Microsoft's Co-pilot AI to assist field workers in their jobs

SAN FRANSCISCO: Microsoft is bringing generative AI to frontline field workers by incorporating its Co-pilot AI assistant into its field services platform, which not only streamlines workflows but also allows supervisors to see what technicians are doing on the job.

Copilot will be added to the Dynamics 365 service, which will be used by field workers such as cable technicians and electricians, as well as a wide range of other jobs in facilities, manufacturing and healthcare, according to The Verge.

When using Copilot, service requests sent via Outlook will automatically pre-populate information, such as how many times the same customer has requested service in the past.

Supervisors can review work orders before distributing them to field workers.

These work orders will also recommend specific people for the job based on their travel time, availability, and skill set by fall this year, according to the report.

According to Lili Cheng, corporate vice president, Business Applications and Platform at Microsoft, bringing generative AI to fieldwork lets frontline workers like technicians work faster and smarter.

“A lot of field workers often rely on pen and paper, with most tools fragmented, so it takes a long time to complete jobs. We wanted to help streamline their workflows,” Cheng was quoted as saying.

In March, the tech giant introduced the AI-powered 'Microsoft 365 Copilot' for Word, Excel, Outlook and more.

"This latest AI-powered offering combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with your business data and context -- across all your Microsoft 365 apps, documents, and conversations -- to turn your words into the most powerful productivity tool on the planet," the tech giant said in a statement.

The new Co-pilot comes integrated into the productivity applications and experiences which people use and rely on every day for work and life, like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, Power Platform, Viva and more.