AI Integration and Adoption: Four Mistakes Companies Make When Rolling Out Microsoft 365 Copilot

Ready to revolutionize your organization with Microsoft 365 Copilot? Before diving in, make sure to have a well-thought-out plan. Even the most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) tools can stumble if not implemented thoughtfully. While helping many global organizations across all industries launch Copilot, we have seen both the golden opportunities and pitfalls that can derail a pilot.

Microsoft 365 Copilot is an advanced AI tool in Microsoft’s Office suite. With the right strategies in place, its benefits are substantial, including reduced task completion times, increased innovation and improved collaboration.

Microsoft 365 Copilot offers outstanding benefits but watch for these four common mistakes:

1. Starting exclusively with Information Technology (IT)

One mistake companies make is starting a Microsoft 365 Copilot (Copilot) launch exclusively with IT. While IT is often the earliest adopter of new technology, they may have less impactful business use cases for Microsoft 365 Copilot. Because IT does not work in M365 applications to the same degree as other departments do, the value proposition for IT using Copilot is not as strong as with other business units. Piloting exclusively in IT can begin the launch on the wrong foot and may not build the advocate base needed to get the broader organization excited about using Copilot.

2. Providing pilot licenses predominantly to organization leaders

We see another obstacle to success: Companies giving their original pilot licenses predominantly to the company’s leaders. Leaders generally are not doing the day-to-day work for which others across the organization are responsible. Instead, companies can realize more value by providing Copilot licenses to people who are creating content, performing data analysis, organizing meetings and are responsible for follow-up. These employees have the best use cases for the technology and are also heavily invested in using technology to do their jobs faster and more effectively.

3. Scattering pilot licenses across the company

Another mistake companies make is scattering the pilot licenses across multiple teams or departments, providing only a few licenses to each group. Instead, companies should find the department with the strongest use cases and share Copilot licenses among the entire group. As mentioned above, this is likely to be those who create content, analyze data and those who perform administrative work including scheduling meetings and following up on important milestones. This allows the department to transform the way they work together, while adopting technology more quickly.

4. Not providing adequate training and outreach

Most importantly, it is critical to provide adequate support for those launching Copilot so they gain knowledge and understanding and can easily integrate Copilot into their everyday routines. Copilot provides some prompts out of the box, but that’s only a small fraction of its capabilities. Without training and outreach, users likely will not achieve the tool’s full value. We suggest implementing a comprehensive training and outreach adoption plan that runs for at least six months to truly optimize this AI technology. Additionally, creating forums for knowledge sharing can expedite learnings and inspire new use case development.

Recognizing these four potential pitfalls can significantly enhance the effectiveness of any Microsoft 365 Copilot deployment. By avoiding these mistakes and focusing on strategic implementation, it is possible to unlock the full potential of this powerful AI tool.

So how do organizations ensure a smooth, successful rollout that maximizes benefits? We suggest Protiviti’s Microsoft Copilot Pathways program, which is designed to help companies with: