Microsoft has started selling its artificial intelligence tool, Copilot, as an add-on to Office productivity software subscriptions. The tool appears in Word, Excel, and other Office programs and is priced at $30 per person per month.
Piper Sandler analysts estimate that Copilot could generate over $10 billion in annualized revenue by 2026.
Microsoft aims to leverage its dominant position in the productivity software market, while Google is selling its own AI enhancement for Workspace tools.
Piper Sandler's model assumes that 18% of eligible users will use Copilot, driven by a fear of missing out (FOMO) element. Companies without Copilot may be at a disadvantage in competitive industries.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that customers who use Copilot find it indispensable.
Microsoft has initially targeted the largest companies for Copilot adoption, with 40% of Fortune 100 companies already using it in an invitation-only paid early-access program.
While there is limited data on Copilot's performance, organizations are encouraged to experiment with generative AI, which can create synthetic images and text with minimal human input.
Microsoft faces the challenge of expanding Copilot adoption beyond a small core of end users to achieve wide deployment.
Analysts suggest that Copilot could be distributed to highly paid executives to help prioritize email messages and understand documents, but caution that technically savvy employees familiar with generative AI may be better suited for early adoption.
Microsoft may also benefit from companies using additional Azure cloud services, such as Purview for data management, during the setup of Copilot.
Source : https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/01/microsoft-365-copilot-becomes-generally-available.html
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