Boosting Productivity with AI: The Copilot Effect at New Era Technology
At New Era Technology, we believe that digital transformation starts from within. That’s why we launched an internal rollout of Microsoft 365 Copilot—a bold step toward embedding AI into the everyday fabric of work across our organization.
Leading by Example in the AI Era
With an initial pilot of 300 users, our goal was simple: to validate the power of Copilot in real-world scenarios, uncover practical use cases, and prepare our teams—and our clients—for the AI-powered future of work.
Why We Did It: Turning Promise into Proof
Marketing headlines say Copilot can save time, simplify work, and supercharge productivity. But we needed more than promises—we needed proof.
So we set out to explore:
- How does Copilot perform in real-world, day-to-day tasks?
- Where does it shine—and where does it still require process shifts or human oversight?
- How can we use this experience to better support our clients through their own Copilot journeys?
Our approach centered on hands-on experience, practical insights, and empowering internal champions who can speak from lived experience.
Our Approach: Phased Rollout + Tailored Onboarding
To ensure a smooth, scalable adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot, New Era Technology launched the initiative in four carefully sequenced waves, each designed to meet the unique needs and working styles of different user groups across the organization.
We began with a core group of early adopters—tech-savvy power users eager to explore Copilot’s capabilities and serve as internal ambassadors. Their curiosity and hands-on experimentation set the tone for the rollout and helped shape best practices from the start.
Next, we onboarded departmental explorers: business units that were ready to integrate Copilot into their everyday workflows. This group served as a crucial proving ground for practical use cases and helped surface insights about where Copilot creates the most value.
As confidence and momentum grew, we expanded access to general business users across the organization. These employees were introduced to everyday scenarios where Copilot could save time, streamline communication, and support routine tasks with ease.
Finally, we engaged specialized users in areas such as legal, finance, and R&D—teams with more complex or nuanced workflows that required a tailored approach to adoption. By providing customized support, we ensured that even the most advanced use cases could benefit from Copilot’s capabilities.
This phased, human-centered approach allowed us to meet users where they are, build trust in the technology, and foster a culture of curiosity and continuous learning from day one.
From Awareness to Adoption: How We Sparked Daily Copilot Use
Sparking Curiosity: The Copilot Cup
To make Copilot learning fun and collaborative, we launched the Copilot Cup—a gamified challenge where users earned points by completing daily AI-powered tasks.
How it worked:
Participants shared their daily Copilot wins in Viva Engage—everything from email summaries to meeting recaps to data troubleshooting.
Why it mattered:
The Cup turned curiosity into confidence, and peer stories sparked new ideas and cross-team learning. It also helped transform “training” into a shared culture of experimentation.
Sustaining Momentum: Copilot as a Daily Habit
Adoption isn’t a one-time event—it’s a mindset shift. To support long-term success, we launched several sustainment programs:
Lunch & Learns:
Our bi-weekly sessions offer bite-sized learning opportunities. One standout, Prompt Creation – How to Ask Copilot the Right Way, drew 100+ participants.
Viva Engage: Our Digital Community
Our Copilot Center of Excellence on Viva Engage now connects all 300 pilot users. It’s become a space for:
- Sharing tips, prompts, and productivity wins
- Asking questions and getting peer support
- Staying informed about Copilot features and updates
❝ Copilot helped me quickly identify a specific meeting date by summarizing all my interactions with a colleague—something that would’ve taken me an hour manually. ❞
– Vice President
❝ I used Copilot as a thought partner to troubleshoot complex data normalization challenges across business units. It even added links to the source files I needed.❞
– Project Manager
❝ I learned a simple prompt hack from The Neuron newsletter: ‘Please number your output sections using Cornell-style numbering.’ Game changer for long responses.❞
– Executive Vice President
❝I created a Copilot-powered chatbot for our knowledge base—now I’m working on making it accessible to the full team!❞
- PMO Manager