What is Microsoft 365 Copilot?
Microsoft 365 Copilot is an AI assistant built into the apps you already use. Let's break down what it actually does, how it works, and why every organisation wants it.
What is Copilot, really?
Think of Copilot as a really smart colleague who’s read every document in your organisation.
You know that person at work who always knows where things are? “Oh, the budget report? Sarah shared it in the Teams meeting last Tuesday. Here’s the link.” That’s Copilot — except it works inside Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and PowerPoint.
You type a question or give it an instruction, and it uses AI to help — summarise a meeting, draft an email, analyse data, or find that document you know exists but can’t find.
The key thing: Copilot only sees what YOU have permission to see. It doesn’t have a magic key to everything. If you can’t access the finance folder, neither can Copilot when it’s working for you.
What can Copilot actually do?
Here’s what Copilot does in each app — these are the built-in capabilities the exam tests:
| App | What Copilot Does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Word | Draft, rewrite, summarise, change tone | ”Turn these bullet points into a professional report” |
| Excel | Analyse data, create formulas, generate charts | ”What’s the trend in Q3 sales? Show me a chart” |
| PowerPoint | Create presentations from prompts or documents | ”Create a slide deck from this Word document” |
| Outlook | Draft replies, summarise email threads, coach tone | ”Summarise this 47-email thread in 3 bullet points” |
| Teams | Summarise meetings, catch up on chats, create action items | ”What did I miss in the last hour of this meeting?” |
| Copilot Chat | Cross-app queries using all your M365 data | ”What’s the latest update on Project Phoenix across all channels?” |
Real-world scenario: Northwave's first week with Copilot
Northwave Solutions (500 employees) just rolled out Copilot. Here’s what actually happened in week one:
- Marketing used Copilot in Word to draft 3 blog posts in 2 hours (usually takes 2 days)
- Finance used Copilot in Excel to find anomalies in expense reports that humans missed
- HR used Copilot in Outlook to summarise 200+ applicant emails into a shortlist
- IT (Maya) used Business Chat to find “who has access to the customer database?” across SharePoint, Teams, and Entra — in seconds instead of hours
The pattern: Copilot shines at tasks that involve finding, summarising, or creating content from existing organisational data.
Copilot features admins can control
As an admin, you don’t just deploy Copilot — you decide which features are available. The exam tests whether you know what can be enabled or disabled.
| Feature | Can Admin Disable? | Where to Configure |
|---|---|---|
| Copilot in Word/Excel/PPT | Per-user or group | M365 admin center |
| Copilot in Teams meetings | Yes | Teams admin center |
| Business Chat (web) | Yes | M365 admin center |
| Web search (grounding) | Yes | M365 admin center |
| Microsoft Graph access | Indirectly (via permissions) | Entra + SharePoint |
| Copilot in Outlook | Per-user or group | M365 admin center |
Why would you disable a Copilot feature?
Common reasons admins disable specific features:
- Web search grounding — some orgs don’t want Copilot pulling in external web data for compliance reasons
- Teams meeting summaries — legal teams may have concerns about AI summarising sensitive discussions
- Gradual rollout — enable for pilot group first (e.g., IT and Marketing), then expand company-wide
Exam tip: The exam often tests scenarios where an admin needs to disable ONE specific feature. Know which admin center controls what.
The Microsoft Graph connection
This is the concept that makes Copilot powerful AND the reason data governance matters:
Microsoft Graph is the API that connects all your M365 data — emails, files, chats, calendar events, contacts, sites. When you ask Copilot a question, it queries the Graph to find relevant information.
Key exam concept: Copilot doesn’t have its own copy of your data. It reads data through Microsoft Graph using the same permissions as the signed-in user. If Maya can’t access the finance SharePoint site, Copilot can’t access it when Maya is using it either.
This is why data governance matters so much for Copilot deployments. If your SharePoint permissions are a mess (everyone can see everything), Copilot will happily surface sensitive data to anyone who asks. This leads directly into Domain 2 — data protection.
🎬 Video walkthrough
🎬 Video coming soon
What is Microsoft 365 Copilot? — AB-900 Module 21
What is Microsoft 365 Copilot? — AB-900 Module 21
~8 minFlashcards
Knowledge Check
Northwave Solutions deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot. Maya (the M365 admin) notices that Copilot in Teams is summarising confidential HR meetings. What should Maya check FIRST?
Brew & Byte wants to enable Copilot for their marketing team but NOT for the finance team during a pilot phase. Where does the admin configure this?
Which of the following statements about Microsoft 365 Copilot are TRUE? (Select TWO)
Next up: Copilot vs Agents — what’s the difference between built-in Copilot smarts and custom agents, and when would you use each?