Microsoft 365 Copilot At Work: Using AI to Get the Most from Your Business Data and Favorite Apps(Tech Today)

Learn to leverage Microsoft's new AI tool, Copilot, for enhanced productivity at work In Microsoft 365 Copilot At Work: Using AI to Get the Most from Your Business Data and Favorite Apps, a team of software and AI experts delivers a comprehensive guide to unlocking the full potential of Microsoft's groundbreaking AI tool, Copilot. Written for people new to AI, as well as experienced users, this book provides a hands-on roadmap for integrating Copilot into your daily workflow. You'll find the knowledge and strategies you need to maximize your team's productivity and drive success. The authors offer you a unique opportunity to gain a deep understanding of AI fundamentals, including machine learning, large language models, and generative AI versus summative AI. You'll also discover: How Copilot utilizes AI technologies to provide real-time intelligent assistance and revolutionize the way you work with Microsoft 365 apps Practical Implementation Strategies for project and change management, as well as practical guidance on rolling out Copilot within your organization Specific use cases, including Outlook, Teams, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, and how Copilot can streamline tasks and boost efficiency across various Microsoft applications Take your Copilot proficiency to the next level with advanced AI concepts, usage monitoring, and custom development techniques. Delve into Microsoft Framework Accelerator, Copilot plugins, semantic kernels, and custom plugin development, empowering you to tailor Copilot to your organization's unique needs and workflows. Get ready to revolutionize your productivity with Microsoft 365 Copilot!

Table of Contents:
Introduction xxi Part I Understanding and Using Copilot 1 Chapter 1 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence 3 The Importance of AI 4 Foundations of AI 5 Real-World Applications of AI 6 Impact of AI on Various Industries 7 Healthcare Industry 7 Manufacturing Industry 8 Finance Industry 9 Case Studies of Successful AI Implementations 10 Ethical Considerations 12 Responsible Use of AI 13 Future Ethical Considerations 14 AI and Society 15 Public Perception and Acceptance of AI 16 The Future of AI 16 Potential Advancements and Breakthroughs 16 Preparing for an AI-driven Future 17 Conclusion 18 Chapter 2 Introduction to Microsoft 365 Copilot 19 Microsoft 365 Copilot—Your Personal AI Assistant 19 Differences from Other Chat-based AI Personal Assistants 21 Fitting Microsoft 365 Copilot into a Day-to-day Routine 21 Prompt Generation 24 Fact-Checking 24 Microsoft 365 Copilot Versus Clippy 24 The Security of Microsoft 365 Copilot 25 Conclusion 25 Chapter 3 An Introduction to Prompt Engineering 27 Introduction to Large Language Models 28 Foundations of Prompt Engineering 29 Concept of Prompt Engineering 29 Three Prompt Mnemonics 30 Refining Your Prompt 33 Other Prompting Styles 34 Prompt Validation Steps 36 Copilot Lab 38 Overview of Copilot Lab 38 Bookmarking Your Favorite Prompts 40 The Future of Prompt Engineering 40 Conclusion 41 Chapter 4 Security/Purview Planning in Preparation for Copilot 43 Introduction to Information Protection 43 Deploying M365 Copilot 44 Building a Culture of Information Protection 44 Identifying Weaknesses in Information Protection 45 Conducting a Risk Assessment 46 Review Your Security Foundations 48 Zero Trust and Conditional Access 48 Identity Access Management 49 Dynamic Access Policies 50 Data Classification and Sensitivity Labels 52 Review Your Data Policies 53 Data Loss Prevention Policies 54 Data Retention Policy 54 Data Encryption Policy 55 Data Breach Policy 56 Acceptable Use Policy 57 Review Your Toolkit 58 Microsoft Entra ID 59 Microsoft Copilot Dashboard 60 Public Web Content in M365 Copilot 61 Microsoft Purview 62 SharePoint