You can generate outlines with AI, slides, and speaker notes from prompts. You can easily, you you know, drag and drop the information, and then working with just simple prompts, to get your slides in the right order you want. And I think the the the big one here is the brand manager. Right? So this essentially, you can set your company's, kind of brand guidelines, some templates, some approved visuals. And then, and and the approved visuals piece is not out yet. Everything else is. But then you can essentially go in in natural language, you know, and even from working in those Copilot pages and say, hey.
Jordan Wilson [00:28:35]:
Turn this into a PowerPoint. Right? You can copy and paste the information or just do a simple, text prompt, and then it's also going to apply all of your brand assets, very easy drag and drop, all again in your company's live real time data. So this is very much like Canva's magic features. Right? They're magic AI features, right, where you can kind of, with generative AI, use kind of these prebuilt templates, and say, hey. Make me a presentation on this. Here's my 5 key points. It's gonna build you a 10 page presentation, and then you can go in and do some slight modifications and use AI in there. So, yes, this is very much like, kind of that feature if you use Canva, but it's it's already been out, for Microsoft, but not this new narrative builder, which I think is going to be a pretty popular feature.
Jordan Wilson [00:29:25]:
Alright. The next new wave 2 update, let's talk about Teams. Alright. In organizations, I get that there are certain reasons why you might not want to, implement or, kind of enable, Copilot inside of Microsoft Teams. Alright. Maybe it's not for every single meeting, but I am straight up baffled y'all. The number of large fortune 5 100, I talk to them all the time, both on the show and more times than not off the show, right, off the air. So many of them do not have copilot enabled inside of teams.
Jordan Wilson [00:30:04]:
Right? Your meeting platform. If you don't, like, why wouldn't you want a meeting assistant? I get it. Right? If if if if there's an HR conversation that maybe is sensitive about salaries, you know, and but there's there's different levels of access. But for the most part, Copilot is an AI that will sit there in your meetings, record everything, right, give you the transcript, give you the meeting notes, give you the key summaries, the takeaways, actions, bullet points, etcetera. So not the biggest, kind of update here in wave 2 because I think this was actually one of the better, implementations of Copilot in terms of, like, ROI. This is a huge ROI. But the ability for it now can, take into account the team chat. Whereas previously, if you sent Copilot into Microsoft Teams, essentially, it only really took into account the human speaking.
Jordan Wilson [00:31:01]:
And if there was, you know, relevant information that would go on during the chat of a meeting, Copilot could not access that. So that is, kind of the big new update, the wave 2 update inside of Teams. Alright. Here's a big one. In this one, yes, this one is very much like, the Apple intelligence, their prioritize summaries. But, hey, it doesn't matter, Apple. You can't claim you were first if you're actually a year and a half later, if other big organizations kind of take your ideas and maybe make them a little more useful and beat you to the punch. Alright.
Jordan Wilson [00:31:36]:
So here is the piece that I love, and this is again why it's like, oh, gosh. I got I gotta switch over to to Windows. The prioritize my inbox features. Alright. So this is not generally available yet. It will be rolling out in public preview later this year. So here's what it does. It analyzes your inbox based on the content and the context of your role.
Jordan Wilson [00:32:01]:
Right? So you can essentially tell it and train it and give it feedback, but, it's gonna know your role. It's gonna know who you, kinda report to, and then it's going to generate concise summaries of emails with prior it's, prioritization reasoning. So it's going to highlight important actions, you know, hey. This is from, your boss. So it's, you know, there's a way to essentially sort by priority, which is not necessarily new because you could always manually set that thing, set those things. But now it does this with generative AI because maybe, you know, a a a client or a customer emails you with something that's, you know, pressing, and maybe you haven't marked them as, you know, an important contact. Whereas if you did, you could then prioritize it. So now, Copilot and this prioritize my inbox feature, both can help you prioritize which emails kind of show up first, but then also the ability to generate brief summaries of long emails.
