Choosing and deploying tools

Four levels

Level	For what	Microsoft	Alternatives
Use	ready-made assistant for everyone	M365 Copilot, Copilot Chat	ChatGPT Enterprise, Claude, Gemini
Configure	agent on company knowledge	Agent Builder, Copilot Studio	custom GPTs, Claude projects, Gemini Gems
Delegate	agent carries out multi-step work	Copilot Cowork, Microsoft Scout	agent modes in ChatGPT, Claude
Build	custom solution, integrations, products	Microsoft Foundry	AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI

Decision tree

graph TB Q1{"Everyday office work of an individual?"} -- yes --> U["USE: Copilot"] Q1 -- no --> Q2{"Does a team need answers from company knowledge?"} Q2 -- yes --> C["CONFIGURE: Agent Builder / Copilot Studio"] Q2 -- no --> Q3{"A long multi-step task across files?"} Q3 -- yes --> D["DELEGATE: Copilot Cowork"] Q3 -- no --> Q4{"Is there a ready specialist product?"} Q4 -- yes --> B["BUY"] Q4 -- no --> F["BUILD: Foundry"]

Copilot Cowork

Generally available since 16 June 2026. You delegate a task, not a prompt: it plans the steps, works across files, mail and Teams, runs in the cloud, has checkpoints. Requires an M365 Copilot licence and is charged by consumption (Copilot Credits) – the task cost is visible, with limits per tenant, group and user. Off by default; audit, eDiscovery, sensitivity labels.

Microsoft Scout

Introduced 2 June 2026, preview in the Frontier programme (GA planned for October 2026). An always-on personal agent with its own name, memory and skills. Requires a GitHub Copilot Business/Enterprise licence and admin enablement (Frontier + Intune). Built on OpenClaw. Stance: watch, pilot with 2–3 enthusiasts on test mailboxes.

Microsoft Foundry

An Azure platform for custom AI apps and agents: models (OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, Meta…) + knowledge (your documents) + tools (APIs, MCP) + evaluations, guardrails, monitoring. Publish to Teams, M365 Copilot or your own product. Governed via Agent 365. No platform fee – you pay for consumption.

TRAXIA idea	Effort	Value	Time
Tender assistant	low	high	weeks
Service technician assistant	medium	high	1–3 months
WIM data guardian	high	high	6–12 months, AI Act

Vendor choice and pilot

8 criteria: value (20 %), data protection and EU (15 %), security and admin (15 %), integration, costs, evidence of quality, lock-in, support (10 % each). Red flags: agent washing, demo only on vendor data, no accuracy numbers.

6–8 week pilot: baseline plus success and exit criteria → setup and champions → usage and measurement → scale / adjust / stop.