Microsoft 365 Copilot Rename Means Exactly What?

By now, I’m sure that people understand that Microsoft has two chat apps available for Microsoft 365 users:

• Microsoft Copilot, which is limited to making queries against the Microsoft LLMs. The app is available without a license to anyone who signs into their Entra ID account before they can use Microsoft Copilot, which is why it’s sometimes referred to as Microsoft Copilot (for users with Entra accounts). This app started as Bing Chat Enterprise before the Copilot branding team applied their magic. To be fair, the addition of enterprise data protection to Microsoft Copilot in September 2024 improved the app greatly.
• Microsoft 365 Copilot, which can include Graph content (data stored in SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, Teams, and Exchange Online) in its queries against the Microsoft LLMs (the Graph content “grounds” the queries). This app is also called BizChat, and I use that name for the remainder of this article. User accounts must hold a $360/year Microsoft 365 Copilot license before they can use BizChat.

The naming used for these apps and the Microsoft 365 Copilot suite (a Copilot for every app, like Copilot in Word, Copilot in Teams, Copilot in Outlook, etc.) has evolved since the original launch in March 2023. In that time, probably far too many brain cells have been sacrificed to keep up with Microsoft’s marketing machinations as they seek to drive Copilot deep into the consciousness of Microsoft employees and customers alike.

The January 2025 Change

Message center notification MC958903 (16 December 2024) marks yet another turn in the naming game. In mid-January 2025, Microsoft will introduce changes “to simplify the user experience.”

• Microsoft Copilot becomes Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. The app will be able to use Copilot agents for the first time. Agents that access web content are free, but using agents that access work data (Graph data) must be paid for on a pay-as-you-go (metered consumption) basis.
• The current Microsoft 365 app, which includes a Copilot icon to access Copilot in its navigation bar, becomes Microsoft 365 Copilot, complete with a new M365Copilot.com URL to “make it easier to discover.” Depending on their licensing status, the Copilot icon brings people to either Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat or BizChat. The app will receive a UI makeover to “support future AI-first experiences” like exposing Copilot Pages. The changes are detailed in MC958905 and include a new icon that I thoroughly dislike (see Figure 1).

All of this was discussed at the Ignite 2024 conference in Chicago last month. I paid little attention at the time because I ignored most of the marketing fluff from the conference, preferring to wait to see the details emerge. If you’re interested, the keynote is still online, complete with a very brief mention of a rename (Figure 2).

The Confusion Between Product and App

I dislike renaming Microsoft Copilot to be Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat because it complicates what should be a simple differentiation between users who have Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses and those who do not. Once you apply the Microsoft 365 brand to an app, a certain implication exists that the app has something to do with Microsoft 365 and enjoys some access to Microsoft 365 content (which it doesn’t have).

I guess the chat app that can’t access Microsoft 365 content has some relationship with Microsoft 365 because it’s available through the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, but the connection is tenuous at best and difficult for people who don’t track the minutiae of changes within the service. It took me several readings of MC958903 before the details sunk in. I suspect that I am not alone.

I’m sure that Microsoft will point to its fabled telemetry to justify the decision. They always do. However, I think this is more of the “let’s brand everything with the <insert latest product du jour name here> name here” tactic seen in the past with Windows, Office, and .Net. The problem is that telemetry seldom highlights the potential for future confusion of the sort that’s likely when this change emerges.

Tiring Pace of Branding Changes

Everyone understands that Microsoft is making a big bet to be the leader in AI. Microsoft is spending a ton of money to build their leadership, including a reported $19 billion spend reported in their Q4 FY24 results. But the constant mantra of Copilot everywhere is starting to wear. It will be a relief when the tsunami subsides and we can all get back to productive work, with or without Copilot’s assistance.

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