Speaker Introduction

Austin Hampton – Pax8
Enterprise Productivity Solutions Consultant
M365 SMB Sales Specialist
MS-900 | SC-900 | MB-910
FY24 Microsoft Global Pitch Perfect Modern Work & Copilot Winner
Collector of skillsets/hobbies

Table of Contents

• Value of Generative AI
• Copilot AI for Business
• True Value of Generative AI
• How AI Achieves This
• Creating Expertise & Skill
• Why Choose Copilot?
• Copilot Use Case Levels
• Methods of Adoption

Value of Generative AI

Applications:

• Visual Art / Imagery
• Creative Writing
• Music & Video Production
• Reading & Writing Comprehension
• Sentiment Analysis

Performance in Standardized Tests:

• GRE: 169/170 (~99th percentile)
• SAT Reading & Writing: 710/800 (~93rd percentile)
• LSAT: 163 (~88th percentile)

Innovation Contributions:

• Idea Generation
• Disparate Pattern Recognition
• Divergent Association

Source: OpenAI (2023), arXiv:2303.08774

Harvard Business School Study on ChatGPT

Results:

• AI-assisted consultants outperformed human consultants in all metrics.
• AI reduced the performance gap between lower and high performers.
• AI had the most impact on creativity and innovation.

Study Statistics:

• 25.1% – More Work Done
• 12.5% – Increased Rate of Work Done
• 40% – Increased Quality of Work

Source: One Useful Thing

Lower performers: +43% work quality increase
High performers: +17% work quality increase
Some users: -23% productivity drop

Study used GPT-4 (Sept 2023); newer models released:

• GPT-4o: PhD-level writing capabilities
• GPT-o1: Advanced reasoning (Sept 2024)
• GPT-o3: Higher benchmarks (2025)

Current AI Model Capabilities

• GPT-4: Language Understanding (2023)
• GPT-4o: Multimodal AI (May 2024)
• GPT-o1: Advanced Reasoning (Sept 2024)

Performance Benchmarks:

• MMLU (General Knowledge Test): GPT-4 (86.4%) → GPT-4o (88.7%)
• Math Olympiad: GPT-4o (13%) → GPT-o1 (83%)

Key Takeaways: Generative AI can significantly improve productivity and creativity. Some tasks benefit greatly, while others see performance drops. Understanding model strengths is key for effective AI adoption.

What is a Large Language Model?

World's Most Expensive Auto-Complete

Primary Functions:

• Predict the next word
• Make the user happy

Capabilities:

• Text Prediction & Contextual Understanding
• Data Analysis & Pattern Recognition
• Unsupervised Learning from Large Data Sets

How Generative AI Achieves This

Weights & Transformers

• Weights: Understanding relationships between words (context, emotion, relevance).
• Transformers: Handling text, images, and sound to enhance creative output.

AI Creates Expertise & Skills

Generative AI allows users to “manufacture” expertise instantly. AI assistants provide immediate access to any field’s knowledge, enhancing creativity, problem-solving, and research capabilities.

Structured Prompting: Best Practices

• Treat AI like a person but define its role.
• Clarify its relationship to your task (e.g., advisor, assistant).
• Describe expected AI behavior to align with goals.
• Include assumptions, exclusions, or specific conditions.
• Define the output format clearly.

Microsoft Copilot: AI for Business

What is Copilot?

An AI orchestration tool connecting your applications with foundational AI models. It integrates organizational data into AI-driven workflows.

Why Microsoft Copilot?

• Enterprise-ready with security & compliance
• Seamlessly integrates with Microsoft 365
• Scalable AI for business transformation

Levels of Copilot Use Cases

• Prebuilt Prompts (Basic AI suggestions)
• Low-Context Prompts (General AI assistance)
• Structured Prompts (Business Process Alignment)
• Structured Prompts with Process Integration
• Custom AI Agents (Personalized AI workflows)
• Autonomous AI Agents (AI-driven task execution)

AI maturity scales from passive assistance to full automation.

Methods of AI Adoption

Bottom-Up Approach: Start with early adopters and trial users. Expand based on feedback and success stories. Encourage employee-led AI experimentation.

Top-Down Approach: Integrate AI into business processes. Define job roles around AI augmentation. Implement AI at the task level first, then scale.

Takeaways

LLMs (Large Language Models) “manufacture” skills – they don’t replace humans but enhance work. Prompting is key – structured prompts maximize AI effectiveness. Copilot is the AI for business – it integrates AI into enterprise workflows. Business process transformation should start now, not later.

Hands-On Lab

• Copilot Tour (10–15 min)
• Copilot for Web Exercises (25 min)
• Copilot for Work Exercises (30 min)
• Austin’s Favorite Workflows (10 min)

Final Thoughts

AI is powerful but unpredictable – learning how to use it effectively is critical. Copilot is the bridge between AI and enterprise productivity. Now is the time to integrate AI into business workflows.

Thank You! 🎤

About the Presenter

Austin Hampton is a seasoned Microsoft specialist with over five years of experience at Pax8, where he has emerged as a thought leader in Generative AI and Microsoft Copilot. Over the past two years, he has dedicated himself to understanding, positioning, and unlocking the value of Copilot, helping organizations transform their business processes and achieve tangible results. In his first Copilot workshop, Austin worked with a partner's CTO to streamline the creation of Route Cause Analysis reports, reducing the process from five hours to one. This resulted in $48,000 in annual savings, freeing valuable time for higher-priority initiatives. His presentation, The Value of Generative AI and Its Applications to Business, has become a fan favorite, earning widespread praise for its clarity, depth, and actionable insights. With certifications including MS900, SC900, and PL900, and as the winner of Microsoft's Global Pitch Perfect Award for Copilot and Modern Work, Austin brings a wealth of knowledge and credibility to every workshop he leads.

Driven by an insatiable passion for learning, Austin describes himself as a “collector of skillsets,” a mindset that shapes his approach to mastering and teaching new technologies. From building a functional desktop game in under 20 minutes using Generative AI to uncovering innovative business use cases, he thrives on exploring the transformative potential of AI to overcome personal and professional skill deficits. His workshops are designed to empower attendees with an AI-first mindset, offering practical insights into what Generative AI is, how it works, and how to integrate it into daily workflows for maximum impact.