Microsoft Inspire news. Our breakdown of the 2023 conference4 min read

Microsoft’s annual Inspire conference took place this week. If you’re not familiar with Inspire, this is an annual event Microsoft holds for their partners, but also provides an opportunity for all users to get a sneak peek of updates coming to Microsoft services. 

Inspire offers a chance to share new innovations and explain ways partners and end users can engage with Microsoft products and services. Unsurprisingly, the big theme of 2023’s conference was AI. Microsoft365 Copilot is Microsoft’s flagship AI assistant, meaning Cortana is soon to be no more. We learned a lot about Copilot during Inspire 2023, as well as a variety of other new products and features. 

In short, there was a lot to take in during Inspire. That’s why Cloud9 Insight has cut through the noise and presented the key updates you need to know about. As a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Business Applications, we homed in on some key features that can really support our partners and customers, but there really is something for everyone here. 

We’ll start with the big one, Copilot. 

What is Microsoft 365 Copilot? 

Earlier in the year Microsoft announced the arrival of M365 Copilot, a powerful generative AI tool that will soon be integrated throughout the entire 365 range of apps. During Inspire we found out more about what Copilot will actually do. 

There are some seriously impressive features included. Everything from analysing trends in Excel to creating ready-made PowerPoints at the push of a button. But what really blew us away at Cloud9 are the features heading to sales teams in Dynamics 365. 

Copilot in Dynamics365 Sales 

Most salespeople only spend 30% of their time actually selling. Copilot 365 for Dynamics Sales is designed to change that. It uses generative AI to quickly summarise leads and opportunities, orchestrate personalised customer journeys, and flag relevant insights.  

Finish a sales meeting? Ask Copilot to draft you a friendly and engaging meeting summary. 

Did a customer mention your competitor during your presentation? Copilot can suggest a weakness of their product in real-time. 

Need historical sales data on a customer? Copilot can summarise it in seconds. 

In short, it’s a salesperson’s best friend. There’s more to come as well, with a second phase of new features set to be previewed in August. These include new ways to match emails, forms and events with company branding. If you’d like to find out more about Copilot365 Sales, including information about its pricing and licensing model, message our team over at https://www.cloud9insight.com/. 

How AI is changing communications 

Microsoft was keen to emphasise its forward-thinking approach when it comes to implementing AI in its range of business applications. Communications was a big focus, with a series of exciting updates set to arrive to MS Teams. 

This includes Copilot in Teams Phone. This service is designed to offer a quick and easy way to generate summaries of Teams calls, highlighting points to be actioned, as well as the key names, dates and numbers that everyone needs to know about. 

Teams Chat received the Copilot treatment too, with new ways to quickly summarise key information across multiple conversations. This means when new members join a chat, one message to Copilot brings them up to speed straight away. Copilot can even draw up a table outlining each team member’s tasks and responsibilities. 

What is Dynamics 365 Sales Engagement? 

Sales engagement is a new feature, previously known as Sales Accelerator, which was announced as part of the 2023 Wave 2 of Dynamics features. That’s a lot of jargon, but we’re happy to report that Sales Engagement includes a variety of simple, AI-driven features that can make a real difference for your sales teams. 

The tools are designed to make every customer interaction have impact. The ability to prepopulate email content based on the style you draft most frequently means you’ll always approach interactions with your best foot forward. Other features are more about convenience, such as using AI to make the first approach toward potential prospects in order to filter out the most promising leads. 

How does Microsoft support small businesses?

In encouraging news, 2 of 3 SMBs expect to grow in 2023. In an economic climate that is unusual, to say the least, technology providers are recognising the need to offer support to these ambitious small businesses. Microsoft is no different, and the Inspire conference featured plenty of new services targeted at the SMB market. 

A great example was M365 Copilot’s ability to generate ready-made PowerPoints based on data from Dynamics365. Just pick the relevant account information, recent notes and any key changes, and Copilot will generate an aesthetically pleasing, informative and engaging presentation in time for your next meeting.  

Realistically, all the services we’ve mentioned above are ideal for small businesses. The time savings and added resources offered by Copilot’s range of AI tools are set to level the playing field when it comes to what SMBs can offer their customers and prospects compared to their larger counterparts. 

This is just a taste of what Microsoft revealed during this year’s edition of Inspire. As more services are revealed we’ll be on hand to keep you updated on what they can mean for your business.