Let’s be honest—I don’t often get pulled into customer meetings these days. Not because I don’t care (you know I care), but because we’ve built a world-class team at Synergy Technical. They’re smart, capable, and they handle customer relationships with finesse and expertise.
But last week was different.
I had an in-person meeting with one of our longest-standing customers. And by long-standing, I mean our very first customer ever. (You know who you are—and you know I love you!) It had been a long time since we’d connected face-to-face, and I wanted to walk into that meeting prepared—not just with a surface-level understanding of what was going on, but with the kind of depth you only get from being in the trenches with the team every day.
Except…I’m not in the trenches every day anymore. That’s where Copilot Researcher came in.
A Personal Briefing, Without the Admin Overhead
Before the meeting, I turned to Copilot Researcher—functionality that became generally available in Microsoft 365 just this past June—and asked it to create a briefing for me. I didn’t just want a few bullet points. I wanted the whole picture:
- How our relationship with the customer had evolved
- What we were currently contracted to do
- Which recent projects we’d delivered
- What their current business challenges looked like
And it delivered. Instantly.
Copilot Researcher pulled from every source I had access to—Teams messages, emails, SharePoint files, OneDrive docs, meeting notes, project plans, and even Teams channel chatter. It aggregated insights that would’ve taken a staff member hours to compile (and let’s be honest, I probably would’ve asked someone to do it if I didn’t have this tool).
Here’s the key, though: Copilot only pulled from content I had the right to see. That’s why information protection and sensitivity labels are non-negotiable. If your tenant isn’t buttoned up with clear permissions and labeling policies, it’s time to change that—because as powerful as Copilot is, it’s only as smart (and secure) as your data governance. You have to make sure the right people see the right content—and only the right content.
Insights Beyond the Obvious
But here’s where it gets interesting: Copilot didn’t just echo what was on the last slide deck or invoice. It highlighted context—the kind of details even the most well-briefed team might overlook:
- Leadership changes that had nothing to do with IT, but still impacted our champions
- Regulatory shifts and funding pressures that could affect upcoming initiatives
- Patterns in communication, priorities, and sentiment that I never would’ve seen on my own
It was like having an analyst, project manager, and strategist all rolled into one—one that doesn’t sleep or miss a meeting.
The Real Power: Just-in-Time Insight
Here’s the kicker: while reading through the Researcher-generated brief, I was able to ask follow-up questions. I could prompt it in real time:
“When did they last mention budget constraints?”
Try doing that with a traditional briefing doc. This was adaptive intelligence at work, and it changed the way I prepare for meetings—forever.
It’s Not About Replacing People. It’s About Empowering Them.
Could I have asked my team to pull all this together for me? Sure. But they’re focused on delivering value to the customer—not sifting through message threads from 2011. And while they might have built a great summary, Copilot surfaced things none of us had thought to ask.
Copilot Researcher doesn’t replace human intelligence. It enhances it. It lets me lead with confidence, curiosity, and context. And that’s not just efficient—it’s transformational.
If You Haven’t Tried Copilot Researcher Yet… Why Not?
Seriously—go try it. Whether you're in sales, delivery, strategy, or the C-suite, it will change how you work. You’ll make better decisions faster, with more context, and fewer blind spots.
And the next time you see an old friend (or customer), you’ll be able to walk into that room like you never left.
If your organization wants to improve productivity by using Microsoft 365 Copilot, Synergy Technical can help. Our Microsoft 365 Copilot Readiness Assessment will validate your organization's readiness for Copilot as well as provide recommendations for configuration changes prior to implement. We'll help you make sure that your data is safe, secure, and ready for your Copilot deployment.
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