Jordan Wilson [00:33:01]:
Right? So it reduces the risk of missing that critical information. Alright. Next, in Word. Alright. So this now, the enhanced ability to reference web data inside of Word, work data, emails, meetings, the the meetings piece is coming, later, this month, Microsoft did say. But, essentially, being able inside of Microsoft Word, you don't have to jump into, you know, now Pages or anywhere else, but you can essentially run a prompt with Copilot inside of Word and then reference other files. So in this example that they showed, inside of Word, it said, I need to draft a response to an RFP from Tailwind Traders to install on our charging stations. Reference, and then it references a different PDF.
Jordan Wilson [00:33:48]:
So it says reference this PDF for specs and pricing, align the response structure to the reference file, and then it references a different, Word doc. Right? So it essentially says take all this information from this PDF, but use, this other Word document more of a template. Right? So, obviously, that's not going to 100% get it right. But I think that's one of those instances where now inside of Microsoft Word, the ability to both, research the web, but then also at mention or reference other files, use different files as templates, bring in information from Teams. That's huge y'all. That's huge. So much of work still gets done, you know, inside of Word docs. You know, we'll see how, if pages really catches on, but so much of work right now happens inside of Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
Jordan Wilson [00:34:39]:
And, this new wave 2 feature, I think is huge.
Jordan Wilson [00:35:48]:
Next, OneDrive. Alright. They kind of buried this one, but there's a couple pieces that I really like. So, yes, OneDrive is, you know, essentially, you know, Google Drive. Right? If you don't use, Microsoft's products, this is their online secure storage. So here's the thing I like. In this example, you can highlight multiple documents inside of your OneDrive, then there is a Copilot tab where you can, as an example, click summarize. So you could summarize 5 documents at once.
Jordan Wilson [00:36:20]:
Right? Maybe you're getting ready to head into a meeting and you're like, oh, man. These these docs are from weeks ago. I forgot what they are. So you can summarize them. You can also compare files. So maybe there's, 3 different working versions. Right? There's a v 1, v 2, v 3, and you're like, oh, gosh. What changed between these? So you can highlight them all, then use Copilot to compare the files and, depending on how the, information is formatted inside of those files, in many cases, it will just create a little chart.
Jordan Wilson [00:36:49]:
Right? And it will kind of show you what has changed from file to file. So this will be generally available at the end of September 2024. Alright. So we started with one of the, I think, key features, which is pages, and now we're going to end, at least with, I think one of the more exciting features, which is Copilot agents. Alright. So these are now generally available. So these are if you've used custom GPTs inside of ChatGPT, that's what we have here. Or, you know, but this isn't new.
Jordan Wilson [00:37:24]:
We've had the Copilot studio, but a lot of new updates here with wave 2. So let's talk about them. So now there is a more simplified, experience powered by Copilot Studio, just a little bit easier, to configure the, kind of Copilot agents. So it allows the creation of agents inside of biz chat or Share Point as well, and you can connect to Share Point for relevant business, process data. It can handle data retrieval, and it can automate repetitive actions. So here's the other thing. Actually, 2 more pieces on the availability. So, yes, it is generally, available now.
Jordan Wilson [00:38:07]:
However, being able to access them in biz chat will be rolling out in the coming weeks. And then for SharePoint right now, that is looking at, early October. But at least in the standard Copilot Studio, you can take advantage of some of these new features that have just come out. So this new, visual creator, is is is a newer feature. Here's the thing that separates, the the the new Copilot agents inside of Copilot Studio from, I think, you know, custom g or yeah. From, custom GPTs, from, Google Gems, which if I'm being honest, Google Gems aren't really useful at all, or projects inside of Claude. Well, number 1, it works with your most up to date data. It's dynamic.
Jordan Wilson [00:38:54]:
Whereas those other instances, you are working with, essentially static files. So you could be working with old files, or you have to, you know, if you're building custom GPTs, you have to constantly update the files inside of the knowledge base. Here's the other big difference here with Copilot agents. They can make actions for you. They can take actions. So it it now is a two way street. So it's not just getting information or having these, you know, kind of copilot agents do a big majority of your work for you. They can then perform actions.
