New Technology: The Projected Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft 365 Copilot For SMB
Cost Savings And Business Benefits Enabled By Microsoft 365 Copilot
A Forrester New Technology Projected Total Economic Impact™ Study Commissioned By Microsoft, October 2024
Small- and medium-size businesses (SMBs) often have teams with departmental overlaps; the role of a single worker can encompass several areas in the organization. As the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) technology continue to advance, SMBs can leverage AI solutions to enhance productivity and streamline operations, resulting in increased revenue, improved net margins, and better organizational collaboration. Based on Forrester’s interviews and survey responses, early SMB adopters of Microsoft 365 Copilot are optimizing their use of Microsoft 365 applications and transforming organizational workflows to achieve higher business efficiency and happier employees.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is a generative AI assistant that helps employees optimize their use of all the solutions within Microsoft 365. It works inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and other Microsoft 365 applications.
Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) enterprises may realize by deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot.1 The purpose of this study is to provide readers with a framework to evaluate the potential financial impact of Microsoft 365 Copilot on their organizations.
Projected return on investment (PROI)
132% to 353%
Projected net present value (PNPV)
$358,500 to $955,000
To better understand the benefits, costs, and risks associated with this investment, Forrester interviewed twelve representatives across seven small- and medium-size businesses with experience using Microsoft 365 Copilot. Forrester also surveyed 266 decision-makers from small- and medium-size businesses implementing generative AI solutions like Microsoft 365 Copilot at their organization. For the purposes of this study, Forrester aggregated the interviewees’ and survey respondents’ experiences and expectations and combined the results into a single composite organization that is a small to medium-size business with 200 employees and annual revenues of $35 million.
Interviewees said that prior to using Microsoft 365 Copilot, their teams wasted resources searching for information; missed meetings in which crucial information was exchanged or even inaccurately conveyed; and expended considerable effort drafting proposals, presentations, and other content to engage or follow up with clients. However, their prior attempts to use AI tools yielded limited success, exposed sensitive company data to breach risks, and resulted in outputs formed from irrelevant or outdated information. These limitations posed security concerns, restricted innovation, and hindered the full use of AI and the data available at the organizations.
After the investment in Microsoft 365 Copilot, the interviewees’ organizations and survey respondents experienced or anticipated improved employee satisfaction and easier content creation and collaboration. They reported faster time to market, both realized and anticipated, and increased customer satisfaction, with impacts on revenue. Key results from the investment for the composite include increased revenues, reduced operating costs, and an improved employee experience leading to better retention and faster onboarding.
The Microsoft 365 Copilot benefits for small- to medium-size businesses, both realized and anticipated, are shown in the figure below as part of three business transformation pillars: go to market, operations, and people and culture. In addition to the examples of quantified benefits, this New Tech TEI also discusses drivers contributing to the benefits and how the benefits are expected to expand and evolve over time.
Key Findings
Quantified projected benefits. This study includes quantified benefits for each of the transformation pillars as well as a discussion of other benefits that could not yet be quantified. Three-year, risk-adjusted present value (PV) quantified benefits for the composite organization include the following:
- Go-to-market transformation increases topline revenues by up to 6%. The composite organization increases revenues thanks to a faster time to market from process efficiencies, improved customer service and satisfaction that contributes to increased customer lifetime value, and the faster creation of sales proposals, which frees up the sales team to focus on selling. After applying a net margin of 10%, the projected increase in net income is worth between $97,000 and $446,000 over three years to the composite organization.
- Operational transformation decreases total expenditures by up to 0.85%. With Microsoft 365 Copilot, the composite organization experiences increased worker productivity across various roles, including marketing, sales, finance, legal, human resources, and IT. Along with supply chain efficiencies, reduced spending on contractors, and savings from tools that are replaced with Microsoft 365 Copilot, this results in a projected reduction of total expenditures of $473,000 to $656,000 over three years for the composite organization. These cost savings increase the net margin from the baseline of 10% to as high as 10.77%.
- People and organization transformation decreases the employee attrition rate by up to 20% and accelerates new-hire onboarding times by up to 25%. With Microsoft 365 Copilot, employees are relieved of a portion of mundane or repetitive tasks and have faster access to relevant information, which increases retention. Additionally, the faster creation of training materials and access to pertinent information accelerates the onboarding of new hires, who can thus contribute value to the organization sooner. Over three years, decreased employee attrition and accelerated new-hire onboarding is projected to be worth between $59,000 and $124,000 to the composite organization.
Unquantified benefits. Benefits that provide value for the composite organization but are not quantified for this study include:
- Security and compliance consolidation and improvement. Interviewees described security and compliance with industry and government regulation as a driver for choosing Microsoft 365 Copilot over alternative AI solutions. Survey respondents said that they expect greater data security and their intellectual property to be better protected with Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Costs. Three-year, risk-adjusted PV costs for the composite organization include:
- License costs. The composite organization has the requisite Microsoft 365 licenses and incurs a cost of $30 per user/per month for Microsoft 365 Copilot. The total licensing cost for the composite is $42,000 over three years.
- Implementation and ongoing management. Three people — a business leader, an IT worker, and one test user — are involved in the implementation of and change management for Microsoft 365 Copilot; one full-time employee is then involved in ongoing management. Examples of these processes include handling the integration, setting permissions, building knowledge sources, and cleaning data. The total implementation and management cost for the composite over three years is $130,000.
- Training and employee discovery. Interviewees acknowledged that they did not spend as much time and resources on training their teams as they felt were necessary to reap the full benefits of an AI solution. Training is a critical component of creating the most productivity from organizations’ generative AI investments.2 The composite organization allocates 10 hours of training to new users. Users spend 15 hours per year on discovery. The total cost over three years is $98,000.
Forrester modeled a range of projected low-, medium-, and high-impact outcomes based on evaluated risk. This financial analysis projects that the composite organization accrues the following three-year net present value (NPV) for each scenario by enabling Microsoft 365 Copilot:
- Projected high impact of a $955,000 NPV and projected ROI of 353%.
- Projected medium impact of a $658,000 NPV and projected ROI of 243%.
- Projected low impact of a $358,000 NPV and projected ROI of 132%.
