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As companies scramble to integrate the latest AI tools into their applications and platforms, understanding the usage of these tools goes beyond maximizing productivity.

It’s about staying competitive in a digital-first world. Since Microsoft is a cornerstone of the business landscape, here’s a quick timeline of Microsoft’s AI integration and a guide to all the Copilots. Read about the Copilots to understand the tools you can employ for greater efficiency and innovation.

Elon Musk’s X was suspended in Brazil in August, prompting users to flock to Bluesky and Threads with record-breaking signups. Meanwhile, Myntra has dipped its toe into quick commerce with 4-hour fashion deliveries

A timeline of Microsoft Copilot, key AI milestones

Microsoft first introduced generative AI in June 2021 for the GitHub platform, which it acquired in October 2018 for $7.5 billion. This AI tool, named Github Copilot, assists developers with coding, command line, and management of knowledge bases. 

Later, in March 2023, it integrated the AI tool Microsoft 365 Copilot across Microsoft 365 applications: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Teams, etc., and even the Windows OS and Microsoft Edge browser. Early this year, Microsoft Copilot was launched as a stand-alone app for iOS and Android, and later for the Telegram app. 

In September 2023, Microsoft expanded its Copilot capabilities to business applications by integrating them into Dynamics 365. By November 2023, the company announced plans for a new Copilot within Visual Studio to boost developer productivity. These updates highlight Microsoft's ongoing commitment to embedding AI across its entire suite of products and services.

Your guide to all the Microsoft Copilots

Below are all the Microsoft Copilots and a brief on how they help the users. 

Microsoft Copilot 

This AI tool is a part of Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, and integrated with Windows 10/11 OSs, and browser Microsoft Edge.

Microsoft Copilot is powered by the newer and more sophisticated version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, can browse the web for information, and perform ‘natural language’ tasks such as writing poems and blogs. Copilot also includes an Image Generator built on OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 model and has Suno integration for music creation.

Copilot can be used as a plug-in on third-party applications and websites. The 'Copilot Pages' feature allows the creation of an embeddable digital workplace, made of content generated via Copilot.  

Microsoft Copilot Pro

Users of Microsoft’s Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote applications get priority access to the latest AI models with a Copilot Pro subscription. Pro subscribers can generate high-resolution images using the Image Creator. It also provides additional generative AI capabilities across the Microsoft 365 apps.

Microsoft 365 Copilot

This AI tool is similar to ‘Microsoft Copilot Pro’ but designed with enterprise-grade security measures against data breaches and unauthorized access. Additionally, it has a ‘Semantic Index’ at the backend for analysis of complex data with contextual information. 

Team Copilot can be integrated into Microsoft Planner, Loop, and Teams to manage tasks and deadlines. Microsoft 365 Chat can generate answers by extracting info from across the Microsoft 365 apps. Additionally, there are specialized skill-based Copilots for Sales, Service, Security, Supply Chain, Fabric, Intune, Power Pages, Azure, etc.

Copilot Studio

This AI tool is a dashboard. Users of Microsoft 365 Copilot can access their data or that from third-party applications such as CRM platforms or enterprise resource management systems — using pre-built or custom-built connectors. Users can set "guardrails" — restrictions for Copilots that safeguard data — essentially creating customized Copilots.

Users of Microsoft 365 Copilot can customize Copilots using natural language descriptions and by filtering datasets for specific teams or users. Copilot agents assist with business processes and workflow automation using memory and context. Visual creator agent, a pre-built Copilot Agent, can generate images, designs, and soon, videos.

Bluesky hits 10 million users after X got banned in Brazil

Bluesky, funded by Twitter in 2019 when Jack Dorsey was the CEO, gained a million new users 3 days after the ban.

Brazil banned X over disinformation

On 30th August 2024, the Brazilian Supreme Court banned the social media platform X due to a lack of content moderation. With over 20 million users on X, Brazil was the fifth-largest market for X according to the data firm Statista. The overnight ban of X in Brazil meant a huge blow to those whose career was made, supported, and promoted on X.  

The ripple effect of the ban

Within a week of this ban, Bluesky — a social-media platform similar to Twitter but with a ‘decentralized’ network with control distributed among multiple independent entities — gained 3 million users! More than 85% of these users were from Brazil! This is record signups for a company that had opened its platforms to all users only in February. Threads by Meta too has hit a major milestone with over 200 million users since the ban. 

About a week after gaining 10 million users, Bluesky introduced video posting on the platform, catching up with another of X’s features. In some cases, ahead of X as it also rolled out self-moderation tools for post/quote visibility.

Myntra trials 4-hour delivery amidst a surge in quick commerce

With Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy’s Instamart disrupting the traditional e-commerce model through small-sized, 10-minute deliveries, Myntra is set to join the race by introducing fast delivery for fashion items. Trials have begun in Bengaluru and Delhi; the service is expected to be available in more cities by the end of the year. 

Why is Myntra getting into quick commerce?

BlinkIt, BigBasket's BB Now, Zepto, and Swiggy’s Instamart have collectively achieved a GMV of over $6 billion this year, a substantial increase from $2.5 billion last year. Analysts speculate that quick commerce could impact the broader e-commerce sector, which recorded $50 billion in sales last year. Additionally, an internal assessment suggests customers are more likely to complete purchases when offered shorter delivery times.

Beyond 1-day delivery

Considering Myntra already has an Express service with 24/48-hour deliveries in few Indian cities, the introduction of 4-hour delivery demonstrates a strong commitment to taking advantage of the opportunity and fulfilling customer wishes.

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