If you were unable to attend the 2024 Ignite event, or found the volume of information overwhelming, you’re in luck because we have distilled the essential insights for you.
This blog focuses on the most critical takeaways and actionable items from the event. The two primary topics covered are:
- The AI Revolution
- Enhancing Your Security Posture
You can navigate directly to either topic by clicking on the respective section.
To maximize your Microsoft investment and thrive through 2025, this resource is indispensable.
The AI Revolution
AI is advancing rapidly, and with nearly 70% of Fortune 500 companies integrating Copilot into their Tech + AI Stack, understanding its benefits for your team is crucial.
Enhancing Team Productivity
Your team’s creativity, innovation, and complex problem-solving skills are invaluable, and cultivating those skills is a must.
Part of that cultivation is giving your team the time and space they need to fully utilize those skills.
Imagine if you could free up 50-70% of their time by delegating mundane, repetitive, or low-skill tasks to generative AI.
This would enable them to focus on more complex challenges, accelerating your organization’s progress.
This is not merely theoretical.
Feedback from Copilot users indicates significant potential unlocked and expanded these capabilities, thanks to Copilot and the new agents introduced by Microsoft.
(Click here to assess your Copilot readiness. If you are not yet prepared, we will assist you in getting ready.)
The Agent Library within Copilot Studio is one of the most significant new releases.
It includes commonly used agents that support essential business functions, such as sales orders.
For teams requiring additional customization, autonomous agents can now be created. These agents operate in the background, responding to specific events.
For instance, an autonomous agent can be configured to sort and prioritize incoming emails without manual prompts.
When combined with other agent releases, such as customizable agents in SharePoint, Facilitator and Interpreter agents in Teams, Employee Self-Service agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, and the Project Manager agent in Microsoft Planner, the potential for increased team productivity, accelerated asset creation, and enhanced problem-solving capacity is substantial.
This productivity boost is one of the reasons other organizations are experiencing a 3x return on their AI investments, according to Microsoft.
First Draft Support
Some organizations question whether generative AI can produce high-quality work products, which is essential.
However, some employees find it challenging to create initial drafts or synthesize their ideas.
Copilot and other agents within Microsoft products enable employees to generate robust first drafts, allowing them to refine their ideas and presentations more efficiently.
This capability means your team can produce more assets in less time, without compromising quality.
Content Consistency
Microsoft’s Copilot excels in creating consistent content and assets across your organization, irrespective of the initial creator.
By leveraging your organization’s style guide, Copilot assists employees in ensuring their assets adhere to tone, word choice, and other critical organizational voice guidelines, fostering a cohesive brand voice.
This functionality applies to both internal and external-facing assets.
Hardening Your Security Posture
Regardless of whether you are a large corporation, a medium-sized company, or a small business, security is imperative.
As security threats become increasingly sophisticated, including autonomous attacks targeting multiple companies simultaneously, cybersecurity is crucial to protect your organization.
This is where Copilot and Purview play a vital role.
Mitigating Shadow AI
One of the most significant threats to an organization’s security posture is the use of shadow AI.
Shadow AI refers to unsecured, third-party AI applications that your team uses for business activities.
While AI is increasingly prevalent in business, not all AI applications are secure.
Many third-party AI applications lack security, making any information shared through them vulnerable and accessible, contributing to the 88% of cybersecurity breaches caused by human/employee error.
The Harvard Business Review also highlights the substantial risks businesses face from unsecured third-party AI applications.
To enhance your security posture, it is essential to provide your team with secure AI resources.
Microsoft Copilot offers a secure, generative AI solution that will support your employee’s needs without the unnecessary risk of third-party AI applications.
Copilot can assist your team in:
- Generating robust first drafts of work products, such as presentations or blog content
- Editing assets to align with your organization’s style guidelines
- Organizing and outlining the information needed to create assets
- Brainstorming ideas for content and other work products to support your team’s creative needs
- And much more…
Harden Your Security Posture Instantly
Cybersecurity improvements are advancing quickly.
One of the most significant advancements from Microsoft is Purview.
Purview integrates with Microsoft 365, Copilot, SharePoint, and OneDrive to secure all your organization’s digital assets.
Purview, like all Microsoft products, adopts a Zero Trust approach to cybersecurity, implementing enhanced sensitivity labeling to ensure your organization’s assets are accessible only to authorized employees.
The most valuable feature of Purview is its continuous reporting.
Purview consistently monitors your organization’s security posture and provides comprehensive reports with recommendations for improvement, ensuring you know the next best steps to protect your organization against cyberattacks.
This is why Microsoft Purview will be your premier cybersecurity asset in 2025.
It helps your organization reduce the risk of oversharing and provides reports on unprotected assets. Additionally, your assets in use and at rest are continuously monitored for optimal digital hygiene.
To determine your readiness for Copilot and Purview, please click here.
If you are ready, we will assist you in implementing Copilot and Purview.
If you are not yet ready, we will guide you through the necessary steps to ensure you can benefit from Microsoft’s new releases for 2025.