Key Statistics
-
Projected return on investment (PROI):
132% to 353%
-
Projected benefits PV:
$629,000 to $1,226,000
-
Projected net present value (PNPV):
$358,000 to $955,000
-
Total costs PV:
$271,000
Three-Year Projected Financial Analysis For The Composite Organization
New Tech TEI Framework And Methodology
From the information provided in the interviews, Forrester constructed a New Technology: Projected Total Economic Impact™ (New Tech TEI) framework for those organizations considering an investment Microsoft 365 Copilot.
The objective of the framework is to identify the potential cost, benefit, flexibility, and risk factors that affect the investment decision. Forrester took a multistep approach to evaluate the projected impact that Microsoft 365 Copilot can have on an organization.
-
Due Diligence
Interviewed Microsoft stakeholders and Forrester analysts to gather data relative to Microsoft 365 Copilot.
-
Early-Implementation Interviews And Survey
Interviewed 12 representatives at seven organizations using Microsoft 365 Copilot in a pilot or beta stage to obtain data about projected costs, benefits, and risks; surveyed 266 respondents at organizations using or considering generative AI solutions.
-
Composite Organization
Designed a composite organization based on characteristics of the interviewees’ organizations and survey data.
-
Projected Financial Model Framework
Constructed a projected financial model representative of the interviews using the New Tech TEI methodology and risk-adjusted the financial model based on issues and concerns of the interviewees.
-
Case Study
Employed four fundamental elements of New Tech TEI in modeling the investment’s potential impact: benefits, costs, flexibility, and risks. Given the increasing sophistication of ROI analyses related to IT investments, Forrester’s TEI methodology provides a complete picture of the total economic impact of purchase decisions. Please see Appendix A for additional information on the TEI methodology.
Disclosures
Readers should be aware of the following:
This study is commissioned by Microsoft and delivered by Forrester Consulting. It is not meant to be used as a competitive analysis.
Forrester makes no assumptions as to the potential ROI that other organizations will receive. Forrester strongly advises that readers use their own estimates within the framework provided in the study to determine the appropriateness of an investment in Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Microsoft reviewed and provided feedback to Forrester, but Forrester maintains editorial control over the study and its findings and does not accept changes to the study that contradict Forrester’s findings or obscure the meaning of the study.
Microsoft provided the customer names for the interviews but did not participate in the interviews.
Consulting Team:
Nahida Nisa
Jonathan Lipsitz
Drivers leading to the Microsoft 365 Copilot investment
Key Challenges
Forrester interviewed 12 representatives from seven organizations with experience using Microsoft 365 Copilot and surveyed an additional 266 decision-makers from organizations considering the use of Microsoft 365 Copilot. For more details on these individuals and the organizations they represent, see Appendix B.
The interviewees and survey respondents noted how their organizations struggled with common challenges, including the following:
-
They needed to stay up to date with new AI capabilities in a rapidly evolving technology landscape. AI was an obvious path, especially for the interviewees from technology companies; they remarked on the importance of staying current with the latest technology in order to demonstrate familiarity and expertise to their customers. All interviewees recognized that knowledge of and experience with the latest AI advances is critical for maintaining a competitive edge and ensuring long-term business viability.
The head vice president of technology services at the IT services and business consulting firm said: “We wanted to bring AI into our business since it was obvious that for most companies, if you’re not going to embrace AI, you’re going to go out of business in five to 10 years. We’re a technology company, so it’s even more important for us.” -
Employees used shadow IT, introducing a risk of breaches of sensitive data. Several interviewees described how their organizations faced the issue of employees using unauthorized applications and tools. This practice posed significant risks, including the potential breach of sensitive data and noncompliance with regulatory requirements. The lack of control over these tools made it difficult for IT departments to ensure data security and maintain a consistent technology environment.
The general counsel, assistant secretary of the board of directors, and chief diversity officer at the staffing, IT, and business solutions firm said: “The question that actually keeps me up at night is avoiding any of those breaches of data security. We’re looking at not just legal fees and costs and potentially other types of regulatory fees but also damage to reputation, business harm, and other damages that are just unquantifiable.”
The president and chief technology officer at the staffing, IT, and business solutions firm said: “There were a lot of salespeople using [an alternative AI solution] from January 2023 when it was launched [to the public] previously before [Copilot]. We’ve been playing with Copilot since March this year. We knew there was a lot of parity in functionality. We were able to go cold turkey [on the other AI tool] because we knew that Copilot offered more security.” -
Employees wasted time and resources in searching for information, drafting emails, or missing meetings. Interviewees commonly described inefficiency in managing daily tasks, such as searching for information, drafting emails, and keeping track of meetings. Teams spent a considerable amount of time on these activities, leading to reduced productivity and increased frustration.
The head vice president of technology services at the IT services and business consulting firm said: “In my role, I’m in an unbelievably high number of meetings and often double-booked. If I want to get anything done, I often have to skip meetings. So, when we do our check-in meetings or standups or weekly meetings or whatever, then I have to miss them. I was just out of luck or hoped that somebody took notes. Now with the AI recap, it’s so easy.”
Solution Requirements
The interviewees’ organizations searched for a solution that could:
- Seamlessly integrate with their existing ecosystem of Microsoft applications and tools.
- Increase employee satisfaction by saving time and resources expended on mundane tasks, such as drafting meeting notes.
- Offer data security for sensitive or proprietary information with minimal investment of IT resources.
“Which areas of outcomes have you seen/do you expect to benefit most from Microsoft 365 Copilot?”
Employee effectiveness Employee satisfaction Business transformation Security and/or compliance Improved business outcomes Cost avoidance or savings Others None of the above Don't know
Base: 266 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Composite Organization
Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester constructed a TEI framework, a composite company, and an ROI analysis that illustrates the areas financially affected. The composite organization is representative of the 12 interviewees across seven organizations and the 266 survey respondents, and the composite is used to present the aggregate financial analysis in the next section. The composite organization has the following characteristics:
Description of composite. The small- to medium-size business has 200 employees. It has annual revenues of $35 million, which are held constant in the model for simplicity. It has one office, and its main operations are national.
