A Microsoft Copilot event has been scheduled for later this month and if you haven’t heard about the goal, it’s expected to be a rebranding moment for Copilot. That sounds confusing, we know, Copilot only just received a comprehensive debut so why would Microsoft rebrand it already?
The upcoming Microsoft 365 Copilot: Wave 2 event will focus on “the next phase of Copilot innovation,” providing us with a review of just how critical AI is going to be within Microsoft’s services. The Microsoft Copilot rebranding is scheduled for September 16, 2024, at 8:00 am PT, and will be hosted on LinkedIn, for everyone who wants to tune in.
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Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 2 Event: Let’s Revisit Copilot for Work
Much like the other AI models out there, Copilot has been marketed as a one-stop solution to all your needs. The all-encompassing AI works as a productivity tool, personal assistant, search engine, unauthorized mentor, creative muse, and keeper of all your secrets. Tech giants are working overtime trying to break down how to market their AI services and convince customers about the full-fledged perks of AI.
The implementation of AI within the work sphere has been one of the most successful strategies for a large number of companies, and the wide variety of Microsoft products are central to corporate life. Considering the scale of its business offerings, the Microsoft 365 Copilot: Wave 2 event and its natural segue into “AI for work” or “Copilot for work” was always inevitable.
Microsoft’s decision to host the event on LinkedIn and their comment on inviting the public to “discover the next phase of Copilot for work” make it obvious that the company is targeting work tools as the focal point of the next stage of its AI plans.
Ready For Some Copilot Updates? Here’s What to Expect
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Corporate VP Jared Spataro are expected to lead the event to show businesses just why they should invest in the new and improved AI for their professional needs. Last month, The Verge was among the first to reveal Microsoft’s plans, indicating how the Microsoft Copilot rebranding was going to take place, shifting the focus from the abstract “Copilot in Word,” to the more focused “Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word.” The Microsoft 365 tools are absolutely integral to any professional setup and despite their many faults, improvements to them are always welcome.
Earlier Copilot updates have already provided a specialized plan for businesses that want to integrate the AI assistant into their processes, but this comes at a price of $30 USD per user per month. Initially, Microsoft had enforced a 300-user minimum for any business that wanted to try the tool, which cut smaller businesses from using the Copilot business service, but they eventually removed the restriction.
The Copilot AI tool offers a lot of support across Microsoft 365 tools such as Word, Excel, and OneNote, allowing users to analyze data, gain summaries of notes, visualize data as a table, create more innovative presentations, etc. The organization’s plans to expand on these features remain to be seen. It is also unclear if the Microsoft Copilot rebranding will involve any new subscription plans or shift off a section of their tasks to a differently named AI tool, but that appears highly unlikely. From what we can tell, the company will use this opportunity to get businesses, their primary target audience, to renew their interest in the Copilot tools.
Reports suggest that the Microsoft Copilot event could feature some additional features announced for Copilot Pro as well, but that might take too much attention away from the business plan the company is trying to push forward. Microsoft has already landed in hot water trying to convince users that the Recall feature on the Copilot+ laptops is a good idea, but its attempts have not been received as magnanimously.
For now, Microsoft has been planning on releasing the feature in stages, ensuring that those who do want to give the feature a chance, get an opportunity to do it. Overall, Microsoft’s past Copilot updates have generated a very mixed bag of reactions, but a more focused pitch at the entrepreneurs and owners may be better received.