Beyond ChatGPT: AI's shift from add-on to essential.
Beyond ChatGPT: AI's shift from add-on to essential.
How Microsoft and Workday are reshaping our workplaces with AI.
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Happy Tuesday,
Once again, I’m pushing a planned article forward, so I guess it will soon be obsolete. But this felt more important.
Especially since the most common comment I get post-summer is,
“We’ve got this Copilot thing - what do we do now?”.
I’ve lost count of the times I’ve heard that comment.
It’s still not unusual that AI is seen as an “IT thing,” while I argue it’s not at all an “IT thing” - it’s an HR thing. I started to say that it was not already back in February 2023, but here we are.
So, I find it important to update everything about Copilot.
(And Workday…)
So, let’s get to it.
In the ever-evolving world of tech, timing is everything.
I don’t have timing.
Just moments after I hit 'publish' on my last piece, Workday unveiled its AI-powered Illuminate at its annual Rising conference.
But before we dive into that, let's talk about Microsoft's latest play in the AI game.
Microsoft 365 - Copilot Wave 2
Remember when Microsoft 365 Copilot burst onto the AI scene roughly 1,5 years ago?
It looked cool and promising but was underwhelming as soon as you started to use it.
We were promised the moon: AI-generated PowerPoints, Excel whispering sweet nothings of complex formulas, and Word becoming our personal writing assistant. Reality? Not so much.
But last week, that changed. Copilot Wave 2 has arrived, and it's not messing around.
This isn't just an update; it's a complete overhaul that has made me laugh and sigh in disbelief ever since.
So what’s new?
Here's the lowdown:
Pages: A tool reminiscent of Notion but with AI integration throughout. It aggregates information from various sources, including web content and meeting recordings, providing a comprehensive workspace for you and your colleagues.
Excel with AI: This feature moves beyond traditional formulas and offers advanced data analysis, trend identification, and even Python integration, all without requiring extensive user input, e.g., that we know how to code.
PowerPoint Enhancement: Copilot significantly improves presentation creation, potentially rivaling the output of professional design teams (!).
Teams Integration: Functioning like a highly efficient assistant, it captures meeting details and highlights unanswered questions, enhancing overall meeting productivity.
OneDrive Improvements: Offers streamlined file management with features like automatic summaries and version comparisons, reducing time spent on manual file review.
Word AI Integration: Extends far beyond basic autocorrect, drawing relevant content from across the user's digital ecosystem to aid in document creation.
Outlook Enhancements: Introduces a more effective priority inbox system, addressing long-standing email management challenges.
Copilot Agents: These advanced AI entities go beyond simple chatbot functionality, capable of executing complex business processes with a high degree of autonomy.
Is it worth the $500 price tag? For the first time, I'm nodding yes.
I've taken it for a spin, and let me tell you, generating PowerPoints that don't suck is now a reality. Check out the video below to see it for yourself.
(Psst, if you watch the whole video and toss it a thumbs up, you'll make my day and help me tremendously!)
So that we got Monday last week.
But then it was the whole Workday-thing as well…
Illuminate
As said, a few minutes after I posted about Klarna ditching Workday, Workday made its big reveal: Illuminate.
With Illuminate, Workday is flexing its AI muscles across its entire platform.
Their language model is trained on a mind-boggling 800 billion annual business transactions and their 70 million users.
A quick sidenote here—and I've been saying this before: If we're the data they're feeding this AI beast, shouldn't we be getting a piece of the pie? Sure, existing customers get Illuminate for free, but is that enough?
Illuminate is bringing AI agents to the HR and finance party, promising to streamline everything from hiring to succession planning. It's an open platform that plays nicely with your existing AI tools.
AI's quiet takeover
We're witnessing a seismic shift, but it's hard to notice in the midst of it.
But I’m pretty certain we’ll look back to these events in a couple of years and think that it started back in 2024 already. Those standalone AI chatbots like ChatGPT? They might just be a blip in the grand scheme of things. The real revolution is happening right under our noses, in the tools we use every day.
Think about it. Why hop between apps when AI can do its magic right where you're already working? Microsoft and Workday aren't just updating their products; they're redefining how we interact with technology at work.
It's a no-brainer. External AI tools will always be the awkward plus-one at the party, while integrated AI? It's the host who knows everyone's names and drink orders.
We're not just talking about convenience; we're talking about a fundamental shift in how we work. The companies that get this—that seamlessly weave AI into the fabric of their tools—they're the ones who'll be leading the charge.
I read somewhere that “Data is king, but context is queen” in the AI world, and I 100% agree. And the tools we already use, they know our context.
And to pat myself a bit on the back—it’s what I also meant in the article last week. We need these AI tools to be embedded into our everyday lives, which is what Klarna is doing.
So, what's the takeaway?
The AI revolution isn't coming; it's here, quietly transforming the tools we use daily.
If you're not paying attention, you might miss the most exciting tech shift of our time.