Microsoft Copilot for 365 vs. Copilot Studio vs. Azure Open AI Studio
Earlier this week, we heard from Modern Work leaders like Jeff Teper and others, releasing more news on Copilot for 365, Copilot Studio, and more at the Microsoft Build Conference! We came with one takeaway: the AI buzz is louder than ever. Organizations everywhere, near and far are racing to adopt and scale AI technology to stay competitive. With Microsoft offering a few pathways to deploy AI solutions, it’s critical to determine which one best suits your organization. In this blog, we’ll explore three of Microsoft’s AI options—Copilot for 365, Copilot Studio, and Azure Open AI Studio—and provide some insights on graph connectors v. plugins to assist with your decision on the path to take, so you can get started ASAP!
Understanding Your Organization’s AI Needs
Before diving into the specifics of each platform, consider the following factors:
- Your organization’s unique goals: Are you aiming to boost productivity with AI assistance in everyday tasks or build custom AI solutions from scratch?
- Technical resources: Does your team have AI expertise, or do you plan to hire external AI expertise? Or are you looking for a more user-friendly, low-code approach?
- Budget: Consider the total cost of ownership, including licensing, implementation, and maintenance?
- Output: How do you want your results to look? Do you need to pull in-depth content, or just surface level information to facilitate easy wins?
With these factors in mind, let’s dive into each platform to see how they align with what your organization needs.
Copilot for 365: AI Productivity Assistant Within Microsoft 365
Copilot for 365 is designed for organizations that use Microsoft 365 and want to infuse AI into their existing productivity tools like email, documents, and collaboration platforms.
Advantages of Copilot for 365
- Effortless Deployment: Copilot for 365 integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 applications, enabling AI-driven assistance without complex setup.
- Productivity Boost: It enhances workflow efficiency through specific use cases like email generation and document collaboration.
- Fast ROI: Since it works with your existing Microsoft 365 infrastructure, you can realize a return on investment quickly.
Considerations for Copilot for 365
- Additional Costs: Depending on the features you need, licensing and implementation costs may increase.
- Limited Customization: It’s less customizable compared to other options
- Not Actively Learning: Copilot for 365 isn’t actively learning from your organization’s data.
- Content Enrichment: To maximize Copilot for 365’s value, your content must be enriched with classification and connector-based technology.
- Less Personalized: No real ability to tune for relevancy.
Copilot Studio: Low-Code AI for Custom Applications
Copilot Studio is ideal for organizations looking for a low-code approach to build custom AI workflow applications, integrating with Microsoft 365’s graph, power platform, and external applications.
Advantages of Copilot Studio
- Low-Code Setup: You can get started quickly with minimal technical expertise.
- External Integration: Copilot Studio can connect into external applications, extending its functionality via Power Platform, Plugins, or Graph Connectors.
- Microsoft 365 Graph Integration: Can integrate directly with the Microsoft 365 graph with graph connectors, allowing broader access to data.
- Custom Copilot Creation: Can build custom Copilots to delegate information, automation, etc. Can extend these Copilots through graph indexing technology.
Considerations for Copilot Studio
- Custom Copilot Functionality: It requires facilitation for custom Copilots in individual applications.
- More work: Building and maintaining custom Copilots requires more work, as well as slight technical expertise for workflows.
Azure Open AI Studio: Build Custom AI Solutions with Advanced Tools
Azure Open AI Studio is designed for organizations with a high level of AI expertise, seeking comprehensive tools to build custom AI solutions from the ground up.
Advantages of Azure Open AI Studio
- Comprehensive Infrastructure: It offers machine learning, cognitive services, and Open AI services, actively learning from your data.
- Tailored Solutions: You can build custom AI solutions to meet highly specific organizational needs.
- Large-Scale Data Handling: It can handle vast amounts of company data for complex AI use cases.
- External Repository Extensions: Azure Open AI Studio can be extended to external repositories through graph connectors, enhancing its comprehensiveness.
Considerations for Azure Open AI Studio
- Expertise Required: Azure Open AI Studio requires in-depth AI development and deployment knowledge.
- Steeper Costs and Learning Curve: Without in-house expertise, it can be more expensive and time-consuming to deploy.
- Longer Time to Realize ROI: Due to its complexity, achieving a return on investment may take longer.
Plugins v. Graph Connectors for Copilot and Copilot Studio?
Another element to consider when deploying is how you connect your external applications. With the focus on Enterprise Knowledge, you need to securely connect all external repositories so that Copilots can be deployed anywhere you need them. For a quick extension, you can now build plug-ins or leverage graph connectors.
Plugins offer a quick, and easy to way to contextualize some external information for highly specific functionality. While Copilot graph connectors index external information into the Microsoft Graph and allow information to be retrieved via RAG.
Conclusion: Which Option Is Right for You?
Choosing between Copilot for 365, Copilot Studio, and Azure Open AI Studio ultimately depends on your organization’s goals, technical resources, and budget. If you’re looking for easy to deploy AI-driven productivity solution, Copilot for 365 might be the best fit. For a low-code solution with the ability to build Copilots that can extend to external applications, Copilot Studio could be your answer. If you’re seeking a comprehensive AI platform for custom solutions, Azure Open AI Studio might be the way to go.
Consider your organization’s specific needs, as well as internal resources and budget available, and choose the platform that aligns with your AI strategy. When strategizing on how you want your enterprise knowledge deployed within AI, come up with a plan that is secure and does what you need it to do to achieve great business outcomes. Regardless of your choice, Microsoft offers a range of AI tools to help you achieve your goals and stay ahead in the AI race.