Copilot Studio

The rapid evolution of generative AI technology has been remarkable, particularly following the debut of ChatGPT 3.5 in November 2022. This surge has resulted in a proliferation of generative AI products and services, creating a complex landscape that can be challenging to navigate.

In this article, we aim to demystify Copilot Studio, highlighting its potential benefits for your organisation and distinguish it from the other Copilot offerings available.

Daniel Molka

CTO, PwC Switzerland

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Arash Besadi

Manager, Cloud & Digital, PwC Switzerland

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What is Copilot Studio?

Microsoft Copilot Studio is a low-code/no-code environment which allows you to build customised copilots specific to your organisational needs. It has evolved from the previous product called Power Virtual Agents; this addition was not just giving it a new name, but it introduced new features like AI Integrations. This new out-of-the-box feature allows chatbots to produce context-aware and personalised answers that match user intent and tone. This results in more natural and engaging responses.

Top 3 major capabilities

Topics are the foundational elements that give structure to a chatbot’s capabilities. They can be thought of as the bot’s areas of expertise, shaping the trajectory of conversational exchanges. Each topic represents a distinct thread of dialogue and, when connected, they enable a seamless and intuitive interaction between the user and the bot (Reference).

Generative responses enhance the out-of-the-box value of your copilot by broadening the range of conversational topics it can handle, all without the need for manual dialogue tree construction. These responses can serve as the main source of information within your copilot or act as a reliable fallback for queries that pre-authored topics do not cover.

Connectors:

Connectors serve as a bridge or ‘wrapper’ for APIs, enabling seamless integration with a multitude of services. These connectors facilitate automated interactions not only within the Microsoft ecosystem but also with external platforms (Reference). With over 1,000 connectors available, users can effortlessly connect to diverse systems including SAP, ServiceNow and Workday, streamlining a broad spectrum of automated tasks (Reference).

API:
The capabilities of a copilot can be enhanced by leveraging external REST APIs. This allows for the expansion of functionality and integration with a wide range of external services and systems such as Azure OpenAI API (Reference).

How can Copilot Studio help your organisation?

In the fast-paced digital landscape, businesses require cutting-edge tools to enhance productivity and efficiency. Microsoft’s Copilot Studio stands out as a pivotal resource that empowers organisations to operate more effectively.

The recent upgrades to Copilot Studio have expanded its compatibility to encompass major enterprise systems such as Salesforce, SAP and Workday. For developers, these integrations simplify delivery of the visions and ideas into a product that is deployed.

One of the highlights is the straightforward process of incorporating Copilot Studio into MS Teams. This provides a user-friendly experience for everyone in your business. Moreover, it efficiently manages critical security elements, particularly authorisation and access control, guaranteeing that only the right people have the appropriate access. It operates in conjunction with Entra ID, which means all actions are authorised by the current user of Teams (Reference).

Below is the potential architecture of the solution implementation:

Is Copilot Studio the right tool for you?

The pathways offered by Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Studio are designed to complement each other, allowing for a versatile approach to meet diverse needs. It is recommended to utilise multiple strategies concurrently for optimal results. A key distinction to note is that Microsoft 365 Copilot’s responses tend to be more stochastic, as they are dynamically generated based on the unique context of your SharePoint data and Microsoft Entra ID. In contrast, Copilot Studio’s chatbots provide more deterministic responses, owing to their reliance on predefined ‘topics’. In addition, the introduction of more generative responses within their decision trees can introduce a degree of variability to their outputs.

We did a comparison of other aspects:

Aspects	Microsoft 365 Copilot	Microsoft Copilot Studio
User group	All	All (requires low-code development)
Features	Out of the box	Customisation
Complexity	Low	Medium
Licence type	User based	Capacity based
Cost	30$ per user per month (Reference)	$200 per 25,000 messages (Reference)

Request a demo

Are you interested in how Copilot Studio can help your company? We would be pleased to show you a demo, taking you through a journey on how it can empower your employees’ workday.

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