AI tools / Microsoft Copilot for business
For many SMEs, M365 Copilot is the most logical AI choice: it’s already in Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams. At the same time it’s the most sensitive. Wrong SharePoint permissions, no onboarding, and you pay €16 to €27 per user for shadow functionality. We do it differently.
Licences
Microsoft calls a lot of things Copilot. In practice there are three flavours that matter for SMEs. Below is which fits when.
€16 per user / month (promo through June 2026), then €19 — for ≤ 300 seats
Businesses already on M365 Business Standard or Premium working in Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams and SharePoint.
Copilot built into the Office apps. Works with your email, calendar, documents and chats. Requires M365 Business Standard or Business Premium as the underlying subscription.
€27 per user / month (annual, on top of M365 E3 or E5)
Larger organisations on Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 with compliance and SSO requirements.
The same Copilot functionality, but requires an E3 or E5 base. For SMEs up to 300 seats the Business variant is usually the more logical choice.
€17 (Business), €35 (Enterprise) per user / month — Pro is usage-based
Developers and development teams.
An AI pair programmer in VS Code, JetBrains and other editors. Delivers significant productivity gains per developer. A separate licence alongside M365 Copilot. Pro (individual) is usage-based as of June 2026.
Prices converted from USD (rate ~0.89), see microsoft.com/microsoft-365/copilot for current rates. Microsoft adjusts pricing and bundles regularly.
Honest overview
Common mistakes
We see these patterns with every self-rollout. The technology isn’t the problem, the approach is.
Copilot can read everything the user has access to. If HR folders or salary spreadsheets are accidentally shared with 'everyone' internally, Copilot finds them. The biggest reason rollouts stall after the first pilot.
Paying €28 per seat per month for staff who open it twice a week is rarely worthwhile. We roll Copilot out first to roles where it has proven returns.
M365 Copilot is strong inside Office, but for free-form creative writing or complex analysis, ChatGPT or Claude often remains better. So we position Copilot in its comfort zone.
The difference between a good and a bad Copilot prompt is huge. Without training your team is back to the old way of working within three weeks.
Use cases by role
Sales and account management
Email drafts in Outlook, customer research in Teams meetings, meeting notes from Teams calls, account overviews from historical email.
Operations and finance
Excel formulas in plain language, invoice analysis, report drafts in Word, searching contracts in SharePoint.
Marketing and communications
First drafts of press releases, newsletters, blog starters, presentations in PowerPoint, images in Designer.
HR
Draft vacancies, policy documents, summaries of interviews in Teams.
IT and development
GitHub Copilot for code, M365 Copilot for documentation, PowerShell and Excel scripts.
The mAIxs approach
Before we switch Copilot on, we review critical SharePoint folders and shared OneDrives. One wrong group can make Copilot expose HR or finance data. We map the risks and fix them.
No blanket rollout. We start with roles that have demonstrable repetitive tasks in Office. Often sales, finance and management. First measure whether it pays off, then scale.
We train your team on prompts that work specifically in Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams. Not generic prompt courses, but formats that fit straight into a workday.
For recurring processes we build dedicated copilots in Copilot Studio. For example a Q&A bot on your staff handbook. We maintain, review and expand via the subscription.
Cost indication
M365 Copilot Business: €16 per user per month (promo through June 2026), then €19. For teams up to 300 seats on Business Standard or Premium. Enterprise variant (E3/E5): €27 per user. GitHub Copilot separately per developer (€17 Business, €35 Enterprise). Prices converted from USD, see microsoft.com/microsoft-365/copilot for current rates.
A fixed-price sprint for the permission audit, a pilot with two roles and prompt training. Ongoing maintenance and expansion via the mAIxs subscription. Ask for current rates during an introduction.
Frequently asked questions
M365 Copilot lives in your Office apps and has direct access to your business data in SharePoint, OneDrive and Outlook. ChatGPT is a separate working environment without that context. Copilot wins on Office tasks, ChatGPT often outside Office. Many SMEs combine both for different use cases.
Yes. Copilot works within your Microsoft tenant and does not use your data for training. Processing happens under your existing M365 data processing agreement with Microsoft. For GDPR and NIS2 this is usually the same regime as the rest of M365. The practical risks are in your internal permissions, not at Microsoft.
Only if you have in-house developers. GitHub Copilot is a separate tool and licence alongside M365 Copilot. For development teams it's worth it. For an SME without its own software development, M365 Copilot is enough.
Independent studies (Microsoft, Forrester, our own mAIxs cases) point to 30 to 60 minutes saved per active user per day, provided the user is trained and works in M365 daily. At €16–€27 per user per month that's quickly worthwhile, as long as you only give it to people who actually use it.
M365 Copilot requires an underlying M365 Business Standard, Business Premium, E3 or E5 subscription. Business Basic is not enough. We assess which licence combination is most favourable for your situation.
Read on
A comparison matrix and decision tree: which AI tool fits your business.
OpenAI ChatGPT: a mature ecosystem and broadly applicable.
Anthropic Claude: strong on documents, code and editing.
Gemini for Workspace businesses with Gmail, Docs and Sheets.
Get in touch and we’ll work out whether Copilot, ChatGPT, a combination or something else delivers the most.