Deployment characteristics. The composite organization uses the Microsoft 365 suite and several Microsoft tools in its ecosystem, including its information repositories. It phases its rollout of Microsoft 365 Copilot over three years, with 25 knowledge workers onboarded initially and in Year 1, a further 15 onboarded in Year 2, and another 32 onboarded in Year 3 to give a total of 72 users. Its objective is to leverage Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve the employee experience and productivity, reduce mundane, repetitive tasks, and stay ahead of technological advances in AI.
Quantified benefit data as applied to the composite
Total Projected Benefits
| Projected Benefits | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total projected benefits (low) | $191,966 | $247,114 | $333,277 | $772,357 | $629,137 |
| Total projected benefits (mid) | $297,894 | $371,091 | $466,844 | $1,135,829 | $928,246 |
| Total projected benefits (high) | $405,081 | $490,504 | $601,671 | $1,497,256 | $1,225,676 |
Business Transformation: Go To Market
Evidence and data. Interviewees said that Microsoft 365 Copilot enabled faster, more efficient creation of marketing content, streamlined sales processes, and enhanced customer communication. By leveraging Copilot, interviewees’ teams reduced the time spent on administrative tasks, allowing sales and marketing teams to focus on strategic initiatives and customer engagement. Interviewees anticipated that these early successes were indicators of future revenue growth due to the following:
-
Faster marketing content creation. Seventy-two percent of survey respondents experienced or expected content creation to be one of the top marketing workflows where Microsoft 365 Copilot can save time. By leveraging Copilot, interviewees said that their marketing teams can generate content more quickly, allowing them to focus on creative tasks and strategic initiatives that impact the bottom line.
The marketing specialist at the managed technology solutions firm noted: “It’s about the prompts that we give, what exact results we’re looking for, and then it generates instantly. The amount of time saved for a draft is 50%.” Interviewees believed this efficiency leads to a more agile marketing process, enabling teams to respond to market trends and opportunities more swiftly. - Improved market insights. Interviewees anticipated that Copilot’s data analysis capabilities would provide valuable insights into market trends and customer segments, empowering marketing teams to develop more targeted and effective campaigns. The general counsel, assistant secretary of the board of directors, and chief diversity officer at the staffing, IT, and business solutions firm described how the firm had realized these benefits already, noting, “Copilot helps us identify market trends and segments, allowing us to target our campaigns more effectively.”
-
Increased chances of winning new business. Seventy-five percent of survey respondents experienced or expected proposal creation to be more efficient with Copilot. This efficiency enables companies to respond to more opportunities.
Copilot’s ability to automate routine tasks, such as summarizing meetings and drafting emails, reduced the administrative burden on teams — notably on sales teams that drive revenue; it allowed sales representatives to dedicate more time to engaging with clients and closing deals, ultimately driving projected revenue growth. The head vice president of technology at the IT services and business consulting firm said, “Copilot’s help summarizing meetings and drafting emails has improved our sales efficiency.”
The director of technology at the defense firm further illustrated how Copilot could increase the chances of winning business due to faster time to market, saying, “In the next few years, I think time to market is going to quickly shoot up [by] more than 25% to 30%.” Twenty-seven percent of survey respondents experienced or expected an improvement in the time to market for new products and services of 11% to 15%; 24% experienced or expected an improvement of 16% to 20%; and 24% experienced or expected an improvement of 6% to 10%. - Improved customer retention. Interviewees noted an improvement in communication quality that strengthened client relationships and enhanced the reputation of their companies, due to Microsoft 365 Copilot; they expected this to improve customer retention. Fifty-eight percent of survey respondents experienced or expected an increase in customer retention of 3% to 6%; 25% experienced or expected an increase of 7% to 12%.
- Increased sales. Due to the potential to generate more proposals and freed salespeople, interviewees anticipated a larger volume of business development. Survey respondents realized or projected increased sales with Copilot: 45% of respondents experienced or expected an increase in sales of 1% to 3%; 31% experienced or expected an increase of 4% to 7%.
Experienced or anticipated reduction in time to market with Microsoft 365 Copilot
Average: 12%
1%-2% 3%-5% 6%-10% 11%-15% 16%-20% 21%-30%
Base: 127 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Experienced or anticipated increase in customer retention with Microsoft 365 Copilot
Average: 4.9%
Less than 1% 1%-2% 3%-4% 5%-6% 7%-8% 9%-10% 10%-12%
Base: 116 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Note: Percentages do not total 100 because of rounding.
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Experienced or anticipated increase in sales with Microsoft 365 Copilot
Average: 2.5%
Less than 1% 1%-3% 4%-5% 6%-7%
Base: 71 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following for the financial analysis as applied to the composite organization:
- Annual top-line revenues prior to the adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot are $35 million, which are held constant in the model for simplicity.
- The revenue increase is based on the level of go-to-market business transformation achieved. For the low scenario, very little transformation is achieved. For the high scenario, the objectives of business transformation are fully realized. The middle scenario sits somewhere in between. These three scenarios are used for all quantified benefits.
- The benefit ramps up over time for several reasons, including an increase in the number of Microsoft 365 Copilot users, particularly the larger rollout in Year 3 than in Year 1 and Year 2; increased familiarity with and competence in using Microsoft 365 Copilot; the ingestion of information from more third-party systems; and further transformation of business processes. For the same reasons, a ramp-up is used for all subsequent quantified benefits.
- A net margin of 10% is applied to the top-line revenue growth to focus the study on bottom-line financial improvements.
Results. This yields a three-year projected PV ranging from $97,000 (low) to $$446,000 (high).
