Technology Guidance for Business Leaders | Ntiva Blog

Getting Started with Microsoft Copilot Studio

Written by Ted Brown | Jul 7, 2025

If you’re exploring ways to bring AI into your daily operations, Microsoft Copilot Studio is a smart place to start. It gives you a straightforward way to build custom copilots that connect to your data, automate common tasks, and support your team without writing a single line of code.

In this post, we’ll walk through the basics, highlight real use cases, and show you how to get your first solution up and running.

TL; DR: Copilot Studio is Microsoft’s low-code platform for building custom AI agents that can automate tasks, answer questions, and connect to Microsoft 365 data. This guide explains what Copilot Studio is, how it works, which features matter most, real-world use cases, pricing, and best-practice tips. Whether you're creating an internal help desk bot or a customer-facing chat assistant, you'll learn how to get started and build your first agent quickly.

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What Is Microsoft Copilot Studio?

Microsoft Copilot Studio is a low-code, conversational AI platform built to help you create and deploy custom AI agents, called "copilots," inside Microsoft 365 and beyond. These agents can:

  • Answer natural language questions

  • Automate business tasks

  • Connect to internal systems like SharePoint, Power BI, or Dataverse

  • Respond across Teams, web apps, and mobile devices

Instead of needing a developer, you can use a visual builder and guided setup to:

  • Name your agent and define its purpose

  • Connect knowledge sources (e.g., SharePoint, web pages, PDFs)

  • Customize behavior using Power Automate or APIs

It integrates directly with Microsoft 365 and uses large language models like GPT to respond accurately, grounded in your business data.

How Microsoft Copilot Studio Works

When a user interacts with an agent, Copilot Studio follows a clear process to generate secure, relevant responses:

  1. User Prompt – A question or command is submitted, like: "What's our return policy?"

  2. Data Grounding – Copilot Studio looks up related internal data (e.g., from SharePoint or Dataverse).

  3. LLM Response – A large language model drafts a response based on grounded data.

  4. Security Filters – Responses are filtered for compliance and privacy.

  5. User Reply – The output is delivered in the same channel it was received (e.g., Teams or website).

  6. Analytics Logging – The interaction is logged for auditing and improvement.

This workflow allows Copilot Studio to do more than just chat. Because it can act on data, trigger workflows, and handle complex logic, each agent becomes a functional part of your business. 

What Makes Copilot Studio So Powerful? 

Copilot Studio gives you the tools to build intelligent, secure, and fully integrated AI agents without needing to write code. Whether you're creating a bot for internal support or automating external workflows, these are the core features that help you get real value quickly. 

 

Feature 

 

What It Does 

Low-Code Agent Builder 

 

Create AI agents using natural language prompts and a graphical interface 

 

Conversational AI 

 

Agents can respond to user queries across Teams, web, SharePoint, and more 

 

Microsoft 365 Integration 

 

Built-in support for Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Dataverse, Power BI, and others 

 

Data Grounding 

 

Pulls accurate, up-to-date info from connected sources before responding 

 

Workflow Orchestration 

 

Automate actions using Power Automate, custom triggers, or APIs 

 

Multilingual Support 

 

Supports multiple languages out of the box 

 

Security and Compliance 

 

Adheres to Microsoft enterprise-grade policies and filters sensitive data 

 

Analytics Dashboard 

 

Monitor usage, adoption, message volume, and ROI 

 

These features make it possible to create powerful, enterprise-ready AI agents, without writing a single line of code.

Practical Ways Organizations Are Using Copilot Studio

You don’t need a massive AI rollout to see results. Some of the most valuable use cases are actually simple and focus on everyday tasks:

Internal Help Desk Bots

Build agents to answer common HR or IT questions in Teams:

  • “How do I reset my password?”

  • “What’s our PTO policy?”

Customer Service Agents

Deploy chatbots on your website to handle FAQs, status updates, or appointment requests 24/7.

Content and Summarization Assistants

Create agents to summarize reports, draft customer emails, or repackage long documents.

Blended Agents

You can combine use cases into a single copilot that answers questions, summarizes content, and automates tasks across departments.

RELATED READING: Microsoft Copilot Training & Adoption: Maximizing AI for Your Business 

Walkthrough: Building Your First Copilot Studio Agent 

One of the most useful aspects of Copilot Studio is how quickly you can go from an idea to a working prototype. In our demo scenario, a team created an agent to support a new bike launch campaign. The agent helped internal staff and customers get answers to product details, test ride availability, and troubleshooting steps.

Here’s how the process typically unfolds:

Step 1: Describe your copilot

Give your agent a name and a clear purpose. For the demo, the goal was to guide users through common product questions.

Step 2: Set up topics

Define user intents like “What’s new in this bike model?” or “Where can I schedule a test ride?”

Step 3: Add knowledge sources

Connect supporting content such as SharePoint docs, marketing PDFs, or web pages.

Step 4: Customize responses

Adjust tone and calls to action. For the demo, replies highlighted product features and invited users to book a ride.

Step 5: Test the agent

Use the built-in chat simulator to preview responses and make refinements.

Step 6: Publish to channels

Once ready, push the agent to Teams, a webpage, or wherever users will interact.

With this quick, practical approach, your first agent can be live in under 10 minutes. 

What Does Copilot Studio Cost and What’s Included? 

Copilot Studio access depends on your Microsoft 365 license:

  • Included in Microsoft 365 Copilot for Enterprise and Microsoft 365 for Education (Faculty only)

  • Available as an add-on license for others

  • Copilot Studio (Premium) enables connectors, APIs, Power Automate flows, and integrations across channels

For many users, the standard version will offer all the functionality they need. Premium features are ideal for enterprise-wide automation or external deployment. Microsoft frequently updates pricing and packaging, so check the official Microsoft Copilot Studio page for the most current details. 

Tips to Get the Most from Your First Copilot 

Before you roll out your first AI agent, keep these tips in mind: 

  1. Start simple. Pick one use case with clear value, like answering HR questions, and build from there. 
  2. Ground it well. The quality of your responses depends on connected knowledge sources. Keep them accurate and up to date. 
  3. Test often. Use the built-in simulator and ask real users to try it before you go live. 
  4. Use security settings. Make sure the agent doesn’t surface data it shouldn’t. Use built-in roles and access controls. 
  5. Monitor and improve. Copilot Studio includes analytics so you can track adoption and refine responses. Taking the time to plan, test, and monitor will help your agent deliver real value and evolve. 

Ready to Explore Copilot Studio? 

Copilot Studio makes it possible for any business to create intelligent, responsive AI agents without needing a development team. Whether you’re trying to improve employee productivity, reduce support volume, or speed up content creation, these tools can help you get there faster. 

Want help figuring out where to start or how to scale? Reach out to our team of Copilot experts. We’re here to help.