Microsoft recently unveiled Copilot, an AI-powered experience that brings together capabilities from across Microsoft’s portfolio into a unified assistant. Microsoft is calling this the beginning of a new era of AI, one where technology can understand natural language requests and provide personalized help in the flow of daily life.

Copilot represents the culmination of Microsoft’s work building AI into its most popular products and services. It combines strengths from Azure AI, Microsoft 365, Windows, Bing, and Edge to create a seamless experience that understands context and provides the right assistance when needed. Copilot is designed to enhance productivity, spark creativity, and meet everyday needs – all while prioritizing privacy and security.

So what can we expect from Microsoft’s new Copilot experience? And how does it aim to augment human capabilities across work, life, and play? Let’s explore some of the key announcements.

Major Updates Across Microsoft Products

Microsoft highlighted how Copilot will start rolling out across its ecosystem, beginning with significant updates to Windows 11, Bing, Edge, and Microsoft 365.

Windows 11 Becomes the AI Powerhouse

On September 26th, Windows 11 will get its most ambitious update yet with over 150 new features. This includes bringing Copilot directly to Windows PCs in a seamless way. Users will be able to access Copilot assistance from the taskbar or Windows key shortcut. It will work alongside apps to help users create faster, complete tasks easily, and reduce cognitive load.

The update also adds new AI capabilities to first-party apps like Paint, Photos, and Clipchamp. For example, Paint gains image background removal, suggestion features, and integration with the Microsoft Designer app. Photos receives new editing features like one-click background blur. Overall, the update aims to make Windows 11 the premier destination for AI experiences on the PC.

Bing and Edge Get Smarter

Microsoft also unveiled ways Bing and Edge will become more powerful aids. New features include:

• Personalized Bing answers informed by chat history
• Copilot experience for online shopping with visual search
• Higher quality AI image generation with DALL-E 3
• Multimodal and visual search in Bing Chat Enterprise

Together these updates will redefine how users interact with the web using natural language across search and browsing.

Microsoft 365 Transforms Work

Several Microsoft 365 announcements aim to reshape daily work:

• Microsoft 365 Copilot hits general availability on November 1, 2022. This brings the power of large language models to Office apps.
• Introduction of Microsoft 365 Chat. This new Copilot-powered experience aims to revolutionize work by proactively helping with complex tasks across email, documents, meetings, and more.
• Ongoing Copilot updates to Outlook, Word, Excel, OneNote, OneDrive. Added intelligence across core workloads.
• Enhancements to Windows 365 Cloud PC access. Easier deployment of AI capabilities.

With these new tools, Microsoft 365 seeks to tame complexity, eliminate drudgery, and help workers reclaim time.

Democratizing Creativity and Collaboration

Beyond productivity, Microsoft also shared innovations to spark everyday creativity and connection for consumers:

• New Designer app features like image extension and generation powered by Dall-E 3. Quickly create stunning social posts and documents.
• Integration of Designer into Microsoft 365 Copilot. Instantly get AI-generated images based on your document’s context.
• Surface devices updated for AI performance. New Laptop Studio 2, Laptop Go 3, and Surface Go 4 optimize latest AI capabilities.
• Accessibility advances like haptic touchpad customization on Surface. Continues Microsoft’s commitment to inclusive AI.

Together these demonstrate Microsoft’s ambition to make generative AI accessible to empower personal creative expression.

How Copilot Works – Responsibly and Securely

With AI playing an expanding role across its products, Microsoft was also careful to detail Copilot’s responsible design. Copilot brings together key components like large language models, orchestration services, Microsoft data assets, and end user applications.

This allows it to provide informed assistance while respecting organizational permissions, privacy controls, and security standards. Microsoft shared some key principles:

• Prompts with customer data provide context but are not retained.
• Responses are not used to train foundation models.
• Copilot follows existing tenant, group, and user data policies.
• Learn more about Microsoft’s responsible AI approach.

By handling sensitive data securely and upholding rigorous AI ethics, Microsoft aims to earn trust as it pushes new possibilities with Copilot.

Get Ready for Microsoft’s AI Future

With the Copilot announcement, Microsoft signals a new era where AI will fluidly augment human capabilities across the activities of daily life. This represents an exciting step towards more natural human-computer interaction powered by contextual intelligence.

As a leading IT services provider focused on digital transformation, DBGM Consulting can help you navigate this future. We advise leading organizations on preparing for innovations like Copilot by:

• Assessing AI readiness
• Optimizing governance, security and privacy
• Planning change management and training
• Ensuring responsible AI adoption

Contact DBGM Consulting today to maximize the benefits of Microsoft’s latest AI capabilities while safeguarding your organization. Our experts and partnerships can guide you in implementing Copilot and other AI technologies successfully.

