AI in the workplace is a common discussion point. People are asking what efficiencies can be gained but there are so many tools, gadgets and gizmos it can feel tricky to keep up with what’s what. Microsoft has been steadily rolling out different flavours of its Copilot technology and two terms you’re likely to have come across are Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot. They sound similar, but they’re not the same thing. Knowing the difference can help you decide which one makes sense for your business and equally which can cause challenges for staff.
Copilot Chat is the more general-purpose assistant. Think of it as Microsoft’s take on a conversational AI like ChatGPT, built right into Windows and Bing. You can ask it questions, get summaries of documents, draft emails, or even brainstorm ideas. It’s like having a digital helper who can quickly pull in information or tidy up tasks without leaving your workflow. For most people, it’s an accessible way to try out what AI can do day-to-day, whether that’s rephrasing a tricky message or generating ideas for a presentation. This is included as part of your M365 Business license.
Microsoft 365 Copilot, on the other hand, goes much deeper. This is where AI is woven directly into the apps many businesses use every day – Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and PowerPoint. Rather than being a standalone chatbot, it lives inside these applications and helps you work faster and smarter. For example, in Excel it can analyse trends and highlight patterns, in Word it can draft or refine content, and in Teams it can summarise meetings or pull out action points. It doesn’t just respond to a typed question; it interacts with your data, your documents and your conversations. This is also the more dangerous version of AI as it can ingest data from your documents across the business and if data you don’t want sharing is part of that you can end with issues!
The key difference is scope. Copilot Chat is broad and conversational, while Microsoft 365 Copilot is embedded and task-specific. Businesses often find the real productivity boost comes from the latter, as it’s directly tied into the Microsoft 365 environment where so much day-to-day work already happens. That integration is what makes it powerful – the ability to understand the context of your files, meetings, and emails, and then surface insights or automate routine work.
The key take away is Copilot chat is a great way to get staff using a basic AI helper but Microsoft 365 Copilot is where the real gains can be made so long as its used correctly!