Microsoft 365 Copilot delivers productivity gains with Australian public servants
By Vivek Puthucode, General Manager for Public Sector, Microsoft Australia and New Zealand
Earlier this year, the Australian Public Service (APS) engaged in one of the nation’s largest trials of Microsoft 365 Copilot, and we’re excited to see the government release a report today that discusses the trial outcomes and learnings.
The independent evaluation, completed by Nous Group for the Digital Transformation Agency, shows that Copilot is popular with users, delivers significant productivity gains and can make workplaces more inclusive. It also highlights how quickly the technology is evolving, and the importance of training and skilling as part of a broader organisational change program to enable users to fully realise the benefits of generative AI.
High levels of value and optimism
More than 60 APS agencies participated in the trial, involving 7,600 users from January to June 2024. Copilot was selected as it enabled the APS to deploy generative AI quickly at scale in a way that was safe, responsible and integrated with the applications their people already used, such as Word, Outlook and Teams.
The evaluation measured three key activities performed by APS staff: summarising written content and items such as meeting transcripts, drafting and rewriting documents, and searching for information.
Over these three activities, participants reported saving up to an hour a day using Copilot, with 40 per cent saying they used this time for higher value activities like mentoring colleagues, strategic planning, engaging with stakeholders and enhancing products. One of my favourite anecdotes was around spending less time playing ‘corporate archaeologist’ searching for information, and more time thinking strategically and performing deep analysis.
While these use cases offer a great baseline comparison, there is significant potential within the public sector for broader impact, such as deeper trend analysis to inform policy recommendations, fast-tracking Cabinet submissions and accelerating skill development for early-career public servants.
Driving adoption is all about skilling and change management
The evaluation reinforced what we’ve learned for any organisation seeking to make the most of Copilot or other generative AI technology.
The most prominent being how vital tailored training is as part of a broader change program, especially skilling users in prompts specific to their role. Our experience both internally at Microsoft and among our customers is that this often becomes the number one factor for successful adoption.
It’s also echoed in our last Work Trend Index, with the most advanced users of AI (globally) being 37 per cent more likely to receive prompt training and more than 35 per cent more likely to receive AI training specific to their role or function.
In addition, trial participants said they gained the most knowledge on impactful use cases through forums such as ‘lunch and learns’, webinars and ‘promptathons’, providing opportunities to apply use cases within an APS context. Fostering a community of champions was also seen as effective as it enables greater identification and sharing of highly relevant use cases for Copilot.
Strong indication of value amidst rapid change
Even though the trial saw ‘moderate’ use of Copilot, with only a third of participants using it daily, the reported one-hour daily time savings remains compelling. Both usage and time savings will continue to improve with a heightened focus on skilling and training.
We also saw the technology evolve rapidly during the six-month trial period, with more than 60 updates to Copilot during this time to enable new functionality and address limitations. These include the tool’s extensibility and enhanced compatibility with assistive technologies such as JAWS, an important integration called out in the report.
More recently, we’ve made significant strides with Copilot in Excel through Wave 2 innovations that bring powerful new capabilities to help users gain more value from data than what was possible at the time of the trial.
Users can expect even more intelligent automation across Microsoft applications soon with the introduction of Copilot agents.
Important lessons for all organisations
There were some participants in the trial who expressed caution around using Copilot and the perceived risks to data security. This reinforces the importance of transparency around generative AI services that sit within an organisation’s secure environment, and the important step required to educate users before they access the service. Working with agencies during the trial and beyond, we have learnt that rather than create greater risk, Copilot can proactively work to preserve the privacy and security of sensitive information.
It’s also worth noting that some APS staff were concerned AI could displace and change roles, undermine skills such as writing and impact the environment. Every successive tech advancement presents both opportunities and important considerations. At Microsoft, we’re thinking deeply about the short and long-term impacts. We believe that infusing AI into our work tools will both create net new job opportunities in the longer term and increase job satisfaction in current roles. Early research is showing that AI is augmenting productivity, freeing up workers to focus on higher-impact, creative work and increasing job satisfaction.
Finally, the report notes some unintended but positive outcomes. One is that ‘generative AI could improve inclusivity and accessibility in the workplace, particularly for people who are neurodiverse, with disability or from a culturally and linguistically diverse background’. This is an important area for Microsoft, and Copilot presented a rare opportunity for us to incorporate accessibility right from the inception of the product.
Next steps and further use cases
We are excited to be continuing to work with public sector agencies across Australia and New Zealand to use Copilot even more effectively and explore further AI use cases. The trial also highlights how generative AI can play a meaningful role in enhancing productivity and employee experiences, not just within the public service but across the economy. It paves the way for Australia’s technology sector to engage with local providers, partners and other major tech players to continue exploring the many possibilities the technology offers. All these efforts should be supported with investments in training and education to ensure we that we fully realise generative AI’s potential as a nation.
To learn more about the APS trial, I’d encourage you to read the full report here.