Business Transformation: Go-To-Market Module: Range Of Three-Year Cumulative Impact, PV
High projection Mid projection Low projection
Business Transformation: Go To Market
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Baseline revenues | Composite | $35,000,000 | $35,000,000 | $35,000,000 |
| A2Low | 0.5% | 1.0% | 2.0% | ||
| A2Mid | Increased revenues from improved revenue generation and customer experience | Interviews | 2.5% | 3.0% | 4.0% |
| A2High | 4.5% | 5.0% | 6.0% | ||
| A3Low | $175,000 | $350,000 | $700,000 | ||
| A3Mid | Subtotal: Revenue from improved revenue generation | A1*A2 | $875,000 | $1,050,000 | $1,400,000 |
| A3High | $1,575,000 | $1,750,000 | $2,100,000 | ||
| A4 | Baseline net margin | TEI standard | 10.0% | 10.0% | 10.0% |
| AtLow | $17,500 | $35,000 | $70,000 | ||
| AtMid | Business transformation: go to market | A3*A4 | $87,500 | $105,000 | $140,000 |
| AtHigh | $157,500 | $175,000 | $210,000 | ||
| Three-year projected total: $122,500 to $542,500 | Three-year present value: $97,427 to $445,586 | ||||
Business Transformation: Operations
Evidence and data. Individual employees of small and medium-size businesses often have multiple roles and wear several hats: IT teams overlap with content teams and legal teams; HR specialists help with finance and accounting. Our interviewees reflected these dynamics, highlighting not only overlaps in the roles of independent contributors but also departmental overlaps for director-level roles and above. With Microsoft 365 Copilot, interviewees unlocked the ability to streamline various operational processes within their organizations, saving significant time for their individual employees and teams. By automating routine tasks, providing meeting summaries, and helping draft documents, Copilot enabled teams to focus on higher-value activities that drove more business to the organization (see Benefit A) or even to take some needed time off. This led to increased productivity, reduced administrative burden, and the more efficient use of resources.
Survey respondents also said they expect to save on operational expenses, such as license fees for tools as well as supply chain costs, due to the use of Microsoft 365 Copilot. Data from the survey that illustrates how different workflows save time with Copilot is included in Appendix C. Examples of how interviewees and survey respondents achieved early successes in transforming operations and how they expect improvements in the future include the following.
- With attention shifted to higher-value work, interviewees said they could engage in creativity and collaboration, including training. The chief information officer at the retirement services firm said: “Our sales team wanted me to teach a little seminar about some of the things that we do. I took an Excel document and I listed all of our cybersecurity functions. So, it’s about a page and a half of things that we do to keep our customers and our data secure. And then I used Word to have [Copilot] turn that list into an interview. Then I set up a mock interview with one of the sales folks. So, I’ll be the salesperson and they will be the customer. I had Copilot generate a Word document that had back-and-forth dialogue based on the cybersecurity features on my other document. It worked fantastic.”
- By automatically generating meeting summaries, Copilot reduced the time that interviewees’ employees spend on notetaking and follow-ups. This improved overall meeting efficiency and ensured that key information was easily accessible to all team members. The vice president of finance, continuous improvement, at the managed technology solutions firm said: “You can transcribe those sales meetings on Teams and save them and pull notes up. It’s extremely valuable.” The head vice president of technology services at the IT services and business consulting firm described catching inaccurate information at meetings that would have been missed if a key attendee was double-booked: “It saves you time from the perspective of not needing to attend, but more importantly, saves me from missing key details. I can read the AI recap and send a couple of follow-up messages saying ‘Hey I heard you said this, that’s not accurate. Here’s what you need to know about that situation.’”
- Copilot’s email management features — such as summarizing long threads and drafting responses — streamlined email workflows, allowing employees to handle their inboxes more effectively and maintain better communication with colleagues and clients. The chief information officer at the staffing, IT, and business solutions firm said: “Typically, I spend my Sunday mornings catching up on emails. If I start at 9 a.m., I get done by 12 p.m. Now I start at 9 a.m., and I’m done by 10 a.m. I had to draft some job descriptions yesterday, and I had to summarize some documents that would have taken me 2 hours. I did it in half an hour. So, from a personal perspective, I am seeing gains of 60% to 70% in efficiencies.”
- The time saved through Copilot enabled the staffing, IT, and business solutions firm to reallocate resources. The director of IT in the defense industry described generating faster responses to requests for proposals and freeing time for other tasks, saying: “Employees don’t have to sit for four days trying to generate a proposal and miss conferences and meetings. They can actually attend those things and focus energies there rather than night after night and day after day of writing proposals all day.”
- The general counsel, assistant secretary of the board of directors, and chief diversity officer at the staffing, IT, and business solutions firm described several departments that operate under her supervision. The interviewee imagined Copilot streamlining some of those key processes: “In terms of getting the information to the various departments and having my legal assistants then redo it, so they can enter that data and answer questions from other departments more easily. My guess is on contract review we’ll save at least 50% of time in the coming years.”
-
Some 51% of survey respondents indicated that they experienced or expected a 1% to 10% reduction in supply chain costs with Microsoft 365 Copilot; 59% of respondents indicated that their operating costs have reduced or will reduce by 1% to 20% with Copilot. The top three tools that respondents said they have reduced/eliminated or will reduce/eliminate with Microsoft 365 Copilot include writing assistants, knowledge management, and ticketing systems.
Experienced or anticipated reduction in supply chain costs with Microsoft 365 Copilot
Average: 3.9%
Less than 1% 1%-10% 11%-20%
Base: 51 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Experienced or anticipated change in operating costs with Microsoft 365 Copilot
Increase in operating costs Costs will remain the same 1%-10% reduction 11%-20% reduction
Base: 91 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Experienced or anticipated reduction or elimination of any of these tools with Microsoft 365 Copilot
Writing assistants Knowledge management Ticketing systems Meta-tagging system Don't know
Base: 91 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following for the financial analysis as applied to the composite organization:
- The various top-line revenue scenarios from the go-to-market transformation benefit are applied.
- The total composite organization expenditures are calculated by applying the 10% baseline net margin.
- These total costs are reduced by up to 0.85% because of employee efficiencies, supply chain or operational process improvements, and decreased external spend on contractors and other IT licenses. These improvements increase over time and depend on the amount of transformation achieved.
Results. This yields a three-year projected PV ranging from $473,000 (low) to $656,000 (high). From a net-margin perspective, the baseline 10% net margin increases from 10.59% (low) to 10.77% (high).
