There is often confusion around the different versions of Microsoft's AI tools. It is critical to understand the distinctions to ensure your organization operates securely and effectively.
Microsoft Copilot: This is the free, publicly available version of Copilot. It is a powerful AI assistant for general tasks such as drafting emails, summarizing web content, and generating images. It is grounded in public web data and does not have access to your personal or organizational data. It's an excellent tool for a variety of tasks, but it should never be used for work that involves sensitive or private information.
Copilot for Chat: This is the integrated chat experience within Microsoft 365. For users with an A5 license and a Microsoft Entra account, a secure version of Copilot for Chat is available at no extra cost. This version is web-grounded, uses Bing search and public data, and provides enterprise-grade data protection (EDP). This ensures your prompts are not used to train the public model. In addition to general inquiries, it offers access to Copilot Chat within Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Teams), allows for basic file upload (Word, Excel, PDF), and supports image generation. While it does not automatically access your organization's internal data, you can securely upload specific files for it to process. It also provides access to Copilot Studio agents on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Microsoft 365 Copilot (The Paid Version): This is the premium, paid add-on that unlocks the full power of Copilot. It is the only version of Copilot designed to be integrated directly with your organization's data. Its primary advantage is that it is grounded in Microsoft Graph, a layer that securely connects and analyzes your emails, documents, meetings, chats, and other organizational data. This allows it to provide personalized and highly contextual assistance, such as summarizing a week's worth of team meetings or drafting a report based on a specific folder of files. Its enterprise-grade security and data protection are essential for maintaining compliance with regulations like FERPA.
Copilot Agent (An Emerging Capability): This represents the next evolution of AI, moving beyond simple chat to perform complex, multi-step tasks autonomously. An Agent can understand a high-level request like "Plan our departmental off-site," and then independently perform a series of actions—such as searching for venues, creating a draft agenda, and sending calendar invites—without requiring constant user input. This capability, while still in development, promises to automate complex workflows and free up significant time for strategic work.