Jordan Wilson [00:39:30]:
Right? It'll say yes or no. Right? Like, hey. Do you want to submit this? Yes or no? And you still right? So they're still human in the loop. So you still tell the, you know, the, Copilot agent what you want it to do inside of Copilot Studio, and then, you know, it'll say, hey. Do you want me to submit this? Do you want me to pass this through to SharePoint, etcetera? And you click yes or no. So pretty big, pretty big piece there. Alright. We've gone over a lot.
Jordan Wilson [00:39:57]:
Alright. So that is essentially, in a nutshell, what's new. Now I'm going to very quickly go over some use cases, because this is what it's all about. Right? Features mean nothing. Right? All the bells and whistles don't mean jack squat, unless you can actually put it to use right now. Okay. So I'm gonna go over some example business use cases for all of these new features and functionalities, for wave 2 of Microsoft Copilot, because a lot of these things in these example business use cases were not possible. Right? Yes.
Jordan Wilson [00:40:36]:
I think, you know, over the last 18 months, we've seen so much promise, with Microsoft Copilot. But I think kind of the combination of, this page's functionality inside biz chat, being able to collaborate in real time, being able to bring in Copilot in other places, you know, as an example, Microsoft Word, being able to quickly reference your team's information without leaving, right, without leaving those apps, that's what it's all about. I do think this is actually, not a small change. I'd say this is a seismic, step forward for what can be accomplished with generative AI. So let's look at some example use cases here. Alright. So in Excel. So a financial analyst can ask Copilot to use Python to create a machine learning model predicting next quarter's sales based on historical data and visualize the results.
Jordan Wilson [00:41:29]:
Yeah. That's possible. Yeah. That use probably take, a very smart person, many, many hours, maybe a week or so. Now you can do it with a prompt. Pretty impressive. PowerPoint. A marketing manager can prompt.
Jordan Wilson [00:41:44]:
Create a 10 slide presentation based on our quarter three results using narrative builder, and ensure it follows our brand guidelines with brand manager. Yeah. Then Copilot will literally take your up to date data, assign it, you you know, your brand preferences. And and once that other piece with the approved brand visuals rolls out later this year, and then you essentially have a 10 page PowerPoint that's probably 80% of the way done. Right? Again, this might, you know, in in the past, this might have been a day. Might have been a day or more. 10, 15, 20 hours. Now you can get 80% of the way there in minutes in minutes.
Jordan Wilson [00:42:31]:
Copilot in wave 2, it really does change what it means to be a knowledge worker. Alright. Outlook. An executive can say, prioritize my emails mentioning our new product launch and summarize their content. Yeah. Or just any ability to talk with Copilot about your emails, the new auto summarization, in or in in auto prioritization feature, I think is going to hopefully change for the better how we work with our inboxes. Teams. Alright.
Jordan Wilson [00:43:02]:
So after a product strategy meeting, a team lead can ask Copilot, summarize the key decisions and action items from both the spoken discussion and chat. Yeah. I've been in those, you know, whether we're talking about, you know, Zoom meetings, Google Meet, Zoom chat. Right? And sometime or or sorry, teams, Teams Meet. Sometimes some of the most important information actually comes from the chat. Right? Especially when you have large meetings with dozens of people. Some of the most important pieces are in the chat. So now you can use Copilot.
Jordan Wilson [00:43:36]:
It can not only understand all that information, whereas it couldn't before inside of Teams, but then you can also summarize it. Right? You can create documents from what happened both in the meeting with all the participants who were talking and in the chat. Microsoft Word. An example here. A researcher can request, add relevant citations from my recent emails and PDF documents to support the key points in this report. Yeah. If you need to source things, if you need to make sure, you you know, you have citations from other documents within your organization when you're putting something together, that's a great way to do it. And then Copilot can automatically insert those appropriate citations from multiple sources of your company's data.
Jordan Wilson [00:44:20]:
OneDrive. I like this one. Let's say you're the legal lead and you can say something like, compare these three contract versions, highlighting changes, and summarizing updates. Yeah. That's a big one there. Not just being able to summarize multiple documents at once, but being able to compare them. Right? What has changed in these? I'll, you know, I'll sometimes spend, I don't know, 20, 30 minutes having my screen split and being, like, what changed in this new contract? What changed in this new agreement? What changed in this new version of of of blog post? Whatever it may be. Right? Now you can do that pretty quickly.