Business Transformation: Operations Module: Range Of Three-Year Cumulative Impact, PV
High projection Mid projection Low projection
Business Transformation: Operations
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1Low | $35,175,000 | $35,350,000 | $35,700,000 | |||
| B1Mid | Total revenues | A1+A3 | $35,875,000 | $36,050,000 | $36,400,000 | |
| B1High | $36,575,000 | $36,750,000 | $37,100,000 | |||
| B2Low | $31,657,500 | $31,815,000 | $32,130,000 | |||
| B2Mid | Total expenses before Microsoft 365 Copilot | B1*(100% - 10% baseline net margin) | $32,287,500 | $32,445,000 | $32,760,000 | |
| B2High | $32,917,500 | $33,075,000 | $33,390,000 | |||
| B3 | Baseline net margin | TEI standard | 10.00% | 10.00% | 10.00% | |
| B4Low | 0.55% | 0.60% | 0.65% | |||
| B4Mid | Percent decrease in expenses due to internal and external efficiencies | Interviews | 0.65% | 0.70% | 0.75% | |
| B4High | 0.75% | 0.80% | 0.85% | |||
| B5Low | $174,116 | $190,890 | $208,845 | |||
| B5Mid | Reduced expenses | B2*B4 | $209,869 | $227,115 | $245,700 | |
| B5High | $246,881 | $264,600 | $283,815 | |||
| B6Low | 10.50% | 10.54% | 10.59% | |||
| B6Mid | Resultant net margin (rounded) | 1-(B2-B5)/B1 | 10.59% | 10.63% | 10.68% | |
| B6High | 10.68% | 10.72% | 10.77% | |||
| BtLow | $174,116 | $190,890 | $208,845 | |||
| BtMid | Business transformation: operations | B5 | $209,869 | $227,115 | $245,700 | |
| BtHigh | $246,881 | $264,600 | $283,815 | |||
| Three-year projected total: $573,851 to $795,296 | Three-year present value: $472,956 to $656,350 | |||||
Business Transformation: People And Culture
Evidence and data. Interviewees and survey respondents said that Microsoft 365 Copilot reduced the time spent on mundane tasks; employees can focus on more meaningful work, leading to increased job satisfaction and productivity.
They also said that Copilot facilitated better communication and collaboration among team members, fostering a more inclusive and efficient work environment. Survey respondents also anticipated a reduction in the time to onboard new hires and an increase in the rate of employee retention.
- The chief information officer at the retirement services firm said, “Copilot helps us create training materials more efficiently, which has improved our onboarding process.” By accelerating the creation of training materials, Copilot streamlined the onboarding process for new employees, helping them become productive more quickly. Sixty-six percent of survey respondents indicated that they can or expect to onboard new hires faster by 6% to 15% because of better access to information and training tools, and 21% indicated they can or expect to onboard new hires faster by 16% to 25%.
- Seventy-three percent of survey respondents indicated that employee satisfaction has been improved or will improve as a result of the elimination or reduction in mundane tasks with Copilot; 54% indicated that the elimination or reduction in mundane tasks has or will reduce employee attrition by 11% to 20%.
Experienced or anticipated reduction in time to onboard due to better access to information and training tools with Microsoft 365 Copilot
Average: 11%
I don't anticipate a reduction in time to onboard 1%-5% 6%-10% 11%-15% 16%-20% 21%-25% 26%-30%
Base: 88 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Note: Percentages do not total 100 because of rounding.
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Experienced or anticipated increase in employee satisfaction due to the elimination of or reduction in mundane tasks with Microsoft 365 Copilot
Average: 18%
Employee satisfaction will stay the same 1%-5% 6%-10% 11%-15% 16%-20% 21%-25% 26%-30% 31% or more Don't know
Base: 194 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Experienced or anticipated reduction in employee retention churn due to the elimination of or reduction in mundane tasks with Microsoft 365 Copilot
Average: 11%
Employee churn will stay the same 1%-5% 6%-10% 11%-15% 16%-20% 21%-25% 26%-30%
Base: 129 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Note: Percentages do not total 100 because of rounding.
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following for the financial analysis as applied to the composite organization:
- Ten percent of the workforce turns over each year. It is assumed this is the same for employees that will use Microsoft 365 Copilot — up to 72 for the composite organization.
- The average cost to hire is one year of the annual fully burdened salary due to time to hire and disruptions to an SMB when losing an employee filling multiple roles.
- Employee attrition for users of Microsoft 365 Copilot decreases by up to 20% for the 72 employees using Microsoft 365 Copilot by Year 3.
- Prior to Microsoft 365 Copilot, it takes 25 days to onboard a new employee. This decreases by up to 25% by Year 3.
- The fully burdened hourly rate for a new hire is $35 per hour. This includes salary, benefits, and payroll taxes.
- New hires only contribute 50% of the value that a fully onboarded, experienced employee does. Of the total potential increase in productivity or value creation, a 50% rate is applied to account for time spent outside of productive tasks.
Results. This yields a three-year projected PV ranging from $59,000 (low) to $124,000 (high).
Business Transformation: People And Culture
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Employee attrition rate before Microsoft 365 Copilot | Interviews | 10% | 10% | 10% |
| C2 | Average cost to hire | Composite: One year fully burdened salary | $72,800 | $72,800 | $72,800 |
| C3Low | 0.0% | 7.0% | 10.0% | ||
| C3 | Decreased employee attrition rate with Microsoft 365 Copilot | Interviews | 0.0% | 13.0% | 15.0% |
| C3High | 0.0% | 17.0% | 20.0% | ||
| C4Low | $0 | $20,384 | $52,416 | ||
| C4Mid | Subtotal: Savings from increased employee retention rate with Microsoft 365 Copilot | C5*(C1*C3)*C2 | $0 | $37,856 | $78,624 |
| C4High | $0 | $49,504 | $104,832 | ||
| C5 | Number of workers using Microsoft 365 Copilot | Composite | 25 | 40 | 72 |
| C6 | Percentage of employees who are new hires | Composite | 10% | 10% | 10% |
| C7 | Days for onboarding prior to Microsoft 365 Copilot | Interviews | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| C8Low | 6% | 12% | 17% | ||
| C8Mid | Subtotal: Acceleration in new employee onboarding due to Microsoft 365 Copilot | Interviews | 10% | 15% | 20% |
| C8High | 15% | 20% | 25% | ||
| C9Low | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| C9Mid | Days saved per new employee onboarded (rounded) | C7*C8 (rounded) | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| C9High | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
| C10 | Fully burdened hourly rate for an employee | Composite | $35 | $35 | $35 |
| C11 | Productivity of new hire during ramp | Composite | 50% | 50% | 50% |
| C12 | Time recaptured | Interviews | 50% | 50% | 50% |
| C13Low | $350 | $840 | $2,016 | ||
| C13Mid | Subtotal: Acceleration of new employee onboarding | C5*C6*C9*8 hours*C10*C11*C12 | $525 | $1,120 | $2,520 |
| C13High | $700 | $1,400 | $3,024 | ||
| CtLow | $350 | $21,224 | $54,432 | ||
| CtMid | Business transformation: people and culture | C4+C13 | $525 | $38,976 | $81,144 |
| CtHigh | $700 | $50,904 | $107,856 | ||
| Three-year projected total: $76,006 to $159,460 | Three-year present value: $58,754 to $123,740 | ||||
Business Transformation: People And Culture Module: Range Of Three-Year Cumulative Impact, PV
High projection Mid projection Low projection
Unquantified Benefits
Interviewees and survey respondents mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:
-
Security and compliance consolidation and improvement. Interviewees noted that prior to using Microsoft 365 Copilot, teams relied on unsecured AI tools that were open to public access. Copilot displaced these tools, improving data security.