Microsoft recently announced Microsoft 365 Copilot, an exciting new productivity assistant that combines the power of large language models with your organization’s data. Copilot aims to boost productivity by providing relevant suggestions, summaries, and content right within your everyday workflows.

As an early adopter, how can you start preparing for this powerful new feature? Here are some tips:

Get Your Software Updated

• Check which release channel you are currently on for Microsoft 365 desktop apps
• Switch to the Current Channel if needed to access Copilot features
• Staying current ensures you get the latest Copilot capabilities as they release

Understand the Tech Requirements

• Copilot requires:
• Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 license
• Access to organizational data in apps like Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams
• Enable key services to provide abundant data for Copilot to draw from

Microsoft 365 Services	Details
Exchange Online	For email data
SharePoint	For documents
OneDrive	For files
Teams	For chats and meetings

Align Networking

• Work with IT to optimize networking as per Microsoft guidelines
• Ensure low latency and quality of service for Copilot cloud connections
• Unblock WebSockets to enable full Copilot functionality

Get Up to Speed on AI Ethics

• Review Microsoft’s AI ethics principles
• Learn about fairness, reliability, privacy, inclusiveness, transparency, accountability
• Understand their approach to responsible AI

Understand the Content Controls

• Copilot respects existing M365 permissions and policies
• Content oversharing can impact relevance of Copilot suggestions
• Follow best practices for security and governance of organizational content

Enable Adoption Tools

• Admins can enable prompts in Message Center about new Copilot features
• Stay updated on announcements to fully utilize Copilot
• Get familiar with AI concepts on Microsoft’s AI learning site

Embrace the Productivity Power

With the right preparations, Copilot has huge potential to take your productivity to the next level. Lean into this powerful new capability by:

• Enabling latest releases
• Optimizing networking
• Learning about AI principles
• Collaborating with IT teams

Ready to Boost Productivity with Copilot?

As an IT services firm focused on digital transformation, DBGM Consulting can help you every step of the way on your Copilot journey. Our AI experts can:

• Assess your Microsoft 365 environment
• Validate technical readiness
• Align networking
• Tighten content governance
• Enable adoption tools
• Provide training

Contact us today to future-proof your organization with Microsoft’s latest innovations. We’ll ensure you maximize the productivity benefits of tools like Copilot while proactively addressing privacy, security, compliance, and change management considerations.

Many organizations view regulatory compliance as a necessary evil that adds overhead costs but little strategic value. However, with the right approach, compliance can become a transformative program that reduces risk, drives efficiency, and strengthens trust.

In this guide, we’ll explore strategies for making compliance a strategic advantage rather than a cost center. By taking an offensive rather than defensive stance, compliance can move from burden to business accelerator.

Build Around Key Industry Standards

Construct your compliance program using widely adopted frameworks like SOC2, ISO 27001, and NIST CSF rather than reinventing controls. This cost-effectively meets baseline requirements for your industry.

Then assess additional regulations unique to your business and location. The standards serve as the foundation complemented by supplemental controls that address specialized risks.

Automate Manual Processes

Leverage automation capabilities to embed compliance controls into processes like infrastructure provisioning, access management, and application development. Policy as code tools like Chef InSpec verify compliant configs.

Automation reduces reliance on after-the-fact auditing and expensive remediation. Compliance becomes sustainably built into operations rather than added as a burden.

Shift Security Left Through DevSecOps

By addressing compliance requirements earlier in application development, issues get resolved before reaching production. Security champions can provide guardrails and automated testing gates in the SDLC pipeline.

This DevSecOps approach cuts rework costs while ingraining secure software practices. Make compliance involvement a partner to developers rather than a roadblock.

Advertise Compliance to Customers

Achieving advanced certifications like ISO 27001 signals to customers your trustworthiness as a partner especially for industries handling sensitive data. Promote certs on your website and in RFPs.

Security-conscious customers will proactively seek out compliant vendors over competitors with ambiguous security. Turn compliance into a sales advantage.

Unify Across Hybrid Environments

Leverage cloud reliability and automation to bring consistency across on-prem and cloud environments. Platforms like Azure Policy and Azure Arc extend compliance guardrails to servers and workloads anywhere.

Reducing tool sprawl drives efficiency. Unified compliance architecture also enables holistic data protection, risk management, and auditing across your hybrid footprint.

