Microsoft 365 Copilot and Google Gemini set up properly for your team

Microsoft Copilot is the AI built into Microsoft 365: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams. Gemini is Google’s equivalent inside Google Workspace: Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Meet. Both can draft and summarise emails, write first drafts of documents, explain spreadsheets and take notes in meetings.

The big advantage for a small business is where they run. They work inside your business accounts, under the same login, security and admin controls as your email. Microsoft and Google both say that on business plans your data isn’t used to train their public AI models, though you should check the current terms for your plan. That’s a much better starting point than staff pasting customer emails into a free chatbot.

Which version do you need?

This is where most small businesses get confused. Both companies offer several versions: a free or basic chat that’s included with many business plans, and a paid add-on that works with your own emails and files. What’s included, and what it costs, changes regularly, so we don’t quote prices here. On the free call we’ll look at the plan you’re on and tell you what you already have, what the add-on would give you, and whether it’s worth paying for yet.

Often the honest answer is to start with what’s included, train the team, and only add paid licences for the people who’ll use them every day.

Why sharing settings matter before you switch it on

Copilot and Gemini can search and summarise anything the person using them is allowed to open. That’s what makes them useful. It’s also why messy sharing settings become a problem. If a folder of staff contracts or a payroll spreadsheet has been shared with “everyone in the company” by accident, the AI can surface it to anyone who asks the right question.

Before switching anything on, we review who can see what in your SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams or Google Drive, and tidy up anything that’s shared more widely than it should be. In a small business this is usually a short job, and it’s worth doing anyway.

Getting the settings right

We go through the admin settings with you: who gets access, whether meeting recording and transcription are allowed, how long chat history is kept, and whether staff can use outside AI apps with their work accounts. We note what we changed and why, so you have a record.

Showing the team how to use it

Copilot and Gemini only save time if people know what to ask. We run a short session using your team’s real tasks: summarising long email threads, drafting replies, turning meeting notes into actions, building a first draft of a proposal from an old one. Our page on AI training for small businesses has more on how that works.

Will you need a policy too?

If staff will use AI with customer information, it’s sensible to write down a few rules. Our page on writing an AI policy explains what a one-page policy covers.