Some 76% of survey respondents indicated that IT or data security will improve or be made easier with Microsoft 365 Copilot; 67% indicated that data and intellectual property leakage will decline; and 65% indicated that compliance with industry and governmental regulations will improve.
Flexibility
The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement Microsoft 365 Copilot and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:
-
Employee upskilling. Interviewees described the ability to reduce or eliminate mundane tasks with Copilot. The chief information officer at the retirement services firm said, “Without a doubt, Copilot will take the place of some of the monotonous work that we do and will require less bodies to do that work.” The interviewee described the ability to hire workers for more complex work or upskill existing workers.
Some 65% of survey respondents indicated that employees will be upskilled as mundane tasks are eliminated, while 62% of survey respondents indicated they can or will be able to reduce the time spent upskilling employees by 16% to 30%. - Work output and quality for collaboration across languages. The senior consultant at the cloud consultancy highlighted that Copilot helps employees who aren’t fluent in the primary business language to draft emails more effectively. As the firm begins to open more locations globally, the use of Copilot has led to clearer communication with clients and more efficient collaboration among team members, enhancing the overall quality of their work.
- The future growth of Copilot. Interviewees and survey respondents anticipate considerable growth in Copilot’s capabilities and applications in the coming years. They expect this growth to offer new opportunities and advantages, in the use of both Microsoft 365 Copilot and various third-party integrations. Several interviewees referenced using other Copilots to add to the benefits they expect to experience.
Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Appendix A).
Quantified cost data as applied to the composite
Total Costs
| Ref. | Cost | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dtr | Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses | $473 | $9,450 | $15,120 | $27,216 | $52,259 | $42,007 |
| Etr | Implementation and ongoing management | $14,040 | $46,800 | $46,800 | $46,800 | $154,440 | $130,425 |
| Ftr | Training and employee discovery | $6,300 | $21,000 | $32,970 | $60,690 | $120,960 | $98,236 |
| Total costs (risk-adjusted) | $20,813 | $77,250 | $94,890 | $134,706 | $327,659 | $270,668 | |
Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses
Evidence and data. Microsoft 365 Copilot cost interviewees $30 per user per month; a separate license for a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan is required to purchase Copilot for Microsoft 365. Contact Microsoft for additional pricing details.
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following for the financial analysis as applied to the composite organization:
- The composite organization scales its Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses to 72 employees over three years.
- The cost of Microsoft 365 Copilot is $30 per user per month.
- All Microsoft 365 Copilot users in the composite organization have a Microsoft 365 E5 or E3 license, the costs and benefits of which are not included in this study.
Risks. Results may not be representative of all experiences, and the cost will vary between organizations depending on the following factors:
- The status of Microsoft 365 E5 or E3 licenses at the company.
- Changes or fluctuations in the pricing strategy for Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 5% yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 5%) of $42,000.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Licenses
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | Number of employees using Microsoft 365 Copilot | Composite organization | 15 | 25 | 40 | 72 |
| D2 | Cost of Microsoft 365 Copilot per user per month | Interviews | $30 | $30 | $30 | $30 |
| D3 | Months using Microsoft 365 Copilot | Composite organization | 1 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Dt | Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses | D1*D2*D3 | $450 | $9,000 | $14,400 | $25,920 |
| Risk adjustment | ↑5% | |||||
| Dtr | Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses (risk-adjusted) | $473 | $9,450 | $15,120 | $27,216 | |
| Three-year total: $52,259 | Three-year present value: $42,007 | |||||
Implementation And Management
Evidence and data. Interviewees and survey respondents said that the implementation of Microsoft 365 Copilot ranged between one to nine months, approximately. For some interviewees, implementing Copilot was as simple turning it on after purchasing the licenses, but other implementations can require data permissions, data management, data cleaning, data indexing, and strategy alignment.
- The vice president of sales and marketing at the technology solutions firm said: “I would call ours a casual implementation because we do not have a structured implementation given the kind of workflows around different teams, projects, and people across the globe. … Our future vision is a centralized approach, where Copilot knows your patterns and spins out what you need by a click of a button.”
- The chief information officer at the staffing, IT, and business solutions firm said: “Implementation was a collaborative effort. There were legal, technology, and other departments involved. So, we would speak to things like the freshness of the data that was available in [prior, unsecured AI tools] and how some of those datasets [in those tools] only go back to 2022. And if you’re starting to query something, the freshness of the data that’s been in those vector databases is very important. Copilot had fresher data [compared with other tools], and that was a good differentiator for us to talk about to our employees. You’re getting answers in a newer, fresher, better, safer fashion. That’s how we drove the adoption.”
- The head vice president of technology services at the IT services and business consulting firm said: “It took 5 minutes to set up. If you don’t have data governance appropriately set up for Copilot, then you don’t have data governance appropriately set up and your data is exposed through Microsoft search. So, I don’t see that as a Copilot problem. I see that as already having a problem whether or not you have Copilot. That was not a problem for us because we do proper data governance. We settle our permissions at the site level, and so basically you have to have everything in the site or you don’t, and that is enough specificity for our architecture sites.”
