If you’re running a business, you’re not starting from scratch. You must contend with legacy systems, existing infrastructure, regulatory obligations, data protection responsibilities, the list goes on. You have staff whose trust and understanding are critical, and leaders who demand clear evidence of return on investment before allocating resources. Any meaningful conversation about AI must begin by recognising these constraints.

Many of us have already grasped the basics of AI, and are seeing benefits from AI assistants such as Microsoft Copilot. However, the true potential, and real challenge, lies in moving beyond these tools to embrace AI agents capable of acting autonomously, automating workflows, and transforming entire business processes. This leap is proving difficult for many organisations, largely because the gap between hype and reality is not a lack of skills, but a lack of practical methods for implementation.

Enter the AI Design Sprint®, a people-led, practical framework designed to help businesses explore where AI agents and automated workflows can make a genuine difference.  The approach, developed by 33A in Copenhagen, is now available to Prosperity 24/7’s clients, and was designed for exactly this situation.  It is grounded in design thinking and the same human-centred approach that is behind the Google Design Sprint.

This framework is not about helping your team get more from Microsoft Copilot but to explore AI agents and automated workflows which could transform your operations, with the rigour, governance and human involvement that this kind of change demands.

Crucially, this approach requires no technical expertise, making it accessible to businesses of all sizes and sectors. The AI Design Sprint® acknowledges the operational realities faced by organisations and offers a structured pathway towards AI adoption that is both strategic and pragmatic.

At its core is a simple principle: the people closest to the work are best placed to identify where AI can help.  They don’t need to become AI specialists. They need a framework that makes possibilities visible, a language that feels accessible, and a process that turns ideas into something actionable. Understanding these distinctions is vital, the journey to effective AI adoption is not about following trends or chasing hype; it’s about making technology work the way that people work.

The gap between AI hype and practical adoption is real but it isn’t a reason to stand still.  Organisations that succeed with AI will be the ones that start by asking the right questions, with the right people in the room, and move forward in a way that reflects their reality.

You don’t need to reinvent yourself to work effectively with AI. You need a method that respects your experience, your responsibilities, and your people. The technology will keep evolving. The pressure to act will continue. But you don’t have to navigate it alone. The bridge is there. You just need to step onto it.

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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.

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In our modern, digitised world, where we are ‘always on’, our relationship with technology can be at odds with our mental wellbeing.  We face business challenges every day that require technology solutions to meet them and we reap the benefits, yet our human brains aren’t designed to cope with the pace of change, the demand on our time and the stress and pressure of modern daily life.

Andries has been working with Prosperity 24/7 for the past 12 months to help us to unlock our brain coding and understand the hard wiring that affects our mental health.  It’s remarkable what is achievable with some simple techniques and changes of view that allow us to understand how we process information, can embrace our modern environment and still live a healthy and well balanced life.

About Andries Pretorius

Former Wales international rugby player and Cardiff Blues captain Andries Pretorius leverages his diverse expertise across elite sports, business leadership, and psychology to unlock peak performance. His collaborative leadership style and creativity have led teams to success in both sports and business.

He has an impressive academic foundation including two degrees and a Master’s Degree in Business Psychology. As a visiting fellow at a prestigious UK university and is a published academic. He brings a unique understanding of how to optimise motivation, productivity and performance in the workplace.

Moving forward, Andries plans to continue developing science-backed training techniques that help organisations achieve their full potential. His interdisciplinary experience allows him to bridge gaps across sports, business, and psychology to drive positive change. He has exceptional experience leveraging AI technology in the workplace to help teams work more efficiently and safely while significantly reducing costs.

The Details:

Location:  Space @ Prosperity 24/7, Unit 3&4 Millais House, Castle Quay, La Rue de L’Etau, St Helier, Jersey, JE2 3EG
Date: Thursday 12th October 2023
Time:  08:30 until 10:00

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Copilot – the clue is in the name

Our launch event truly encapsulated that ethos with Apay getting under the bonnet of Microsoft Copilot, and how it can make Artificial Intelligence more accessible to everyone.  Recent hype will have us believe that AI is set to take over the world and take away human jobs.  But rather than replacing humans Microsoft wants to augment our capabilities and free up our time to be more creative, more strategic and less consumed by mundane tasks.

The clue is in the name! Microsoft Copilot serves to work alongside individuals to enhance productivity and efficiency with work tasks.  Integrated into Microsoft 365, it leverages advanced AI algorithms to provide personalised suggestions, recommendations, and insights to users as they navigate through their tasks.

The tool is designed to be intuitive and easy to use, even for individuals who may not have any technical expertise or experience with AI technologies. It acts as a supportive companion, providing real-time assistance and guidance as they work.

Security with AzureOpenAI

Apay also highlighted the importance of data security and privacy surrounding AI.  With increasing reliance on these tools, concerns around data privacy and protection have increased.

Microsoft Copilot, being part of the Microsoft ecosystem, incorporates Azure OpenAI, a robust, private ChatGPT model, which ensures that companies’ data remains secure and confidential. This solution provides an added layer of security, ensuring that sensitive information shared during interactions remain within the client’s private cloud environment, rather than the public domain, when they use ChatGPT.

Digital determination

Key to the successful implementation of Copilot and Azure OpenAI for business, is ensuring that it is adopted and utilised in the best possible way, which is where Apay discussed the concept of digital determination. This begins with the willingness of individuals to embrace new technologies as a catalyst for growth and success, explore new possibilities and embrace change.

In a world where technology permeates nearly every aspect of our lives and at a faster pace of change than ever before, digital determination becomes increasingly crucial. It empowers individuals and organisations to navigate digital disruptions, capitalise on emerging opportunities, and remain competitive in an ever-changing digital ecosystem.

The introduction of AI may have brought with it the fear factor, but humans can adapt successfully to change and find new ways to use their great minds to make technology work better and create great futures for everyone.

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Prosperity 24/7 prides itself on recruiting from the local community, offering first class development opportunities for young graduates as well as seasoned professionals. There is a big digital skills gap locally and Prosperity recognises the importance of nurturing local talent and supporting the development of future leaders to help drive disruption and innovation in the island’s core industries.

This year Prosperity has also offered work experience to students from the University College of Jersey HND in Computing and has created several new roles at a junior level.

Geraldine said, “This isn’t just about the tech industry, understanding and developing digital skills is critical to the next generation coming into the workplace regardless of their role. Improving digital knowledge is now fundamental to any career path.  By offering students who come through our doors a hand up, we can help them make decisions on the type of career they want, give them useful experience they can add to their CVs and future proof our island by helping to add knowledge and expertise to the local talent pool.”

Prosperity 24/7 recognises that learning is also an ongoing part of life and doesn’t stop at encouraging students.  All colleagues are actively encouraged to learn and develop their skills.

Continuous personal development is essential in technology and training is available for all colleagues, across all areas of our business.  Staying up to speed with the latest developments means that our colleagues can’t be purely focused on their client work, they also need to have time to free their minds for creativity and innovation. We understand that if we are to live up to our role of making lives easier through technology, then we need to provide a supportive and permissive environment where our colleagues can learn, grow, thrive and share that learned knowledge with others, so we can all prosper.

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