Microsoft Copilot and the price of time

A digital assistant can eliminate hours of low-value work at a low price point, says Brian O'Brien

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Image: Microsoft

In association with Dotnet.ie

In today’s workplace, time is one of the most valuable, and frequently wasted resources. Microsoft Copilot, the AI assistant built into Microsoft 365, offers a way to claw back time by automating routine, repetitive tasks. At €28 per user per month, it may seem like a premium add-on, but for many organisations, it’s a strategic investment in productivity and focus.

Copilot integrates directly with tools like Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Teams. It can draft e-mails, generate reports, summarise meetings, analyse data, and even create presentations, all in a fraction of the time it would take a person. For employees bogged down in admin, it acts as a digital assistant that works alongside them, quietly eliminating hours of low-value work each week.

Even saving one hour per day per employee quickly adds up, over 250 hours a year. For a team of 10, that’s 2,500 hours that can be redirected into higher-value tasks like customer work, strategic planning, or innovation. When viewed this way, the monthly fee becomes negligible.

Where Copilot really begins to shine is when it’s viewed not just as a tool, but as part of a broader class of AI agents, intelligent systems that take action on your behalf. Agents don’t just assist with tasks, they coordinate, summarise, and even anticipate needs across systems. This evolution marks a shift from passive software to active digital partners.

For example, in a busy meeting schedule, Copilot can act as a meeting agent, capturing notes, extracting action items, and drafting follow-ups automatically. It helps teams stay aligned without relying on memory or manual notes. And as agent technology matures, we’ll see AI handling more proactive workflows: booking meetings, chasing updates, or flagging risks, all without being prompted.

Adoption, though, requires more than flipping a switch. For Copilot to deliver value, users need training and organisations need to rethink how work is structured. It’s not just about saving time, but about changing how we spend time.

Too often, time at work is tracked and measured, but not optimised. Copilot and AI agents shift the focus away from measuring effort and toward improving outcomes. They free people to spend more time thinking, creating, and solving, rather than formatting, searching, or summarising.

In the end, Microsoft Copilot represents more than just software. It’s a signal that the nature of digital work is changing. The real cost isn’t €28 a month, it’s the hours we continue to waste without tools like this in place.

Brian O’Brien is co-founder and CEO of Dotnet.ie