Advanced Management 65 AI-Powered Security Capability 66 Get Your Pilot Started with These Initial Steps 67 Conclusion 69 Chapter 5 Planning Your Microsoft 365 Copilot Rollout 71 Project Management 72 Stakeholder Management 72 The Project Team Pilot 73 The “Equity” Risk 76 The “Oversharing” Risk 77 Technical Enablement 79 Initial Provisioning Issues 80 Governance 80 Content Governance 81 Copilot Acceptable Use Policy 82 Microsoft 365 Copilot Operating Model Dependency 82 Generative AI Steering Committee Best Practices 84 Change Management 86 The Power of Personas 88 Building Your Change Champion Network 89 Identifying Change Champions 89 Mobilizing Change Champions 90 Creating Onboarding Materials 90 Copilot Lab 91 Hosting Office Hours 92 Success Measures 93 Technical Extensibility 97 Managing Microsoft 365 Copilot Extensibility Requests 97 Building Your Copilot Center of Excellence 99 Conclusion 100 Chapter 6 Microsoft Copilot Business Chat 101 Free Personal Versus Paid Corporate Versions 102 Accessing the Free Version of Business Chat 102 Accessing the Paid Version of Business Chat 104 Working with Business Chat 108 Pulling Data from the Internet 110 Pulling Information from Internal Systems 112 Copilot on Your Phone 113 Privacy Concerns Using Business Chat 116 Conclusion 117 Chapter 7 Microsoft Outlook 119 Creating Communications with Microsoft 365 Copilot 120 Drafting Your Prompt 120 Tone and Length 121 Refining Your Message 123 Managing Escalations 124 Microsoft 365 Copilot Coaching 124 Summarizing Email Threads 125 Email Summarization—Chat 127 Calendar Information 129 Conclusion 131 Chapter 8 Copilot in Microsoft Teams 133 Managing Project Communications 134 Summarizing Chats and Channel Communications 134 Creating Posts and Chats with Copilot 138 Creating a post or chat with Copilot 138 Tone and Length 141 Copilot and Grammatical Issues 141 Managing Project Meetings 141 Using Copilot During a Live Meeting 142 Using Copilot with a Past Meeting 143 Copilot in Microsoft Teams Phone 144 Data Privacy and Security 144 Conclusion 146 Chapter 9 Copilot in Microsoft Excel 147 Getting Started with Copilot in Excel 147 Identifying a Dataset 148 Preparing Your Workbook 148 Manipulating Excel Data 150 Creating New Formulas 150 Creating Charts 152 Creating a PivotTable with Copilot 156 Asking Questions About Your Data 157 Copilot Suggested Prompts for Data Insights 159 Additional Formatting 162 Managing Sales Data with Copilot 165 Conclusion 171 Chapter 10 Copilot in Microsoft PowerPoint 173 Preparing Your PowerPoint Template for Copilot 174 Initial Setup of an Organizational Assets Library 174 PowerPoint Template Requirements 175 Creating Your First PowerPoint Presentation with Copilot 176 Improving the Prompt 177 Improving the Content 179 Generating New Content 182 Navigating Microsoft PowerPoint with Copilot 184 Creating a PowerPoint Presentation from a Microsoft Word Document 186 Refining Your Presentation with Copilot 188 Using Copilot to Get Feedback on a Presentation 189 Using Copilot to Clarify a Presentation 190 Using Copilot to Improve Engagement on a Presentation 191 Conclusion 191 Chapter 11 Copilot in Microsoft Loop 193 Loop Overview 193 What’s in a Loop? 194 Getting Started with Loop 195 Loop Components within Teams 196 Creating a Loop Workspace 197 Inviting Others to Collaborate 198 When to Use Loop 199 Positioning Loop in Your Organization 200 Use Cases for Loop 200 Microsoft 365 Copilot in Loop 202 Brainstorming with Copilot 204 Unlocking Insights with Copilot 208 Conclusion 210 Chapter 12 Transforming Text with Copilot in Microsoft Word 211 Getting Started with Copilot in Word 212 Using Reference Documents to Enhance Copilot Results 214 Rewriting with Copilot 215 Copilot’s Document Analysis Capability 218 Conclusion 220 Part II Extending Copilot 221 Chapter 13 Unlocking Real Value with Copilot 223 The Business Case for Copilot 223 