Hi there,
This month Microsoft told the team behind Copilot, in an internal memo, that their product must earn the right to exist.
Here’s why. Copilot sits in front of roughly 450 million paying Microsoft 365 seats. Fewer than 4.5 per cent of them pay for the full version, that’s not even one in twenty. And among the businesses that do pay, only 20 to 30 per cent of people actually use it in a given week.
Sit with that. The biggest software company on earth put AI on almost every desk in the working world and still can’t get people using it. Because installation was never the point. Adoption is. And adoption is the one game where a small business beats a giant.
This week in AI
Two things worth knowing. First, the practical one. Microsoft finished automatically installing the Copilot app on business PCs with Microsoft 365 at the start of the month. A baseline Copilot Chat now comes bundled into most business plans too. Translation: you already own more AI than you think, sitting inside subscriptions you’re paying for anyway. Whether it earns its keep is up to you, not Microsoft. More on that below.
Second, a date for a small number of you. From 2 August, EU transparency rules mean a customer-facing AI chatbot has to make clear it’s a machine, not a person. If you run one for customers in the EU, a five-minute check of its opening message now saves an awkward conversation later. No chatbot, nothing to do.
The practical bit
Installed isn’t adopted.
Before you buy any new AI subscription, find out what you already own. Most businesses have AI scattered through tools they pay for every month and have never once listed it. Fifteen minutes fixes that.
Three steps.
- List what you pay for. Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, your accounting package, your CRM, your project tool. The monthly subscriptions you barely think about.
- Find the AI in each one. In Word, Outlook and Teams it’s Copilot. In Gmail and Docs it’s Gemini. Your accounting and CRM tools almost certainly have their own by now. Open each tool and look for the button you’ve been ignoring.
- Pick the one nearest a weekly job. Then run the loop you already know. Brief it like a person, check it before it ships, count the time saved. One job, one tool, one honest measure.
You don’t need a new subscription. You need one habit inside a tool you’re already paying for. That’s the whole difference between Microsoft’s numbers and yours.
Free resources
Claude: A Beginner’s Guide
Not everything worth using comes bundled with your existing tools. This free guide takes you from a standing start to getting real work out of Claude, one of the tools we use every day to run The AI Foundry. It also sets you up nicely for next Tuesday’s Claude Essentials session.
New here? You’ll set up a free community login on the way in.
What’s on
The sessions below ran in July 2026. For what is coming up, see upcoming events.
A busy week. At 13.00, Thursday afternoon in person and next Tuesday to close the month.
Microsoft Copilot Essentials
21 July · Online · 13.00 to 14.00
The guided version of this issue. Where Copilot actually lives in the tools you already pay for, what it’s genuinely good at, what to ignore and the first jobs worth handing it. One hour, no technical background needed.
Free, live, no jargon
Ask Us Anything about AI
Thursday 23 July · Kindling, MediaWorks, White City · 13.00 to 17.00
An afternoon in person with Scott and Richard. Bring whatever you’re stuck on. A tool that isn’t landing, a question you’ve been embarrassed to ask, the thing your team keeps arguing about. We’ll work through it together. Drop in for twenty minutes or stay the afternoon.
Next week: Claude Essentials
Claude Essentials
Tuesday 28 July · Online · 13.00 to 14.00
The month closes with Claude, the other tool we run our own business on. Free and open to anyone.
Their problem is your head start.
Microsoft needs hundreds of millions of people to change their habits. You need a handful. One team, one job, one tool you already pay for. That’s a fight you can actually win, this week, without spending a penny more than you already do.
Next week, the whole system on one page. Five weeks of this newsletter turned into a single playbook, plus Claude Essentials to close the month.
Hit reply and tell me what AI you found hiding in the tools you already pay for. I read every reply.
Know someone paying for Copilot nobody’s opened? Forward this on.
Understand first. Then act.
Richard