Point 1: Copilot will split your organization, possibly by generation.
Point 2: Potential productivity savings will reach an all time high.
You will need to address Copilot head on or face the consequences. This is not an anti-Copilot post, no no, I am a huge fan and very excited to see what it can really do, but there are a plethora of posts about how great it is, and nobody needs yet another one. Back to point 1. Rewind to boring old 'broken record' Pete! Co-authoring has been around for about 16 years, PowerBI, about 8 years, and it is 6 years for Teams. All of which are either, in general, poorly used or used poorly. Most companies I have worked in and for, as adopters of new technology in business, are woeful at properly introducing new tech in to the workplace.
However, this is a major step change and in a different league. Copilot will be picked up very, very quickly by some in your organization but other users won't get it or understand it. The delta that will be created by this, in a very short space of time, will be enormous. Those who adopt it will accelerate past those who don't, at an as yet unknown and never seen before, pace. Remember, AI won't take your job, but someone using AI will. It is also highly likely that this divide will come, overall, at a generational level but I will not speculate at which generation step that appears. Copilot will need an organization wide, full Adoption and Change Management approach. Don't be tempted to cut the corners this time, the last thing organizations need now is to alienate groups of employees. Point 2 was about the potential time savings. Now this in interesting as the picture is not yet clear on the scale and impact. However, even before Copilot lands, it is possible to save huge amounts. The IDC state that approximately 26% of an employees day is wasted on poor process, not being able to find information, and outdated ways of working. Pub maths time: a 40hr week at 25% is 10hrs a week. 10hrs per week x 48 weeks is 480 hours a year. Take your average salary in hourly rate form, and that is the rough number. Example 1000 seats with a £50k average salary, (~£24.04 per hour) equates to around £11.5M a year.
Typically productivity gains, driven through proper adoption and usage of tech and process automation, could see that waste halved. Copilot will take that way beyond those kind of figures. We will watch how this unravels with eager anticipation. This is a very exciting time to be in the tech industry but organisations do need to realize that this is not just another product launch, this is a serious game changer and if you aren't starting now to understand the impact now, you will get left behind.
Watch the launch video from Satya. The Future of Work With AI - Microsoft March 2023 Event - YouTube
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