NFP, a company operating in a highly regulated and document-heavy environment, has shifted its approach from AI that assists to AI that executes. The company's employees often juggle multiple sources of information, including policy documents, emails, meeting notes, and internal standards, to complete assignments that require human approval. The manual process of coordinating this information was time-consuming and inefficient, slowing down the adoption of automation.
The turning point came with Microsoft Copilot Cowork, an AI tool designed to integrate seamlessly into the workflow. Cowork allows employees to describe the desired outcome, review the plan, and then let the AI agent carry out portions of the work while maintaining human control. This shift from 'AI that assists' to 'AI that executes' has significantly reduced manual tasks such as copy/paste, context switching, and dropped follow-ups, freeing up time for more strategic activities.
Cowork's built-in safeguards, such as asking for approvals and pausing for validation, made the tool feel more secure and usable. Insurance agents, for instance, saw a smooth intake process for individual insurance applications, while developers benefited from automated framework building, saving them 100 hours on a single task. The tool's ability to preserve context across various files and conversations has also streamlined meeting follow-up and onboarding processes.
For NFP, the impact of Cowork was evident when it was used to build a governance dashboard. The AI tool completed the task in minutes, pulling together insights that had been on the backlog for months. This efficiency highlights the potential of AI that executes to transform workflows and enhance productivity in highly regulated environments.