Gartner’s research reveals a persistent “AI intention gap.” Each year from 2019 to 2024, roughly 20% of organizations planned to deploy AI, yet the annual growth of production deployments was only 2–5%. The same pattern is emerging with Microsoft 365 Copilot: high expectations, but slow, uneven progress. While some rollout friction is natural, a real barrier lies in the lack of a shared definition of success and a clear framework for measuring outcomes.
To help customers avoid this pitfall and others we’ve come across, we’ll be identifying ten essential steps every IT and business leader should take to ensure Copilot delivers measurable value, reliable results, and sustainable adoption. This series will unpack each of these areas, beginning with the most foundational: defining what success looks like.
Many organizations rush into Microsoft 365 Copilot without a shared vision of success. In this article, we explore the first step in an effective rollout: defining what success looks like and aligning leadership, IT, and end users around that vision.
If you tried to complete a 1,000-piece puzzle without seeing the finished picture, progress would be slow and frustrating. The same principle applies to Copilot adoption. Without a shared vision of what “done” looks like, teams move in different directions, leadership can’t measure progress, and momentum fades quickly.
Before any deployment begins, organizations must align on what Copilot success means, why they’re adopting it, and how readiness and results will be measured.
Organizations recognize that AI-powered tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot can deliver a strong ROI when deployed with intent. The first step in any Copilot rollout strategy is clarity. Before enabling users, define your reasons for adoption and how success will be measured; what Adoption and Change Management (ACM) calls your “success criteria.”
When defining what success looks like for your Microsoft 365 Copilot rollout, connect your goals to specific, measurable business outcomes. Below are examples that illustrate how organizations are realizing value across different dimensions of work.
Facilitate Collaboration
Copilot summarizes lengthy email threads, Teams chats, or shared documents so users can grasp key points and action items instantly. The result is faster decision-making and higher-quality feedback across teams.
Focus on High-Value Work
Instead of spending hours comparing or summarizing documents, users can select files in OneDrive and ask Copilot to “Compare Files.” Within seconds, they receive a concise summary and can return to the specialized work that truly leverages their expertise.
Accelerate Project Onboarding
Copilot can summarize a new project’s scope, deliverables, timelines, and key documents in moments, allowing teams to skip manual information gathering and move directly into analysis and execution.
Make Meetings More Effective
With Copilot and the new Facilitator feature, note-taking becomes obsolete. Late joiners can ask for a summary of what they missed, and all participants receive key points and action items automatically, so everyone can focus on discussion and decisions, not documentation.
Reduce Email Noise
Copilot cuts down on redundant communication by enabling collaboration directly in Word or Loop. It can also:
Log action items into Planner or To Do, eliminating email-based task tracking.
Generate a daily digest of key mails, meetings, and tasks.
Draft progress reports and updates automatically using project data.
Speed Time to Market
With Researcher and summarization tools, Copilot analyzes competitor trends and customer feedback to inform product strategy. In engineering and development, GitHub Copilot accelerates coding, debugging, and report generation, shortening cycles from concept to delivery.
Create a Unified Work Experience
Copilot spans Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Loop, delivering a single-pane view of your work. It surfaces relevant files, contacts, and next actions based on recent activity, helping you prepare agendas, summarize discussions, and follow up, all without leaving your workflow.
Pro-Tip: Define your Copilot objectives and success metrics before you begin deployment.
Here are a few questions to consider:
First, address employees’ concerns about AI tools. When organizations announce an AI rollout, employee hesitation is natural. Many wonder whether Microsoft 365 Copilot or other AI tools will replace jobs. The reality is simpler: these tools are built to eliminate low-value, repetitive tasks, not the people performing them.
Agent AI tools, such as Copilot Agents, can efficiently create interactive chatbots for onboarding, respond to customer inquiries, manage frequently asked questions, and automatically generate campaign materials, sales presentations, and client briefs.
Although these capabilities streamline processes and reduce the need for creative and marketing resources, sometimes automating tasks traditionally performed by lower-level staff, the primary intention is not to eliminate jobs. Instead, these tools are designed to make workflows more efficient. Help them to understand that the main objective behind deploying AI is not to reduce the workforce.
Research from Gartner shows that businesses adopt AI primarily to minimize redundant, repetitive, and time-consuming work that does not fully utilize employees’ unique skill sets. By automating routine tasks, organizations free up their staff to focus on higher-value activities, work that leverages their expertise and fulfills the roles for which they were hired.
Involve employees early. Communicate the why behind your Copilot adoption strategy and invite input on which workflows would benefit most. This collaboration builds excitement and accountability. When users understand the purpose and see early wins, adoption accelerates and resistance fades.
Defining success is only step one. The next step is to evaluate your Copilot readiness, from data access and licensing to change management and user enablement.
ENow’s Copilot Readiness Dashboards and Copilot Adoption help organizations identify gaps, establish KPIs, and create a roadmap for sustainable rollout success.
Get started today - see where your organization stands and unlock the full potential of Microsoft 365 Copilot.