AI adoption · Microsoft 365 Copilot
Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption for UK and Irish firms
Softblues (softblues.io) helps firms in the UK and Ireland that have bought Microsoft 365 Copilot get their people using it. We find out why the seats sit idle, make the SharePoint permissions safe to rely on, train each team on its own files and tasks, and review which paid seats are worth keeping. Softblues is a member of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program and works across Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini. When Copilot is the right tool we say so, and when part of the work needs something else we say that too.
- OpenAI Select Partner
- Google Cloud Services Partner
- Claude Partner Network Certified
- Member of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program
Key facts
Who it is for
Firms in the UK and Ireland on Microsoft 365, with roughly 50 or more knowledge workers, who bought Copilot licences and see less use than they expected.
What we look at first
Weekly active seats against paid seats in Copilot Analytics, and conversations with the people who stopped using it.
What usually blocks it
Permissions nobody trusts, training that was a demo, and nobody named to own the result.
Seats
Copilot Chat for everyone on an eligible plan, and paid seats for the people whose work the seat changes, reviewed every quarter against usage.
Partner status
Softblues is an OpenAI Select Partner, Certified in the Claude Partner Network, a Google Cloud partner at Services Select tier, and a member of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program.
How it starts
A call, then a paid discovery. The proposal sets the price and the timeline.
Why do staff stop using Microsoft 365 Copilot?
Usually for one of four reasons, and the licence is not one of them.
Nobody showed them a task worth doing with it
The training was a demo, and people who watch a demo do not adopt.
IT held it back
Copilot shows people anything they can already reach, including files that were shared too widely years ago, so the safe response was to restrict it.
They tried the wrong job
Complex workbook analysis is Copilot's thinnest surface. Someone who starts there decides it does not work.
Nobody owns it
Without a named person reviewing use each month, early curiosity fades after the first busy week.
How does Softblues raise Copilot adoption?
Find where it stalled
Usage by team from Copilot Analytics, plus short conversations with the people who stopped.
Make the permissions safe to rely on
Run an oversharing assessment with SharePoint Advanced Management and Purview DSPM for AI, then apply sensitivity labels. Restricted SharePoint Search has been closed to new enablement since 31 July 2026, so there is no shortcut left. The permissions have to be fixed.
Train each team on its own work
Half a day of hands-on practice per team, in their own files. Two champions per function, each with an hour a week protected.
Write down what works
A task that works becomes a shared instruction or a Copilot Studio agent, so the next person does it the same way.
Review the seats every quarter
Keep paid seats for the people whose work they change, and give everyone else Copilot Chat. Judge by usage, not headcount.
Measure monthly
Weekly active seats as a share of paid seats, plus one business number per team, measured against a baseline taken before the work started.
Where is Copilot the right tool, and where is it not?
| Copilot is a good fit | Copilot is the wrong tool |
|---|---|
| Mail, documents and meetings inside Microsoft 365 | Complex workbook analysis in Excel |
| A governed assistant for everyone, seeing only what each person can already see | Reviewing hundreds of files a month, where per-credit pricing is the wrong meter and a batch build is cheaper |
| Content that inherits the sensitivity label of its source file, with prompts and responses in the audit log | Live event streams or anything with a response-time guarantee |
| Scoped agents in Copilot Studio over SharePoint, started by an employee | Work where nobody has written the process down: an agent will automate the confusion |
Many firms run Copilot for everyone and a deeper product, Claude or ChatGPT, for the people whose work needs it. Sometimes the right answer is the Copilot you already have.
Can we use Claude models inside Microsoft 365 Copilot?
Yes, but in UK and EU tenants it is a decision your board takes, not a default.
Anthropic models in Copilot are controlled by a setting called “AI providers operating as Microsoft subprocessors”. For tenants in the UK, the EU and EFTA it defaults to no users. A separate setting covers Anthropic models inside Word, Excel and PowerPoint only. Anthropic models process outside the Microsoft EU Data Boundary. Check both settings in your own admin centre, decide at board level, and minute the decision.
Source: Microsoft Learn, Anthropic models in Microsoft Online Services.
What can we see from our work with other firms?
The same method works whichever platform you have bought.
We are running a Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption programme with an organisation right now and will share what it shows when the client agrees. Our published reference programme was on Claude. At Key Capital, nine weekly sessions by role took the firm to 35 of 45 staff using Claude several times a week. The steps on this page follow that method: tasks by role, the firm's own files, champions and a monthly review. Our Microsoft 365 Copilot playbook sets out the full Copilot route, including the licences, the governance switches and eleven worked examples.
Common questions about Copilot adoption
Is it worth keeping Copilot licences nobody uses?
Not as they are. Review them person by person. Keep a paid seat where it changes someone's work, give everyone else Copilot Chat, and look again each quarter against usage.
Do we need to fix SharePoint permissions before rolling Copilot out further?
Yes. Copilot answers from whatever a person can reach, so a file shared too widely years ago can turn up in an answer with a citation. An oversharing assessment and the fixes it finds come first, and it is often a project of several weeks.
How long does it take to raise Copilot adoption?
It depends on the state of your permissions and how many teams are in scope. Softblues sets the plan after a paid discovery, and the proposal carries a timeline.
Is Softblues a Microsoft partner?
Softblues is an OpenAI Select Partner, Certified in the Claude Partner Network, a Google Cloud partner at Services Select tier, and a member of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program. We work across all four platforms, so we can tell you honestly when Copilot is enough.
Should we switch from Copilot to Claude or ChatGPT?
Usually not. Copilot gives everyone a governed assistant inside the tools they already use. A deeper product makes sense for the people whose work is long documents, analysis or drafting outside Office files, alongside Copilot rather than instead of it.
Can Softblues build Copilot agents for us?
Yes. For a scoped task over SharePoint that an employee starts, a Copilot Studio agent is usually right. For high-volume batch work or anything client-facing, a custom build is better, and we say which. See AI agents for business.
Do you work with firms in Ireland as well as the UK?
Yes. Softblues works with firms in both. Copilot keeps prompts and responses at rest in your tenant's local region, and both the UK and the EU are named regions.
How is the work priced?
Work starts with a paid discovery, and the proposal sets the price and the timeline.
Already bought Copilot, and few people use it?
Tell us how many seats you have, who was trained and how, and where use dropped off. We will say where it stalled and whether a paid discovery is the right next step.
The first call covers what you want to improve, the tools you already run, and whether a scoped paid discovery is the right next step.