GenAI for your Digital Workplace: Boost Collaboration Today

The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 has revolutionised the digital workplace. This innovation has precipitated the arrival of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) into the digital workplace: Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365, Teams Premium and Bing; and Google Gemini, Google Workspace’s AI assistant. The introduction of AI into collaborative environments marks a significant turn. The question is: Should you integrate GenAI into your digital workplace? If so, on what scale and for what uses? And which digital workplace solutions should you choose between Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Google Gemini and their alternatives?

Discover Devoteam experts’ insights on these questions in this guide.

GenAI digital workplace solutions: Promising innovations

ChatGPT’s rapid deployment in companies aimed to prevent employees from using its public version, which risked leaking confidential data. The emergence of Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini, technologies integrated into the work environments already used by employees, has reshuffled the cards for generative AI in companies.

Many organisations are experimenting with Microsoft Copilot, a mature and promising solution. This AI technology supports employees in daily tasks, enhancing productivity and enabling focus on high-value activities. Key use cases include:

• Summarising email exchanges in Outlook
• AI-assisted email writing in Outlook 
• Summarising PDF documents
• Searching for information in a corpus of documents 
• Meeting reports in Teams

Adopting Microsoft Copilot can enhance performance and improve the employer brand. However, its limitations require a strategic and phased adoption approach.

Microsoft GenAI

For organisations experimenting with Copilot, mid-2024 highlights several emerging issues:

• Integrating GenAI into your digital workplace: A difficult business case

The various Copilot experiments carried out by organisations have made it possible to identify the use cases and business functions for which generative AI offers added value. However, it remains difficult to quantify this added value. It is impossible to put the cost of the (relatively expensive) licence directly into perspective with a gain in efficiency or time.

• A product under development

Microsoft Copilot still has shortcomings, particularly in Excel and PowerPoint, which limit its added value.

• Cheaper Generative AI alternatives

Organisations have already integrated several less expensive alternatives, such as Bing, Copilot in Teams Premium, and ChatGPT Enterprise, into their collaborative ecosystems, satisfactorily meeting the needs of some employees. For instance, Microsoft offers Copilot for Bing in Microsoft 365 for free. Users can also use ChatGPT in teams for $25 per user per month.

• Security concerns

Poor data management can reveal malfunctions and jeopardise the confidentiality of information. This is because Microsoft AI can access data in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. So, if a confidential document is not well protected, an employee can easily access it by asking the chatbot a question. To ensure the security of sensitive data, it is essential to implement good data governance before adopting the technology.

But don’t let these observations discourage you from considering Microsoft Copilot’s competitive edge. Instead, they should prompt you to consider implementing this new solution carefully.

Key strategies for integrating GenAI into your digital workplace

We believe that it is important to integrate AI, in particular Microsoft Copilot, into your digital workplace strategy. However, you should take precautions to achieve this:

• Adopt the small-steps technique

Deploy Microsoft Copilot strategically and gradually in successive iterations. The tool’s economic cost, the need to control its use, and its technical requirements, particularly regarding data governance, should encourage you to take small steps.

• Target high-impact areas to integrate Microsoft Copilot

Target populations where AI brings recognised value, such as legal, HR or management departments that process large volumes of documents. Consider using GenAI for project management as well.

• Mixing Gen AI solutions into your Digital Workplace

Offer different digital tools adapted to the specific needs of each department without incurring excessive costs. ChatGPT enterprise, Bing or Copilot in Teams, for example, empower employees in several common use cases, such as summarising meetings or helping to write texts.

• Defining clear data governance rules

Ensure that data governance rules are well defined to secure sensitive information in your environment. This precaution is necessary whether or not you decide to implement Copilot in Microsoft 365. Whether data breaches are accentuated by the adoption of Copilot or not, they represent a major risk for your company.

• Team support and training in Artificial Intelligence

Support teams in GenAI adoption to enhance user experience. Train employees to use generative AI and data governance rules to maximise the benefits and minimise the risks. It is crucial to help employees understand prompting rules. Experts like Devoteam can also be involved in the co-construction of prompt repositories to make it easier for your company to acculturate the technology.

Integrating GenAI into your digital workplace: Key takeaways

In conclusion, Generative AI, like the Internet, transforms the Digital Workplace. Integrating GenAI into your digital workplace is a strategic move that can significantly enhance productivity, drive innovation, and improve real-time decision-making.

Microsoft Copilot is attractive and promising among the AI solutions available. However, we recommend being cautious and choosy when using this technology. It can be expensive and may still need improvements in specific situations.

Additionally, other alternatives may be available. Experiment with this tool where it has the most value and prepares your infrastructure and teams for large-scale use.

Are you looking for guidance in this process? Devoteam’s experts are with you every step of the way to make AI a major lever for improving the employee experience. Contact us now!