Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat Introduces Pay-as-You-Go Agents for Businesses

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat now available to commercial customers with a flexible pay-as-you-go model.

Published: Jan 15, 2025

Hero approved Microsoft 365

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Key Takeaways:

  • Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat brings GPT-4-powered AI agents to help businesses automate tasks, with a flexible pay-as-you-go model.
  • Users can upload files for tailored assistance.
  • The service is available to all Microsoft 365 commercial customers.

Microsoft introduced today a new Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat experience for commercial customers. This service extends the existing free AI chat functionality with an option to use pay-as-you-go AI agents that will be accessible directly from the chat conversation.

Microsoft 365 commercial customers will have access to a secure and reliable chat experience backed by OpenAI’s GPT-4. Organizations can deploy specialized AI agents for tasks like customer service or technical support. These agents are available directly within the chat interface and are billed based on usage. This service also provides IT teams with robust tools to manage agents, protect enterprise data, and ensure compliance with security policies.

“Copilot Chat is a powerful new on-ramp for everyone in your organization to build the AI habit with Copilot and agents. Microsoft 365 Copilot remains our best-in-class personal AI assistant at work. It includes everything in Copilot Chat, plus grounding in all your meetings, emails, chats, and documents. And it includes Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps that millions of people rely on every day — Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more,” Microsoft explained.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat Introduces Pay-as-You-Go Agents for Businesses
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat (Image Credit: Microsoft)

What is included in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat for businesses?

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat includes GPT-4o-powered web-grounded chat, which helps users with tasks like market research, drafting strategic plans, and preparing for meetings. Users can also upload files such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents directly into the chat, allowing the Copilot AI assistant to offer personalized support. It analyzes the content and lets users ask specific questions, summarize key points, analyze data, and suggest improvements.

Copilot Pages enable real-time collaboration with AI and team members to create and enhance the content in real-time. This feature integrates data from various sources such as Copilot, users’ files, and the web. Businesses can also create AI-generated images for campaigns, product launches, and social media posts.

With Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, customers can use simple natural language commands to create AI agents that automate routine tasks and business processes. The service also includes the Copilot Control System that provides IT administrators tools to manage and govern AI agents within the organization.

Microsoft says that users can pin Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat within the new Microsoft 365 Copilot app, Microsoft Teams, and Outlook. It’s also possible to access the chatbot directly on the web.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is available to all Entra account users with a Microsoft 365 subscription. Users can access features such as web grounding, Copilot Pages, file uploads, and image generation at no additional cost, though there are usage limits for file uploads and image generation.

Keep in mind that agents that access the organization’s shared tenant data are disabled by default. Admins need to configure or use an existing Copilot Studio subscription to enable these agents, which will be billed based on metered consumption.

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