I’ve spent the last couple of years watching businesses experiment with AI.
Some have embraced it.
Some have banned it.
Most sit somewhere in the middle, using ChatGPT occasionally to write an email or summarise a document and wondering what all the fuss is about.
And honestly, I understand why.
Most AI tools today are helpful, but they’re still just tools. They answer questions, generate content and give suggestions. The actual work still needs to be done by a person.
Microsoft’s new Copilot Cowork feels different.
For the first time, I can see a future where AI doesn’t simply help us work faster. It actually starts completing meaningful pieces of work on our behalf.
We’ve been thinking about AI the wrong way
Whenever I speak to business owners about AI, the conversation often revolves around replacing jobs.
I think that’s the wrong question.
The real question is:
How much of your team’s day is spent on work that nobody actually enjoys doing?
Finding information.
Preparing reports.
Chasing emails.
Organising meetings.
Creating first drafts.
Pulling together updates from multiple systems.
Most businesses aren’t held back by a lack of talent. They’re held back because talented people spend too much time on administration.
That’s where Copilot Cowork becomes interesting.
What is Copilot Cowork?
The easiest way to describe it is this: Most AI tools answer questions. Copilot Cowork completes tasks.
Instead of asking:
“Can you help me write a customer review presentation?”
You ask:
“Prepare a customer review presentation using our recent meeting notes, support tickets and sales figures.”
The difference is subtle but important. One gives you assistance. The other starts doing the work.
It’s a significant shift in how AI fits into a business.
Why I think SME’s will benefit more than large corporates
Large organisations can throw people at problems. SMEs can’t.
Most of the businesses we work with have good people wearing multiple hats.
The Finance Director is also dealing with HR. The Operations Manager is running projects. The Managing Director is still approving invoices, responding to emails and solving operational issues.
Every time I sit down with an SME owner, the challenge is rarely a lack of ideas. It’s a lack of time.
Copilot Cowork effectively gives your existing team additional capacity without increasing headcount.
That’s why I think SMEs could see some of the biggest gains.
Imagine Monday morning
Your inbox is overflowing. You have a customer review meeting at 10am. A supplier meeting at 2pm. You need a management report by the end of the day.
Traditionally, you’d spend hours pulling information together before you’ve even started adding value.
Now imagine simply asking:
“Prepare me for today’s meetings and produce a management summary of anything important that happened last week.”
That’s where this technology is heading.
Not because it replaces your expertise.
Because it removes the grunt work that sits around your expertise.
The businesses that win won’t be the ones with the best AI
They’ll be the ones with the best processes.
This is something that’s often overlooked.
AI is only as useful as the information it can access.
If your files are a mess, your data is unreliable, your permissions are wrong and nobody follows a process, AI struggles.
If your Microsoft 365 environment is organised properly, AI becomes dramatically more valuable.
That’s why I don’t think AI readiness is actually an AI conversation.
It’s a business maturity conversation.
The organisations seeing the biggest benefits are usually the organisations that already have good habits around documentation, collaboration and knowledge sharing.
My view
I don’t believe we’re heading towards a world where SMEs replace entire departments with AI.
I do believe we’re heading towards a world where every employee has access to a capable digital co-worker.
A co-worker that can research, summarise, organise, prepare and coordinate.
A co-worker that never forgets where a file is stored.
A co-worker that can read thousands of emails in seconds.
A co-worker that doesn’t take annual leave.
The businesses that learn how to use that capability effectively will have a significant advantage over those that don’t.
Not because they’ll have fewer people.
Because their people will spend more time doing the work that actually matters.
So what should SMEs do now?
Don’t rush into buying every AI product you see advertised.
Start by looking at your existing Microsoft 365 environment.
Ask yourself:
- Could people easily find information?
- Are documents stored properly?
- Are processes documented?
- Is Teams being used effectively?
- Do we have data spread across multiple disconnected systems?
The businesses that prepare now will be in the strongest position to take advantage of tools like Copilot Cowork as they continue to evolve.
The AI race isn’t about who adopts first.
It’s about who adopts well.
Final thought
For many years, technology has focused on helping us do things faster.
Copilot Cowork feels like the first step towards technology actually helping us get things done.
For busy SME owners, that’s an important distinction.
Most of us don’t need another tool.
We need more time.
And if Microsoft gets this right, Copilot Cowork could become one of the most valuable additions to the modern workplace we’ve seen in a very long time.
Ready to explore AI in your business?
At Press Start, we’re helping SMEs cut through the hype and identify practical ways AI can create genuine business value.
Our AI Readiness Review helps you understand where tools like Microsoft Copilot can save time, reduce administration and improve productivity whilst ensuring your business remains secure and in control.
