Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat: Revolutionizing Business Communication with Pay-As-You-Go Agents

Microsoft has unveiled Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, a new offering that brings pay-as-you-go agents to the existing free chat experience for commercial customers. This innovative solution enables entire workforces, from customer service representatives to marketing leads and frontline technicians, to start using Copilot and agents today. Let's explore the key features, benefits, and how Microsoft ensures data privacy and security in this new chat experience.

Key Features and Benefits of Copilot Chat for Businesses

1. Pay-as-you-go agents: Copilot Chat introduces pay-as-you-go agents, allowing businesses to enable and manage agents directly in the chat. These agents can automate repetitive tasks and business processes, improving efficiency and productivity. This feature was not available in the existing free chat experience.
2. IT controls and management: Copilot Chat provides IT administrators with more control over data governance and management of agents. This includes enterprise data protection (EDP) for data privacy and security, as well as the ability to govern access and manage the usage and lifecycle of Copilot and agents. In the free chat experience, these controls were not as comprehensive.
3. Agent deployment and billing: With Copilot Chat, IT admins can build organization-wide agents and manage agent deployment. Agents are billed on a metered consumption basis, allowing businesses to track and control their usage. In the free chat experience, agent deployment and billing were not as flexible or transparent.
4. Web-grounded chat with GPT-4o: Copilot Chat is powered by GPT-4o, a large language model that grounds conversations in both the latest large language models and information from the web. This allows for more accurate and up-to-date information, as well as the ability to simplify complex topics and transform ideas. In the free chat experience, the language model may not have been as advanced or web-grounded.
5. File uploads and AI-generated images: Copilot Chat allows users to upload files and ask Copilot to summarize key points, analyze data, or suggest improvements. Additionally, it enables the creation of AI-generated images for campaigns, product launches, and social media posts. These features were not available in the free chat experience.



Ensuring Data Privacy and Security in Copilot Chat

Microsoft plans to ensure data privacy and security in Copilot Chat, especially with agents accessing shared tenant data, through several measures:

1. Enterprise Data Protection (EDP): Copilot Chat includes foundational capabilities of the Copilot Control System, which provides enterprise data protection (EDP) for data privacy and security. This ensures that data is protected and governed according to the organization's policies and regulations.
2. IT Controls: Copilot Chat offers IT controls for data governance and management of agents, including enterprise data protection. This allows IT administrators to manage access, usage, and lifecycle of Copilot and agents, as well as monitor and report on consumption.
3. Agent Management: Agents are priced on a metered basis, and IT stays in control. IT admins can build organization-wide agents and manage agent deployment, all powered by the Copilot Control System. This ensures that agents are used responsibly and within the organization's guidelines.
4. Default Agent Settings: Agents that access your organization's shared tenant data are turned off by default. Admins need to set up or use an existing Copilot Studio subscription to enable these agents. This ensures that agents do not access sensitive data without proper authorization.
5. Respect for Existing Policies and Control Settings: When deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, Microsoft respects your organization's existing policies and control settings. This ensures that Copilot Chat integrates seamlessly with your organization's existing security and compliance measures.
6. Agent Availability: Agent availability will be based on your existing store settings for Teams and Microsoft 365 apps. This ensures that agents are only available to users who have the appropriate permissions and access to the relevant apps and services.

In conclusion, Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat offers businesses greater flexibility, control, and advanced features compared to the existing free chat experience, enabling them to scale their AI transformation more effectively. With robust data privacy and security measures in place, businesses can confidently adopt this new chat experience to improve communication, collaboration, and productivity.