Reframing compliance as a strategic initiative with payoffs beyond just avoiding penalties opens new opportunities. Partner with our GRC experts at DBGM to transform compliance at your organization.

Many companies today are still burdened by manual, inefficient processes that hold back productivity and innovation. AI-driven automation presents a tremendous opportunity to digitally transform these processes to unlock new levels of speed, quality, and customer value.

In this practical guide, we’ll explore strategies and real-world examples to inspire your automation journey. With the right approach, AI can inject automation throughout your organization to reduce costs, accelerate operations, and delight customers.

Step 1: Identify High-Value Automation Opportunities

The first step is methodically evaluating processes across every business function to pinpoint areas ripe for automation. Cross-functional input is key, as perspectives from IT, operations, customer service, finance, HR, and other groups reveal different needs.

Common automation opportunities include:

• Repetitive data entry/updates across systems
• Employee onboarding and offboarding
• Invoice processing and approvals
• Customer support interactions
• Marketing campaign setup and reporting
• Sales lead qualification
• Financial reconciliations
• IT ticket handling and triage

Step 2: Automate Where it Matters Most

With many potential automation ideas uncovered, prioritize opportunities that will have the greatest business impact. Factors like process importance, time spent, and cost savings help determine where automation will be most valuable.

For example, a retailer automated refund processing, which provided fast ROI by eliminating 50,000+ hours per year agents spent on this common task. Quick wins build automation momentum.

Step 3: Design End-to-End Automated Workflows

With targets chosen, design the envisioned end-state workflow powered by AI automation. This includes defining trigger events, data inputs, process steps, system interactions, error handling, and outputs.

Thoroughly mapping out these workflows on paper first, before any coding begins, is an important best practice. This upfront visualization clarifies how the automated processes should operate optimally.

Step 4: Build and Deploy AI Automation Capabilities

Next, it’s time to make the AI automation magic happen through development work. Robotic process automation (RPA) tools from leaders like UiPath and Automation Anywhere enable building software robots rapidly by demonstrating workflow steps.

Machine learning models can also be incorporated to handle unstructured data like categorizing support tickets or scanning documents. Leverage cloud services like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure to scale automation footprint quickly.

Step 5: Monitor and Refine AI Automation Over Time

Like any technology project, expect an iterative process of continuous improvement once initial automation capabilities are live. Rigorously monitor performance indicators like cycle times, output quality, and system usage to identify enhancement opportunities.

Refine both the automated workflows and ML models based on real-world feedback to drive step-level efficiency gains over time. Expand scope by rolling out automation to additional process variants and geographies.

Real-World AI Automation Examples

Now let’s look at some inspiring examples of AI automation in action across various industries:

• Financial services: JPMorgan automated over 360,000 hours of manual work in its consumer lending division using RPA and machine learning. Bots handle loan adjustments, interest recalculations, fee assessments, and more.
• Retail: The floor care company Dyson built an RPA platform that automates order processing, supply chain operations, HR tasks, and other workflows. Process times have sped up by 2-3X with improved accuracy.
• Healthcare: Automation Anywhere’s bots at Blue Shield of California execute time-sensitive claims processing steps, reducing manual work by 73% while boosting staff satisfaction.
• Technology: Cisco’s “AUO” automation platform conducts employee onboarding including system access provisioning and equipment delivery. Onboarding completion time decreased from days to just hours.

The time for AI-driven automation is now. Follow the practical steps in this guide to scope, prioritize, design, and deploy automation in your organization. Partnering with experienced automation consultancies can accelerate this transformation journey. Contact DBGM to discuss launching your automation initiative today.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has evolved from an innovative technology into an essential tool for business success. Companies across industries have realized game-changing benefits from applying AI’s capabilities. In this article, we’ll provide an in-depth look at 6 major ways AI can transform your organization.

Automating Manual Work Unlocks Exponential Efficiency Gains

One of the clearest applications of AI is automating repetitive, rules-based tasks to free up employee time. Technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) allow businesses to configure “software robots” to handle high-volume manual work without human involvement.

For example, an insurance firm used RPA bots to take over new policy data entry. This tedious process had required an employee to manually enter all details from submitted applications into the company’s policy administration system. With over 1,000 new applications each week, this manual data entry work alone required 60 minutes per application, or 1,000+ hours per week.

By deploying RPA bots, the insurance company automated the data entry process nearly end-to-end. The bots can log into the policy admin system, extract submitted application details, and populate all relevant fields just like a human operator. This cut the processing time down to just 9 minutes per application, saving over 15,000 hours annually previously spent on repetitive data entry.

