Microsoft 365 Copilot: ten tenant settings that determine the results
You bought the licences and switched them on, and the results are modest. Ten settings from the Microsoft list determine the results; in many tenants they are still on the defaults.
The Copilot licence is the same product in every company. What differs is the tenant you put it in: which data it can access, which features are enabled and how easily people find it. These settings are configured in the tenant, separately from the licence purchase.
IN SHORT
Ten settings, in four groups: so people use it, so the answers are about your company, so new features are enabled under control, and so you can measure usage.
Access: where people open Copilot
Two settings determine whether Copilot is one click away or somewhere in a menu. Without them, adoption stays low however good the product is.
- The Copilot app pinned to the Windows taskbarCopilot opens with one click from the taskbar.
- The Office update channelThe Office apps receive new Copilot features when Microsoft releases them.
So the answers are about your company
Without context, Copilot answers in general terms. Four settings give it access to company data and content.
- Web searchAnswers include current web results in addition to the model's training data.
- Teams meeting transcriptionWithout a transcript, Copilot has nothing to summarise after a meeting.
- Copilot connectorsData from the company's other systems becomes searchable.
- Built-in Microsoft agents, such as ResearcherMulti-step analysis across your documents.
New models and features, enabled in a controlled way
More capable models and new features, switched on in a controlled way, for a small group, before they are enabled for the whole company.
- Anthropic models (Claude)Available within the Microsoft compliance boundary.
- Copilot FrontierEarly access to new features, for a test group.
So you know what works and what does not
Without data, the conversation about Copilot stays at the level of impressions.
- Copilot AnalyticsReports show how much Copilot is used and where more configuration or training is needed.
- Feedback and logsShows which requests users abandon and which features they use.
Why this is a job for management, not only for IT
With default settings, people find Copilot less often and get more general answers, so adoption stays low and the monthly subscription returns little. Deciding whether to switch these settings on is a business decision, with its own risks and gains.
How does your tenant score on the ten settings?
We run a short check of your Copilot configuration. You see what is still on the defaults and what is worth changing so your licences are used.
Denis Stadler
Founder of Stadler & Partners. AI specialist and Agentic AI solution architect on Azure, Azure DevOps, SharePoint, Dynamics 365 and Power Apps. Writes about Microsoft 365 features as they work in production.
About Denis