If 2024 seemed like it was gone in the blink of an eye and you’re starting back in gloomy January 2025 thinking “what did I miss” or “what are the latest Modern Work trends to look out for” – Hopefully this year in review and some of the latest Microsoft announcements in a digestible format will help you out… Happy new year!
Ten years ago, artificial intelligence was a niche topic, mostly discussed in academic circles and by early tech enthusiasts. Fast forward to today, and AI has become a fundamental part of enterprise strategy. Gartner predicts that by 2026, 80% of businesses will have integrated AI into their core operations. This profound shift was unmistakable at Ignite 2024, with Microsoft’s Copilot leading the way in AI innovation.
What’s new with Copilot? With Copilot as Microsoft’s flagship AI offering, it serves as the user interface for AI, driving momentum at full speed. Microsoft revealed that nearly 70% of Fortune 500 companies now use Microsoft 365 Copilot to boost productivity and streamline operations. At Ignite Satya Nadella highlighted Copilot Studio, where users can create custom agents, noting that creating an agent should be as simple as drafting a Word document. He also discussed new neural algebra techniques that allow AI to identify complex patterns, understand relationships between entities, and improve long-term memory.
Knowledge stands at the core of Copilot’s power. If Copilot is the leader of AI, then knowledge is its essential counterpart. Nadella highlighted that Copilot is a platform capable of expanding through custom agents to enhance its functionality. Take the legal industry as an example: law firms often face the challenge of navigating siloed systems such as iManage, NetDocuments, SharePoint, and email archives to compile case files. Copilot is revolutionizing this process. By leveraging graph connectors, a simple request like “Provide a case summary” prompts AI to gather all pertinent data from multiple sources and assemble it into a complete file. This goes beyond mere convenience—it’s a transformative shift for knowledge workers across industries.
Copilot ROI made easy (ish) with Copilot Analytics: it’s designed to enable IT and business leaders to track the adoption and business impact of Copilot and agents. It provides ready-to-use experiences and offers customisable reporting for more detailed analysis against your KPIs. With Viva Insights included, IT admins and analysts can now customise advanced, prebuilt Copilot reports with their own business data or create tailored reports with organisational attributes, extended usage data, and more detailed controls.
Part of the new Copilot Control System, Copilot Analytics is built to help IT teams confidently adopt and drive the business value of Copilot and agents.
The future of cloud PC It wasn’t all software and applications. Microsoft teased Windows 365 Link, a new Windows streaming device set to launch in April. This device isn’t just a traditional thin client—it’s purpose-built to connect securely to Windows 365, offering a seamless experience without local data storage or the need for constant updates. It’s designed to be ultra-secure, easy to manage, and provide high-quality experiences like Microsoft Teams meetings.
Supercharging AI with security and governance Microsoft’s focus on security is evident with updates to Purview, which now includes advanced security and governance features, Compliance Manager, the latest AI reports, and the new Security Copilot— Microsoft’s AI-powered security solution.
Microsoft Purview Enhancements
- New Capabilities: Recent updates include Microsoft Purview Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for visibility into data security risks, and enhanced DLP capabilities to prevent sensitive data loss.
- AI Integration: Microsoft Purview now supports AI-related data security and governance, including controls for ChatGPT Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Copilot to prevent data oversharing and detect risky activities.
- Compliance and Regulatory Updates: New templates for evolving regulations like the EU AI Act and NIST 2 AI, along with custom templates for specific organisational policies.
- Integration with ChatGPT Enterprise: Provides auditing, retention, and compliance controls for ChatGPT interactions.
- Data Governance Innovations: Unified Catalog Automatically inventories and tags critical data assets, integrating metadata from various sources for improved data quality management.
- Purview Analytics in OneLake: Allows extraction and analysis of metadata to understand data quality and lineage.
These updates aim to help organisations safeguard their data, support compliance, and drive AI innovation. Further info can be found on the Microsoft Purview blog here.
Looking Ahead: The Future of AI and Microsoft’s Vision
Microsoft also unveiled a host of other updates, including the upcoming release of Windows Server 2025, enhancements to Azure Arc that extend multi-cloud management, and the integration of Copilot in both Azure and AWS environments.
With AI continuing to evolve at a breakneck pace, it’s clear that the future of work is here—and it’s powered by AI. Whether it’s through Copilot’s revolutionary capabilities, the advancements in security and governance, or the transformative potential of M365 and Cloud PC, Microsoft is helping businesses harness the full power of AI to stay competitive in an increasingly digital world.
The future of work is AI-driven—and Microsoft is throwing everything at it to ensure they’re leading the charge.
Modern Work James 