Jordan Wilson [00:44:55]:
And then Copilot agents. An HR director, you can say build an agent to screen applications, summarize qualifications, flag top candidates. Yeah. That's huge. Right? You're probably gonna need a little more specific. I'm giving you a general example of what you can build with a Copilot agent. Again, especially when it is working with your data. Right? Hey.
Jordan Wilson [00:45:18]:
Especially then reference certain, documents. Maybe you have an Excel sheet that has everyone's application in there, or, you know, maybe you add an onboarding, you know, an onboarding assignment for new, new hires, and then you can build you know, HR could build an agent to, you know, kind of say, hey. Where should we be, you know, focusing our training based on, you know, kind of these onboarding scores? Help me build out, you you know, a new onboarding training using these other documents. Right? Using our big, brand guide, whatever it may be. Huge y'all. This is huge. Alright. So let me know right now.
Jordan Wilson [00:45:57]:
Should we be doing more on Microsoft Copilot? We've done a handful of of episodes before, but I wanna know from you all. Right? We cover a lot of chat gbt. We cover a lot of, anthropic quad. We cover the news. We cover Google Gemini. Should we be doing more Microsoft Copilot? Let me know, whether you're here on the livestream, but also if you're listening on the podcast. So I hope this was helpful, but in short in short here, Microsoft Wave 2, I think, is much more than an incremental update. I think now we finally have the promise of what we saw 18 months ago when Copilot was first kind of announced and teased.
Jordan Wilson [00:46:39]:
Right? I think in some of the earlier you know, even if we kind of go back and rename it wave 1, but I think, essentially, in the 1st 18 months, there were individual, features and individual kind of, programs that did great with Copilot. But I think it was still maybe a little disjointed. So I think both, this new pages feature kind of a live canvas where, you know, you can take kind of what's in your Copilot biz chat and start working on documents right away collaboratively, to start, you know, referencing from other documents collaboratively. And then also bringing in some of these very much, very needed features inside of these, you know, bringing Python, you know, so natural language coding, to excel, bringing in the ability inside Microsoft Word to easily reference what happened in Teams, your other, documents, etcetera. The the Microsoft, PowerPoints, narrative builder. I think that's big. Right? You know, not just, oh, I can use AI to create a, you know, kind of a general standard looking PowerPoint. No.
Jordan Wilson [00:47:49]:
I can do it according to our brand guidelines using approved visuals already, you know, updating the colors, the logos, etcetera. This is, I'd say, a transition in a transition, approach from Microsoft, this wave 2, to saying, hey. This isn't just, some nice thing to have, this Copilot, this generative AI, this large language model where you work. I think this wave 2 from Microsoft Copilot 365 is saying, this is the future of work. AI isn't the sprinkles on top. It is the ice cream sundae. This is grounded in the work, and I think that this wave 2 is going to be positively received. I know it's hot take Tuesday.
Jordan Wilson [00:48:38]:
I don't have a lot of bad things to say. My hot take is this. If you're not already using Microsoft 365 Copilot, why not? Because I think Microsoft just proved that Microsoft copilot wave 2 is rewrite rewriting the rules of productivity and what can be accomplished with AI. Alright. I hope this one was helpful. Thanks a million to you, but also, yeah, we're wrapping this up. I put a date on it. We've been dragging this out.
Jordan Wilson [00:49:08]:
So, tomorrow, it's Wednesday. So if you're still listening, Wednesday midnight, central time in Chicago, you can still enter to win a year, whatever your favorite, you know, baseline subscription, the 20 to $30 subscription, a year on us on everyday AI. So make sure, if you haven't already, go to your everyday a i.com. Sign up for our thanks a million giveaway. It's simple. You put in your information. You're gonna get a unique referral link, then go share that link. Text it to someone.
Jordan Wilson [00:49:37]:
Email it to someone. Post it on social media. If everyday AI is helpful, we'd appreciate it if you tell someone. And we'd also appreciate it if you join us back tomorrow in everyday for more everyday AI. Thanks y'all.