Executive Summary 225 Background and Introduction 226 Business Objectives 228 Current Situation Analysis 229 Solution Description 230 Implementation Plan 231 Cost-Benefit Analysis 231 Evaluation and Measurement 233 Presenting Your Business Case 234 Measuring Business Value 234 Copilot Adoption Dashboard Setup 234 Accessing the Copilot Adoption Dashboard 235 Copilot Adoption Dashboard “Advanced Features” 238 Viva Pulse Surveys 238 Mapping Business Processes: The Proposal Use Case 242 Mapping Your RFP Response Process 243 Aligning Tasks to Copilot Capabilities 243 Building an Enterprise Prompt Library 244 Reporting Your ROI 246 Conclusion 248 Chapter 14 Introduction to Microsoft Copilot Studio 249 Who Should Use Copilot Studio? 250 Customizing Existing Copilot vs. Creating a Stand-alone Copilot 250 Getting Started with Microsoft Copilot Studio 252 Navigating the Copilot Studio User Interface 252 Building Your First Copilot 255 Testing Your Copilot 259 Publishing Your Copilot 260 Creating a Copilot Plugin 264 Testing Your Copilot Plugin 270 Conclusion 272 Chapter 15 Creating a Custom Teams Copilot 273 Extensibility Options 274 Knowledge and Software Prerequisites 274 An Understanding of the General Architecture of Plugins 275 A Code Background 275 A Microsoft Developer Account 276 Node.js and npm 277 Introduction to Node.js 277 Installing Node.js 278 Selecting the Correct Version of Node.js 279 npm Configuration Tips 280 Installing .NET 282 A Configured Integrated Development Environment 283 Installing and Setting Up VSCode IDE 284 Downloading VSCode 284 Essential Extensions for VSCode 285 Customizing the IDE for Productivity 285 Installing Azure AI Studio SDKs and Necessary Libraries 286 Setting Up TypeScript for Azure AI Development 286 Git 287 Installing Git 287 Initial Git Setup 288 Building a Custom Teams Copilot 288 Deploying a Custom Teams Copilot 300 Introduction to Semantic Kernel 304 Conclusion 305 Chapter 16 Copilot Wave 2 Features 307 Bizchat, aka Copilot Chat 307 Copilot Updates in Outlook 309 Copilot Updates in PowerPoint 310 Copilot Updates in Microsoft Teams 314 Copilot Updates in Word 314 Copilot Updates in Excel 315 Copilot Updates in OneDrive 317 Copilot Pages 319 Copilot Agents 321 Conclusion 323 Index 325

About the Author :
SANDAR VAN LAAN is a Senior Principal at Slalom within the Microsoft Modern Work and AI space, leading Copilot rollouts across multiple clients and demonstrating a deep understanding of AI and its practical applications in the enterprise environment. His strategic approach has been instrumental in guiding organizations through the adoption process, ensuring seamless integration and maximizing the benefits of AI technologies. JARED MATFESS serves as an AI Architect at AvePoint, bringing more than two decades of experience within the Microsoft ecosystem to his role. He has been honored with the Microsoft MVP award six times for the Office App & Services category and is actively engaged in sharing his expertise at various community events. Jared’s primary ambition is to assist organizations in their transformation by leveraging advanced technologies like AI. THOMAS FLOCK is a senior consultant at Slalom and specializes in data integrating using AI. His father was a senior engineer for MCI starting in 1983 when he was born, so Thomas has been around computers all his life. Thomas grew up in the Fairfax Virginia area and his first job was for Network Access Solutions in Herndon as a TCP/IP tester. ANN REID is a keen early adopter and experienced M365 Copilot implementation consultant with Slalom. With over 20 years of IT experience, she recognizes the transformative impact of M365 Copilot on organizations as well as challenges it presents. She shares some practical knowledge and strategies for building robust information protection capabilities and demystifies the process of prompt engineering for M365 Copilot.