BTEX 2024: How to Power Your AI Transformation with Microsoft Copilot
Learn more about Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI and the large language models behind Microsoft Copilot in this presentation from CDW’s Business Technology Expo.
Before we even went general availability, we had more than 50 customers across Canada testing out Copilot, working with it and learning together in that process.
– Ehsan Youssef, General Manager, Canada Corporate Accounts at Microsoft, speaking at CDW’s BTEX 2024 event.
Why Microsoft has partnered with OpenAI
Youssef describes ChatGPT as “a very ambitious company that we've partnered with on this AI journey,” noting that Microsoft owns about 49 percent of the commercial arm of its parent company, OpenAI.
“For us, when we think about our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, we think about what we can put in the hands of people to make this happen,” Youssef said. “With OpenAI, there's capabilities across text, full conversations and the ability to write code so that you don't have to do repetitive tasks.
“The ability to write code needed to be part of generative AI,” Youssef added. “Why? Because the end goal is to build a machine that can actually think and reason and do work at the same level as an average human being. OpenAI released ChatGPT as a way to get all of us a little bit more ready for it.”
How Microsoft enables AI transformation
“All of OpenAI's infrastructure was built by Microsoft, but it wasn't built with OpenAI only in mind,” Youssef said. “The idea when we built the infrastructure for the large language models, was to make sure that every organization on the planet can leverage it in a secure, private way.
“And our strategy is really twofold. One, when you have an incredible amount of investment with Microsoft technologies like Microsoft 365, Office 365, Dynamics, whatever it may be, how do you get more value out of the platforms that host your data?
“And then the second strategy is to make sure that you have access to as many models that you need to build your own AI capability. How do we democratize this and make this available to you in a consumable and easier way at different cost parameters?”
With Microsoft, your data is your data
Youssef mentioned that all Microsoft solutions that use generative AI always keep your data private, without using it to train the algorithm. “That data boundary is so restrictive that none of the data ever gets sent to the large language models. We can commit to it 100 percent that none of that data is ever used to train the models.
“When you use our technology and you use it within the guardrails that are applied to that technology, you are protected. No copyright infringement would ever come towards you.”
How does Microsoft Copilot work?
Youssef described Copilot as being a human-in-the-loop technology. “It means that this technology doesn't go and do its thing on its own. It's about a human verifying the work that is being done and making sure that it's done right.”
Hallucination is a known issue with generative AI, which Youssef said the human-in-the-loop process can help resolve. “That large language model can understand, based on all the details you've given it, how to respond back, how to look at data in your Microsoft 365 tenant, data in the environment you've generated and saved. It then looks at that data, sends that data back to actually understand what is relevant and what was the user asking for.
“What we do with this data is we index the whole thing to make it more easily discoverable. Copilot does not change the permissions that you’ve applied to your files, so you can maintain your security posture.”
He may work at Microsoft, but Youssef said Copilot has become essential to his work. “At first it was an adjustment for me to start to use it the way I wanted to, but now, if you try to take it away from me, I won't let it go that easily.”
How to get started with Microsoft Copilot
Youssef mentioned that this is where CDW can help. “Do you have sensitive data that is exposed, and how do you govern that data to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands? There's an assessment available from CDW that helps you do that.
“And then you strategize, you move forward, you put it in the hands of the right people to go and try it out. Who would that be? Which department would that be? Which use cases are we going to go and focus on first?
“There are Copilot workshops that are available – again CDW can deliver these – that actually show you these high value use cases that are pretty relevant.
“But you have to start from something meaningful and you have to have a business sponsor, because if IT has to solve for everything, including budgets, that is hard. But when you have a business leader alongside you that believes in what is possible, you've got incredible opportunity to have a business transformational type of impact.”