Customer's Microsoft 365 Copilot (adoption) challenges I hear the most..

Lately, I've been all about #Microsoft365Copilot adoption, and I'll keep diving into it in 2025. ?? Thanks to my collaboration with NTT DATA , I interact with various global and local customers who are on their way to implement or expand Copilot. ?? You can imagine that I am involved in many talks and chats with them, thanks to that I can observe the real challenges organizations face when it comes to continuous and further investment in the Copilot.

If it is an interesting topic for you feel free to read my insights about two most seen challenges, I hear while talking with customers. I also let myself to add some comments after – just to give a very general overview of how these challenges could potentially be addressed.

Challenge number 1 – cautious investment ??

"We bought a few Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses and don’t know what to do next." This is a very common situation where a client purchases 10, 15, or 20 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses while the organization has many more users, 100+. The client's motivation is to try out the tool before making a potentially large-scale investment, which is understandable. The challenge arises when the licenses are already assigned, and the Copilot usage dashboards show that few users are leveraging the potential of Copilot in the Microsoft 365 environment. Also, attempts to transfer licenses from user A to B don't change much. The client has a feeling that they stuck in the decision-making process because they are unsure whether the ROI from the Copilot investment will be satisfactory or not.

Comment: In my opinion, in such a situation, it is first necessary to focus on what already exists before moving forward. That is, to invest some time to the existing users as well as the business goals of the organization. If we talk about users, simply assigning licenses is not enough (it was never enough ?????). I would suggest examining how users who have Copilot licenses use this tool in their daily work, as well as assessing their satisfaction with the service and their familiarity with Copilot's capabilities. In the next steps, investigate the Copilot usage scenarios (not clicking "aimlessly" but in context), and provide users with space to ask questions and share ideas. This is the time to understand the needs of users in the context of their daily work as well as the work of the entire business. A pilot study allows us to assess the number of repetitive tasks across the organization. All these actions on a small scale for now can give us a better understanding of user behaviors, help build the best possible (and custom) Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption plan and let estimate needed number extra licenses. From the organization's goals perspective, it is important to work with the business and decision-makers to define the expected real ROI, especially if the company plans to purchase more licenses. Understanding the expected return on investment (and how people work) will help determine how many more licenses to buy and identify the best strategies for future purchases.

Challenge number 2 – ineffective training ??

"We have Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses for most users. We bought 3-4 training sessions on Copilot that are available on the market. Despite the training, Copilot adoption has not increased. We are wondering if it makes sense to continue maintaining the investment at this level of licensing." In this scenario, the client feels that they have done "everything" for the users, yet the ROI is not even close to the expected level. Very often, organizations feel that conducting a few training sessions will "solve" the adoption issue for the Copilot service.

Comment: Unfortunately, this is not a right approach. Microsoft 365 Copilot is a new way of working, additionally a way of working with AI – something like a human, yet still a machine. Let’s be honest – something completely new! Many users either fear AI, hesitate to click the Copilot icon ‘fearing they might break something’, complain about “again” another tool in Microsoft 365, or do not see the value in the tool ("what’s in it for me?" ??). Changing habits, fear, or lack of skills in using Copilot in the context of their work is a thing. Traditional training sessions will certainly not remove these doubts. This is why conducting a comprehensive adoption project is so important, where training is just one part of it. Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption involves various activities, from communication, through contextual training, creating a Copilot Champion Community, engaging project sponsors, business scenarios, and much more. Only a comprehensive approach guarantees the success of Copilot as well as a high ROI. Just training (even the best) sessions probably won't clear up these doubts. Therefore, when considering further purchase (or maintenance) of Copilot licenses, it is also necessary to think about a well-conducted adoption of this tool. Otherwise, the money invested in the service is unlikely to pay off or not as we had planned.

And what do you think about these challenges? Have you encountered them in your work as well? Or maybe your organization is currently considering what to do with the Microsoft 365 Copilot? Invest more? Stop? Pause? Searching for help to drive adoption?

I invite you to a discussion, or if you have any special case you wish to talk offside, send me a DM. #sharingiscaring ??

Greets to my #Microsoft NTT Team Micha? Makowski Jakub Tekielski Pawe? ?aczek Konrad Rojek Marcin Szczesny ???#adoption #changemanagement #Microsoft365