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Should I use Microsoft Copilot or a custom AI solution?

Quick Answer

Use Microsoft Copilot if your workflows centre on Microsoft 365 applications and you need AI assistance within Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams. Choose custom AI when you need integration with non-Microsoft systems, AI grounded in your specific data beyond SharePoint, automated multi-step workflows, or capabilities that Copilot does not provide. Many organisations use both: Copilot for productivity and custom AI for process automation.

Summary

Key takeaways

  • Copilot excels within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem
  • Custom AI provides integration with any system and bespoke workflows
  • Copilot costs £25 per user per month with minimal setup
  • Custom AI costs more upfront but addresses specific business processes

When Microsoft Copilot Is the Right Choice

Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 is compelling when your organisation lives in the Microsoft ecosystem. It integrates directly into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, providing AI assistance within the tools your team already uses. Copilot can draft documents, summarise emails, create presentations from data, generate formulas in Excel, and summarise Teams meetings. It leverages your Microsoft Graph data for context, meaning it can reference your emails, files, and calendar when assisting you. At £25 per user per month, it provides broad AI capability with minimal implementation effort. Copilot is best suited for individual productivity enhancement rather than business process automation.

When Custom AI Is Needed

Custom AI solutions become necessary when your requirements extend beyond what Copilot offers. Integration with non-Microsoft systems like Salesforce, SAP, or industry-specific applications requires custom development. AI grounded in data sources beyond SharePoint and Microsoft Graph needs custom RAG implementations. Automated workflows that process transactions, route requests, or interact with multiple systems require bespoke development. Specific AI capabilities like document extraction, fraud detection, or predictive analytics are beyond Copilot's scope. For organisations where AI needs to automate specific business processes rather than just assist individuals, custom solutions deliver significantly more value despite higher upfront costs.

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Copilot can access documents stored in SharePoint and OneDrive that users have permission to view. It respects existing access controls. However, it cannot access data in non-Microsoft systems or external databases without additional integration work.

Copilot inherits the security and compliance posture of your Microsoft 365 environment. Data stays within your tenant boundaries, and existing sensitivity labels and DLP policies apply. It does not use your data for model training.

Yes. Copilot plugins and Microsoft Copilot Studio allow extending Copilot with custom data sources and actions. This provides a middle ground between out-of-the-box Copilot and fully custom AI development.

Microsoft Copilot Studio allows building custom agents that extend Copilot with your own data sources and actions. It provides a middle ground between standard Copilot and fully custom development, suitable for many internal use cases without significant development expertise.

In mixed environments, Copilot handles Microsoft 365 productivity well while custom AI solutions handle non-Microsoft integrations. Many organisations run both in parallel. The key is avoiding duplication and ensuring clear boundaries between what each system handles.

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