Similar dramatic productivity gains from RPA have been achieved across other document-intensive processes like HR onboarding, claims processing, and more. AI enables the virtual workforce to scale endlessly. According to Deloitte, RPA can reduce process costs by 25-50% while boosting throughput capacity by 40-60%.

Hyper-Personalization Transforms Customer Experiences

AI allows businesses to deliver customized experiences and messaging tailored to each individual customer. Retailers have widely adopted AI techniques like machine learning algorithms to understand every customer’s unique interests based on their behaviors and purchase history.

Starbucks, for example, leverages AI to provide personalized, timely offers to reward members through their mobile app. When a loyal customer hasn’t visited in some time, the app might send an enticing promotion to incentivize them to come back. For customers showing interest in breakfast items, the app will display relevant morning offers.

By continuously analyzing every customer’s full history and preferences, Starbucks’ AI engine identifies promotions and messaging that are highly relevant for each person. This personalized engagement strategy keeps customers delighted and loyal to the brand.

Extracting Hidden Insights from Data

The massive amounts of data generated by modern businesses hold valuable insights that can transform decision making. But finding relationships and patterns within huge data sets requires sophisticated analytics. Human minds simply can’t process so much complex information.

AI techniques like machine learning are perfectly suited for unlocking insights that would otherwise remain hidden in the vast sea of data. Retailers have been at the forefront of applying AI to derive actionable intelligence from point-of-sale, inventory, website traffic, and other data streams.

By analyzing purchase histories, pricing data, promotions, inventory levels, and external factors, retailers can construct AI models to accurately forecast demand across product categories. This allows them to optimize stock levels to avoid having too little (lost sales) or too much (wasted inventory). Continuously refined forecasting models also allow stores to estimate optimal future staffing needs.

Predicting Outcomes with Greater Precision

AI takes predictive analytics to new heights. Today’s machine learning algorithms can process millions of data points to predict future outcomes with a high degree of precision. AI is transforming prediction across areas like demand forecasting, predictive maintenance, healthcare risk assessment, credit risk scoring, and much more.

For example, a major utility company developed AI models to analyze sensor data from its electrical transformers and accurately predict failures up to 9 months in advance. By proactively repairing transformers before they fail, the company has prevented thousands of power outages. The AI system identifies common precursor patterns like voltage fluctuations that indicate an impending breakdown.

Their data scientists built these complex machine learning models using 10 years of historical sensor data that detected patterns even seasoned engineers had not recognized. The system has reduced transformer failures by 35% since its deployment.

Maintaining a Competitive Edge

Given the enormous performance improvements AI enables, companies that fail to adopt AI risk falling behind competitors who will leverage these technologies. AI is becoming essential just to keep pace in today’s fiercely competitive business landscape across every industry.

Leading retailers like Amazon and Walmart have made massive investments in AI to optimize critical functions like personalized recommendations, supply chain operations, inventory management, and more. These AI capabilities help Amazon and Walmart cement their competitive dominance in retail.

Mid-size retailers now face pressure to pursue AI initiatives of their own. Those that fail to do so will struggle to match the performance of AI leaders. They are likely to lose customers and market share over time.

Enabling New Data-Driven Business Models

Rather than merely enhancing existing processes, AI can open up entirely new business model opportunities. For example, manufacturers can shift from selling standalone products to selling outcomes through AI-powered services.

Jet engine manufacturer Rolls Royce is a powerful example of how data-driven business models create new revenue streams. Rolls Royce is using AI-powered analytics to sell “power by the hour” services for aircraft engines. Rather than getting paid once for the engines, Rolls Royce gets paid for every hour of engine usage.

This usage-based model became possible by equipping engines with thousands of sensors that feed continuous performance data back to Rolls Royce. AI algorithms then analyze this data to detect needed maintenance before issues arise. By leveraging data and AI, Rolls Royce provides superior outcomes for customers and captures ongoing value.

The opportunities for new AI-driven business models are nearly endless. Every company should consider how they could use their unique data assets to deliver better ongoing services.

While the potential of AI is clear, most companies need help developing an AI strategy and roadmap. Our firm, DBGM Consulting, specializes in guiding businesses through AI journeys successfully. From introductory workshops to fully building custom AI solutions, our experienced team can help you chart the right AI course and deliver real business value. Don’t leave this vital technology sitting on the sidelines. Contact us today to discuss how AI can start propelling your organization forward.