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Watch this video to hear from Microsoft Americas GTM VP Heather Deggans and Microsoft Americas GM of CSP Erwin Visser on the opportunity that Copilot brings for Cloud Solution Providers (CSP) in the Americas region.
Eighteen months ago, we wouldn’t have expected to be here today talking about generative AI. Whereas the internet took seven years to reach 100M users, it only took ChatGPT three months to reach 100M users.1 Diffusion at this scale in the tech industry is unprecedented.
Now that we’re in the era of AI, the question leaders across every industry are asking right now is, How can I seize the full potential of AI, while safeguarding my employees, business, and data?
Partner opportunity
Today, our partners have the unique opportunity to build value-added solutions that will have direct impact on the growth and success of their customers. Not just across IT, but across all lines of business. In fact, 87% of leaders believe AI will give their organization a competitive edge.2
As a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), you work with SMB customers every day. As your customers look for the tools and services that will help them compete through AI, you have a huge opportunity to:
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- Transform the opportunity to sell new services.
- Reach new customers.
- Migrate customers to the cloud.
- Accelerate your practice and grow revenue by helping these customers prepare their software, teams, and strategic approach.
Evidence of impact
Artificial Intelligence impacts the bottom line of many organizations. As the use of AI becomes more widespread, the opportunity lies not only in transforming individual productivity but also in the efficacy of the entire organization. Copilot sets a new baseline, wherein every employee has the capability to write, design, code, analyze data, and more. It also amplifies expertise, improving the quality of the work. Early in-depth research reveals:
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- 70% of Copilot users said they were more productive, and 68% said it improved the quality of their work.
- Overall, users were 29% faster in a series of tasks (searching, writing, and summarizing). Users were able to get caught up on a missed meeting nearly 4x faster.
- 77% of users said once they used Copilot, they didn’t want to give it up.
A recent global study provides additional insights into the business value of AI:
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- For every $1 companies invest in AI, they are realizing an average of $3.5 in return and 5% of organizations worldwide are realizing an average of $8 in return.
- Organizations are realizing a return on their AI investments within 14 months of deployments on average.
As the pace of AI adoption accelerates, as a trusted partner you can help your customers understand the potential impact of AI on their business and the opportunities it can unlock.
What are the challenges?
Many organizations are just beginning their AI transformation journey and are not yet ready to implement. According to the same study cited above, 52% report that a lack of skilled workers is their biggest barrier to implement and scale AI. Early feedback from our partners showcases that a successful pilot is one that activates Copilot usage beyond IT professionals, but also the business opportunity across Finance, HR, Communications, and more!
Your customers also need to know that their data is secure. Security breaches and exposure of customer data are top concerns and implementing responsible AI policies are intended to protect against these risks.
“We’re delighted with the launch of Copilot for CSP. It means we can offer organizations across sectors and sizes additional services and end-to-end support to give them a more assured transition to AI. Companies will now be able to harness the power of Copilot to deliver incredible customer and people experiences, all while knowing that the right security and governance policies are in place. In this new chapter of a successful and longstanding partnership, we’re excited to be working with Microsoft to unleash the potential of our joint customers.”
– Andrew Caprara, President & CEO of SoftChoice
What is the business opportunity with Copilot?
Copilot for Microsoft 365 is designed to benefit everyone in an organization. From leaders to IT professional managers, Copilot offers features that streamline tasks, automate workflows, and enhance collaboration. Its adaptability means that it can be customized to meet the unique needs of any organization. The ability to extend its capabilities through plugins makes it a continually evolving asset that can adapt to the ever-changing landscape of business needs.
Next steps
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- Start harnessing the Power of AI. Learn how partners can adopt Copilot internally to drive success with your customers.
- Get AI-ready. Attend the CSP Masters Copilot for Microsoft 365 Sales and Technical Bootcamps.
- Build your practice. Build your practice and offerings to monetize the Copilot for Microsoft 365 opportunity.
- Leverage Sales Advisor. Use Microsoft 365 Lighthouse Sales Advisor to identify customers that can purchase Copilot for Microsoft 365 now and secure and upsell customers renewing in Q3, locking copilot sockets.
- Leverage AI excitement. Leverage Secure Productivity Solution Play to acquire and upsell to BP, ME3 or ME5. Optimize customers for Copilot security, management, and data governance.
More partner resources
New: Get AI Ready partner data sheet
New: Get AI Ready to-partner email
New: Get AI Ready partner opportunity one-pager
Updated: Get AI Ready partner opportunity deck for CSP partners
Updated: Get AI Ready campaign messaging and positioning framework
Related posts
Copilot for Microsoft 365: expanded partner opportunity – Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program
Join the conversation
Want to explore this and other topics you care about with Microsoft and other US partners? Head over to the Microsoft Americas Partner Community on LinkedIn.
1Microsoft Research
2MIT Sloan Management Review
