Talk to Your Computer: Microsoft Copilot and the Rise of the AI-Powered PC

Microsoft has been rolling out Copilot features across its products at a pace that can be hard to keep up with. Copilot is now in Windows, Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, Edge, and OneNote. The features range from genuinely impressive to "why would I use this instead of just doing it myself." We have spent time testing the ones most relevant to small business owners so you do not have to work it out from scratch.

This is a practical review. We will tell you what each feature actually does, whether it works reliably, and whether it is worth the time to learn. We will also cover what you need and what it costs, because Copilot access is not the same across all Microsoft 365 subscriptions.

What You Need and What It Costs

This is the most important section to read before you get excited about anything below. Copilot features in Microsoft 365 come in two tiers.

The first tier is built-in Copilot features that come with existing Microsoft 365 Business subscriptions at no extra cost. These include Copilot in Edge, basic Windows Copilot features, real-time captions, and some AI features in the newer versions of Office apps. If you are on Microsoft 365 Business Basic ($9.40/user/month in Australia), Standard ($18.60/user/month), or Premium ($28.90/user/month), you already have access to some of these.

The second tier is Microsoft 365 Copilot, a paid add-on that unlocks the full AI capabilities across Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and PowerPoint. This costs approximately $45 per user per month in Australia (pricing may vary by reseller). That is on top of your existing Microsoft 365 subscription. For a five-person team, that is an additional $225 per month or about $2,700 per year.

Whether that cost is justified depends entirely on how much time your team spends in these apps. For a business where two or three people are in Outlook and Teams most of the day, the calculus can work. For a solo operator who checks email occasionally, it probably does not.

Drafting and Rewriting Emails in Outlook

With the full Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, the Outlook AI features are the first place most business owners notice a genuine productivity lift. The Draft with Copilot function lets you describe what you want to say (e.g., "Follow up on the quote I sent last Tuesday, mention we are available to start next month, keep it brief and friendly") and Copilot writes a draft email for you.

Our verdict: this genuinely saves 10 minutes a day for anyone sending more than 20 emails. The drafts are not always perfect. Copilot occasionally produces something slightly too formal or misses a nuance, but editing a draft takes less time than writing from scratch. After a week of use, most people adapt their descriptions to get better output.

The Coaching function is also underrated. Paste in an email you have already written and ask Copilot to review the tone or suggest improvements. This is particularly useful for sensitive communications where you want to make sure you are coming across clearly and professionally.

Summarising Long Emails and Threads

If your inbox includes long email threads where you need to catch up on a conversation that has been going back and forth for days, the Summarise Thread feature is one of the most immediately useful Copilot additions. One click gives you a three-to-five sentence summary of the thread's key points and any actions that were requested.

This works well for threads with more than ten messages. For shorter threads, it is overkill. Our verdict: genuine time-saver, particularly for managers or business owners who are cc'd on threads they need to track but not drive.

Summarising Long PDFs and Documents

In Word, Copilot can summarise any document that is open in the app. Open a 40-page supplier contract, click Copilot, and ask "what are the key obligations and notice periods in this document?" You get a plain-English summary in seconds.

This is not a replacement for proper legal review of significant contracts. But for quickly understanding what a document is about before deciding whether to read it properly or send it to your accountant or solicitor, it is excellent. Our verdict: one of the most practically useful features in the whole Copilot suite.

Meeting Notes in Teams

If you are on the full Microsoft 365 Copilot plan, Copilot in Teams can join your meetings and produce a summary, a list of action items, and a transcript after the call. You can also ask Copilot questions about a meeting you missed: "What was decided about the marketing budget?" and it will search the transcript for the answer.

Our verdict: this is the feature that pays for itself fastest in organisations where meetings are frequent. For businesses that run regular client calls or team meetings and spend time afterwards writing up notes and action items, having this automated is a genuine win. It requires all meeting participants to be notified that AI is taking notes, which is both a legal and courtesy requirement.

Natural Language Search Across Files

Within Microsoft 365, Copilot's search capabilities allow you to ask things like "show me all the proposals we sent to clients in Q3 this year" or "find the spreadsheet where we tracked the supplier comparison last year." This searches across OneDrive, SharePoint, and your email attachments.

This works best when your files are stored in OneDrive or SharePoint rather than only on your local hard drive. If your team works across a shared SharePoint site, the search is impressive. If everyone keeps files locally without syncing to the cloud, Copilot cannot see them. Our verdict: very useful if your document storage is organised and in the cloud; limited value if it is not.

Is It Worth the $45 Per Month?

For a business owner who lives in Outlook and Teams, the answer is probably yes if you have at least three or four licences making daily use of it. The meeting notes, email drafting, and document summarisation each save meaningful time when used consistently.

For occasional users or businesses that primarily use Microsoft 365 for email and basic documents, the free-tier features (Edge Copilot, Windows search, basic Office features) are likely sufficient for now. Start with what you already have, form a view on whether you want more, and then consider the upgrade.

Microsoft is continuously improving these features, and the value proposition gets stronger with each update. Getting familiar with the free-tier features now puts you in a good position to evaluate the upgrade when the time is right.