Launch Microsoft Copilot with clear next steps

Make the launch relevant
to your team

When your organization launches Microsoft Copilot, employees will likely receive an official announcement explaining what’s available and how to access it, but an announcement alone may not be enough to help employees get started. They also need to understand what Copilot means for their work, how to take their first steps, and where to go with questions.

That’s where AI Champions come in.

As a Champion, your role is to build on your organization’s approved launch communications with messages tailored to your team. By connecting the launch to familiar tasks, sharing relevant resources, and pointing employees toward a practical first step, you can help them move from awareness to action.

Start with the approved
launch message

Before creating launch communications for your team, review your organization’s approved messaging and make sure you have the essential details:

• What’s launching and who it’s for
• When employees should pay attention or take action
• Where to find launch resources and support
• Which launch events, resources, Cowork experiences, or approved agents are available

From there, consider how to make the information more relevant to your team. Think about the work they do and identify one practical action they can take with Copilot. This helps employees connect the official launch message to their day-to-day work.

Choose the right channel
and moment

There’s no need to create a new communications channel for the launch. Use the places where your team already asks questions, shares updates, and discusses their work.

That might mean posting in a Microsoft Teams channel during launch week, sharing an update in Viva Engage or a Champion community, or sending a follow-up email after a team meeting.

If your organization is hosting a launch event, demo, ask-me-anything (AMA) session, or office hours, you can also use these as opportunities to share relevant resources and encourage employees to take the next step.

Timing matters, too. Your team-specific messages will be most useful when employees have an opportunity to act on them. For example, you might share a starter prompt or relevant workflow shortly after the official announcement, remind employees about an upcoming demo, or share tips for applying what they learned after a launch event.

Send a simple launch sequence

One message doesn’t need to do everything. A short sequence of team-specific communications can reinforce the official launch, help employees take action, and capture early feedback. Here’s a sample schedule:

Keep your communications focused on the launch. You’re looking for early questions, examples, and blockers that you can share with your Champion program lead to help identify where employees need additional support. You’re not trying to measure the broader impact of Copilot yet.

Help employees take the next step

An effective Champion-led launch message doesn’t need to include every detail about Copilot. Instead, it should give employees a practical way to get started and apply Copilot to their work.

Build on the resources your organization already provides, including the official launch announcement, events, office hours, demos, recordings, community spaces, and approved AI experiences that are available to your team.

By connecting these resources to your team’s work, you can help employees move beyond the launch announcement and start exploring what Copilot can do for them.