In the modern workplace, technology is regarded as a key enabler to enhancing productivity, transforming the way organisations operate, and improving individual work performance. Yet, often when we invest in a new system or software, we find ourselves frustrated that it doesn’t work as we wanted or our people are hesitant about change and don’t adopt it as we had hoped.
For technology to work the way that people work and for it to be embraced by the business, it has to be as a collaboration between people, processes and technology; by putting people at the heart of the change. Many organisations can treat end-user adoption as an afterthought, as it is a common belief that new technology will simply be used if it is available. We know this to be untrue and have seen how user adoption is the foundation for the success and measured return on investment.
Technology must not be viewed as a standalone solution but needs to complement robust processes and the ingenuity of people. It is an enabler rather than a replacement and as new technologies emerge, such as Copilot and Agentic AI, we can ensure they augment human effort, acting as catalysts for creativity and efficiency. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evolved from simple chatbots to fully autonomous AI agents—intelligent systems that can perform tasks, make decisions, and learn without constant human intervention.
Since Microsoft released its Generative AI assistant, Copilot, at the end of 2023, it has been integrated across many of its applications, including Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365. The addition of Copilot Studio in Microsoft Power Platform has expanded capability even further through Agentic AI.
Prosperity 24/7 has been at the forefront of understanding Copilot’s capabilities and how that applies to businesses in the most practical sense.
Understanding Copilot and Agentic AI
Copilot, as its name suggests, is designed to work alongside individuals, enhancing productivity by providing suggestions and automating repetitive tasks, such as preparing meeting notes, managing schedules, summarising emails or creating content for documents and reports.
Agents differ in complexity and capability based on their intended use. These include retrieval agents that retrieve documents on specific topics, task-based agents that complete tasks in a workflow, and autonomous agents that can reason over a situation and then take action.
The term “Agentic AI” is frequently mentioned in news articles and on social media platforms. Agentic AI takes a more autonomous role to tasks, acting as an intelligent agent, capable of making decisions and executing tasks independently while remaining aligned with the broader goals of the humans in control. It learns and adapts as it works, optimising processes and has the ability to anticipate challenges, suggest process improvements, and even innovate solutions, making it an invaluable asset in modern workplaces.
First things first, is your business ready for AI?
Although Copilot is designed to be intuitive and easy to use, it is important to make sure that your business is prepared and empowered to use it effectively to unleash creativity and unlock productivity for everyone.
A readiness assessment is an essential step in preparing your business for the change. It evaluates your current position, taking into account your data governance, security and checks the technical pre-requisites are in place but it also incorporates the essential elements of people and processes.
Leadership need to ensure they are using AI for the best possible outcome for their business as well as bringing teams along for the journey, helping them to understand it can improve the tasks they undertake every day. The successful implementation of tools like Copilot and Agentic AI requires a shift in mindset.
People naturally resist change, so they need to know what’s in it for them. Including scenario-based training sessions is essential for teams to understand the technology and derive immediate value from it. Driving adoption comes from the understanding of business challenges and addressing these with technology.
Employees must be trained to see technology not as a competitor but as a collaborator. Regular workshops, clear communication, and accessible resources can help cultivate a culture of acceptance and enthusiasm, where individuals feel empowered to use these tools to amplify their own abilities. Prioritising training and education as part of the implementation of technology ensure technology amplifies human potential and remains aligned to strategic goals.
Helping your business to embrace the advancements of artificial intelligence is just one of the ways that Prosperity 24/7 can enable business growth and enhance productivity for your business.
As an independent supplier for the Better Business Grant and an accredited Microsoft Solutions Partner, we can support your business across the range of services that we offer. Whether you are looking to centralise your operations through enterprise resource planning, ensuring your business is cyber secure, migrating to the cloud or disposing of old legacy systems, then we can help with our people first approach.
