Copilot Ecosystem 2025: What Works and Where It Pays to Invest

1. Copilot Today Is Not a Single Product – It’s an Ecosystem

Microsoft uses the term Copilot for several distinct layers that are often confused in practice. The following overview is designed to clarify concepts and licensing. It is not a description of services offered separately by Essence.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat (Entry Level)

The basic entry point into the Copilot world.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is available only to users with an active Microsoft 365 license. An Entra ID account alone is not sufficient.

Without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, Copilot Chat primarily works with the web and currently open or uploaded files. Full access to organizational data (emails, Teams, SharePoint) is unlocked only with the Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

Microsoft 365 Copilot

A paid license that integrates Copilot directly into Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint.
This layer focuses on Modern Work—supporting individual productivity with documents, emails, meetings, and collaboration. It does not handle business process automation or application logic.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Business

Designed for small and mid-sized organizations.
Microsoft officially states that Microsoft 365 Copilot Business can be licensed for up to 300 users per tenant.
Functionally, it matches the enterprise variant, with differences mainly in target organization size and licensing model. Organizations with more than 300 users should use the enterprise version.

Specialized AI Agents

The most significant shift in 2025.
Agents are not just an extended chat—they are designed to work with specific data and execute multi-step tasks within business processes.

Typical examples include:

• Office Agents
• SharePoint Knowledge Agent
• Power Platform Agents
• GitHub Copilot Agents

This agent-based approach moves Copilot from individual assistance to real work automation.

2. Key Innovations in the Last Four Months

• AI Mode in Excel – Excel now understands natural language for data manipulation. Copilot assists with analysis, data structure, and interpretation. Combined with ERP data (e.g., Business Central), this feature has a strong impact on reporting and decision-making.
• Agent Mode in Office Apps – In Word and PowerPoint, agents can perform multi-step document edits, not just generate text. Still focused on document work rather than full process automation.
• SharePoint Knowledge Agent – Automatically improves content quality in SharePoint by adding metadata, fixing broken links, and preparing data for AI scenarios. Without quality data, Copilot has nothing to build on.
• Copilot in Outlook and Teams – Meeting summaries, suggested replies, and contextual communication support—especially valuable for individual productivity.

3. Copilot Overview by Use Case

4. When Copilot Makes Sense for Your Business

Copilot and agent technologies make sense only when:

• Your organization knows where its key data resides
• Data is structured, managed, and trustworthy
• Processes work even without AI
• There is a clear use case

Copilot is not a substitute for messy data or broken processes.

5. How Essence Approaches Copilot

Essence does not focus on blanket deployment of Microsoft 365 Copilot for Modern Work.
Our expertise lies in working with business data and processes, especially:

• Data and workflows in Business Central
• Designing apps and automation in Power Platform
• Integrating Copilot and agents with enterprise data
• Designing and building specialized AI agents to simplify specific business processes

A typical scenario is not “turning on Copilot,” but designing a solution where an agent works with ERP data, combines it with application logic, and supports decision-making or automation.

6. Recommended Approach

We advise companies to proceed step by step:

1. Analyze data and processes
2. Identify suitable AI and agent scenarios
3. Design architecture on Business Central and Power Platform
4. Pilot solution with clear objectives
5. Evaluate impact and plan further development

Copilot is a powerful technology, but real value emerges only when it is built on quality data and meaningful processes.

At Essence, we closely monitor Copilot and agent technology developments with a focus on practical use cases over enterprise data. If you’d like to discuss specific scenarios where AI could help your business, we’d be happy to explore them together.