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following for the financial analysis as applied to the composite organization:
- A business leader, IT employee, and one test user are involved in 60 hours of change management and technical integration.
- One full-time employee (FTE) is involved in ongoing management and maintenance for 600 hours per year.
- The average fully burdened hourly rate for those employees is $65.
Risks. Results may not be representative of all experiences, and the cost will vary between organizations depending on the following factors:
- The organization’s size, complexity, maturity, and technical expertise as well as the roles and testing involved. Some organizations may use professional services for the implementation.
- The size of the organization’s data, the organization’s data governance, and the extent to which the data is cleaned.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 20%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $130,000.
Implementation And Ongoing Management
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | FTEs involved in change management and technical integration (business leader, IT employee, one test user) | Interviews | 3 | |||
| E2 | Hours assisting with implementation per FTE | Composite | 60 | |||
| E3 | FTEs involved in ongoing management and maintenance | Composite | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| E4 | Hours assisting with ongoing management and maintenance | Composite | 600 | 600 | 600 | |
| E5 | Fully burdened hourly rate for the business leader, IT employee, one test user | Composite | $65 | $65 | $65 | $65 |
| Et | Implementation and ongoing management | (E1*E2+E3*E4)*E5 | $11,700 | $39,000 | $39,000 | $39,000 |
| Risk adjustment | ↑20% | |||||
| Etr | Implementation and ongoing management (risk-adjusted) | $14,040 | $46,800 | $46,800 | $46,800 | |
| Three-year total: $154,440 | Three-year present value: $130,425 | |||||
Training And Employee Discovery
Evidence and data. The availability of prompt engineering and AI tool training directly influences the effectiveness and reliability of AI tools in delivering accurate outputs. Interviewees recognized that they needed to provide more training than they were currently providing to Microsoft 365 Copilot users at their organizations. They also revealed that they took some time to create their own training materials for their teams, such as guidelines and best practices, and they were interested in role-specific training.
- The head vice president of technology services at the IT services and business consulting firm said: “During a few days or a week trying Copilot by myself, I wrote out what I ran into, some helpful prompts, and ways to use Copilot that I discovered. Then I tried to just write out the FAQs and how to get started.” The interviewee added that documenting these discoveries took about 2 hours.
- The same interviewee said, “Users spend at least an hour or two when they get Copilot initially playing with prompts.” They described spending 5 minutes per week trying various prompts.
- The director of technology in the defense industry described 30 minutes of training potentially once a year for responsible use.
- Sixty-one percent of survey respondents noted that they expected upfront costs for Copilot to include training costs.
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following for the financial analysis as applied to the composite organization:
- New users spend 10 hours of onboarding training each year.
- Outside of formal training, employees spend 15 hours annually on discovery and individual testing.
- The fully burdened hourly rate for a user is $35.
Risks. Results may not be representative of all experiences, and the cost will vary between organizations depending on the following factors:
- The organization’s dedication to training users and the variation of training time provided to roles based on usage.
- The complexity of the company’s environment, which may require more onboarding and ongoing training for users.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 20% yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $98,000.
Training And Employee Discovery
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | Number of Microsoft 365 Copilot users | Composite organization | 15 | 25 | 40 | 72 |
| F2 | Number of new users | F1-F1 previous year with 10% churn | 15 | 11 | 17 | 35 |
| F3 | Training hours for new user | Interviews | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| F4 | Total hours of training for new users | F2*F3 | 150 | 110 | 170 | 350 |
| F5 | Additional hours per user per year for ongoing discovery | Composite | 15 | 15 | 15 | |
| F6 | Total hours per year for employee discovery | F4+F1*F5 | 150 | 485 | 770 | 1,430 |
| F7 | Fully burdened hourly rate for a user | TEI standard | $35 | $35 | $35 | $35 |
| Ft | Training and employee discovery | $5,250 | $17,500 | $27,475 | $50,575 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↑20% | |||||
| Ftr | Training and employee discovery (risk-adjusted) | $6,300 | $21,000 | $32,970 | $60,690 | |
| Three-year total: $120,960 | Three-year present value: $98,236 | |||||
Consolidated Three-Year, Risk-Adjusted Metrics
Three-Year Projected Financial Analysis For The Composite
Total costs Total benefits Cumulative net benefits Initial Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 High impact NPV Mid impact NPV Low impact NPV PROI of-
The financial results calculated in the Benefits and Costs sections can be used to determine the PROI and projected NPV for the composite organization’s investment. Forrester assumes a yearly discount rate of 10% for this analysis.
These risk-adjusted PROI and projected NPV values are determined by applying risk-adjustment factors to the unadjusted results in each Benefit and Cost section.
Cash Flow Analysis (Risk-Adjusted)
| Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total costs | ($20,813) | ($77,250) | ($94,890) | ($134,706) | ($327,659) | ($270,668) |
| Total benefits (low) | $0 | $191,966 | $247,114 | $333,277 | $772,357 | $629,137 |
| Total benefits (mid) | $0 | $297,894 | $371,091 | $466,844 | $1,135,829 | $928,246 |
| Total benefits (high) | $0 | $405,081 | $490,504 | $601,671 | $1,497,256 | $1,225,676 |
| Net benefits (low) | ($20,813) | $114,716 | $152,224 | $198,571 | $444,698 | $358,469 |
| Net benefits (mid) | ($20,813) | $220,644 | $276,201 | $332,138 | $808,170 | $657,578 |
| Net benefits (high) | ($20,813) | $327,831 | $395,614 | $466,965 | $1,169,597 | $955,008 |
| PROI (low) | 132% | |||||
| PROI (mid) | 243% | |||||
| PROI (high) | 353% | |||||
Appendix A: New Technology: Projected Total Economic Impact
New Technology: Projected Total Economic Impact (New Tech TEI) is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists vendors in communicating the value proposition of their products and services to clients. The New Tech TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate and justify the projected tangible value of IT initiatives to both senior management and other key business stakeholders.
Total Economic Impact Approach
-
Projected Benefits represent the projected value to be delivered to the business by the product. The New Tech TEI methodology places equal weight on the measure of projected benefits and the measure of projected costs, allowing for a full examination of the effect of the technology on the entire organization.
-
Projected Costs consider all expenses necessary to deliver the proposed value, or benefits, of the product. The projected cost category within New Tech TEI captures incremental costs over the existing environment for ongoing costs associated with the solution.
-
Flexibility represents the strategic value that can be obtained for some future additional investment building on top of the initial investment already made. Having the ability to capture that benefit has a PV that can be estimated.
-
Risks measure the uncertainty of benefit and cost estimates given: 1) the likelihood that estimates will meet original projections and 2) the likelihood that estimates will be tracked over time. TEI risk factors are based on “triangular distribution.”
The initial investment column contains costs incurred at “time 0” or at the beginning of Year 1 that are not discounted. All other cash flows are discounted using the discount rate at the end of the year. PV calculations are calculated for each total cost and benefit estimate. NPV calculations in the summary tables are the sum of the initial investment and the discounted cash flows in each year. Sums and present value calculations of the Total Benefits, Total Costs, and Cash Flow tables may not exactly add up, as some rounding may occur.
Appendix B: INTERVIEW AND SURVEY DEMOGRAPHICS
| Role | Industry | Number of Microsoft 365 Copilot users |
|---|---|---|
| Head vice president of technology services | IT services and business consulting | 15 |
| VP of finance, continuous improvement | Managed technology solutions | 25 |
| Vice president sales and marketing Marketing specialist |
Managed technology solutions | 10 |
| Director of technology | Defense | 400 |
| Chief information officer | Retirement services firm | 15 |
| President Chief technology officer General counsel, assistant secretary of the board of directors, and chief diversity officer Chief information officer Chief executive officer |
Staffing, IT, and business solutions | 65 |
| Senior consultant | Cloud consultancy | 15 |
Survey Demographics
“In which country are you located?”
| Country | Percentage of respondents |
|---|---|
| United States | 25% |
| India | 15% |
| UK | 14% |
| Australia | 11% |
| Canada | 9% |
| Japan | 7% |
| The Netherlands | 6% |
| France | 5% |
| Germany | 5% |
| Spain | 4% |
Base: 266 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Note: Percentages do not total 100 because of rounding.
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
“Using your best estimate, how many employees work for your firm/organization worldwide?”
| Number of employees | Percentage of respondents |
|---|---|
| 2 to 100 | 32% |
| 101 to 200 | 33% |
| 201 to 300 | 36% |
Base: 266 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Note: Percentages do not total 100 because of rounding.
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
“Which of the following best describes your current position/department?”
| Position/department | Percentage of respondents |
|---|---|
| Operations/logistics | 18% |
| IT | 17% |
| Marketing/advertising | 16% |
| Finance/accounting | 15% |
| Sales | 14% |
| Customer service/support | 12% |
| Human resources/training | 9% |
Base: 266 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Note: Percentages do not total 100 because of rounding.
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
“Which of the following best describes the industry to which your company belongs?”
| Industry | Percentage of respondents |
|---|---|
| Retail Financial services/insurance |
9% each |
| Healthcare Technology/technology services |
7% each |
| Manufacturing and materials CPG and/or manufacturing Transportation and logistics |
6% each |
| Advertising and/or marketing Media and/or leisure Education and/or nonprofits Energy, utilities, waste management |
5% each |
| Agriculture, food, and/or beverage Electronics |
4% each |
| Government Travel and hospitality Business or professional services Construction Consumer services |
3% each |
| Chemicals and/or metals Telecommunications services Legal services |
2% each |
| Security | 1% |
Base: 266 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
APPENDIX C: Time Saved Per Year From Survey Results
Hours saved by individual sales employees with Microsoft 365 Copilot on related tasks
| Task | Average (hours) | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Creation of presentations | 47 | 30 |
| Creation of proposals | 30 | 30 |
| Analysis of sales data from previous quarters | 21 | 20 |
| Onboarding of sales professional | 8 | 8 |
| Finding answers to common questions | 18 | 15 |
| Other | 30 | 30 |
Base: 97 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Percentage time saved by individual human resources employees with Microsoft 365 Copilot on related tasks
| Task | Average | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Drafting of policies | 8% | 9% |
| Drafting of job descriptions | 20% | 21% |
| Creation of training and other materials | 36% | 33% |
| Responses to emails from job applicants | 21% | 20% |
| Responses to emails from employees | 21% | 20% |
| Other | 31% | 31% |
Base: 65 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Percentage time saved by individual marketing employees with Microsoft 365 Copilot on related tasks
| Task | Average | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Identification of relevant market trends | 14% | 13% |
| Identification of relevant market segments | 17% | 15% |
| Content creation | 35% | 36% |
| Campaign creation | 31% | 25% |
| First drafts for projects | 9% | 10% |
| Summarization of campaign results | 20% | 15% |
| Visualization of campaign results | 22% | 20% |
| Other | 25% | 25% |
Base: 128 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Percentage of time saved by individual finance employees with Microsoft 365 Copilot on related tasks
| Task | Average | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Simplification of financial reporting | 15% | 14% |
| Writing executive summaries of financial reports | 33% | 31% |
| Simplification of planning | 10% | 10% |
| Identification of performance improvements | 8% | 5% |
| Ease of surfacing cost-saving insights in large bodies of data | 7% | 5% |
| Other | 14% | 14% |
Base: 111 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Percentage time saved by individual IT employees with Microsoft 365 Copilot on related tasks
| Task | Average | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Creation of project plans (e.g., for a product rollout) | 26% | 24% |
| Staying up to date on various project calls and chats | 29% | 24% |
| Data pattern identification to solve issues | 31% | 28% |
| User support with creation or summarization of knowledge base articles, existing support tickets, etc. | 32% | 29% |
| Other | 40% | 38% |
Base: 150 decision-makers with responsibility or influence over their organization’s AI solutions strategy
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, June 2024
Appendix D: Endnotes
1 Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists vendors in communicating the value proposition of their products and services to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of IT initiatives to both senior management and other key business stakeholders.
2 Source: How to Drive Employee Productivity With Generative AI, Forrester Research, Inc., March 11, 2024.
PDF 