New course · 2026

Copilot AI Skills Summer 2026

Use Microsoft Copilot confidently, safely, and effectively across everyday work inside Microsoft 365. Practical, hands-on, and designed for immediate application.

FORMAT

Tech check + half-day live workshop + 1-hour hackathon

AUDIENCE

Microsoft 365 users across all roles

DELIVERY

Live online · UK/IRE times

REQUIRES

Microsoft 365 Copilot license (business or enterprise)

€ 500

per person.

inc. hackathon

Tech check

Optional · 1 week before

16 July 10am - 10:30am

Session 1

23 July 10am - 2pm

Session 2

Hackathon

30 July 10am - 11am

What you'll learn

This course shows you how to use Microsoft Copilot confidently, safely, and effectively across everyday work inside Microsoft 365 — in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams and Copilot Chat.

You will move from "I've tried it a bit" to confident, capable Copilot use, with practical patterns you can repeat across your working week.

Use Copilot in your core M365 apps to save time across emails, meetings, documents, and reporting
Reduce overload by letting Copilot summarise, organise, and create strong first drafts
Use Copilot Chat to answer questions using your organisation's content
Understand what Copilot can and cannot see, and how permissions affect results
Build and reuse simple Copilot Agents for consistent, repeatable outputs

Who it's for

Microsoft 365 users who want to get real value from Copilot — not just dabble with it. No technical background required.

Knowledge workers

You spend significant time in Outlook, Teams, Word and Excel. This course shows you how Copilot can cut the repetitive work and improve the quality of your outputs.

Team and department leads

You want your team to use Copilot consistently and effectively. This course gives you the fluency to lead adoption and identify the highest-value use cases for your context.

IT and AI adoption leads

You're rolling out Copilot across your organisation and need a course that moves people from licence holders to confident users — fast.

Course structure

Delivered as a live half-day session with a bonus hackathon one week later. Hands-on throughout with live demos, guided exercises, and practical examples drawn from real roles and scenarios.

Pre-Module · Optional

Tech check · 16 July

A half-hour session one week before the main course to confirm you have the right Copilot licence and are ready to go from the first minute of the workshop.

Module 1 · 23 July

Getting more done in everyday work

Immediate value in the places work actually happens: Outlook and Teams.

Skill

Email and inbox management

Reduce inbox overload by summarising and prioritising threads. Draft clearer emails faster, with a tone that fits your audience.

Skill

Meetings with Copilot

Stay on top of meetings with automatic summaries, actions, and follow-ups. Set up meetings so Copilot can help from the start.

Module 2 · 23 July

Working smarter with data and content

Using Copilot in Excel, Word and PowerPoint for faster analysis and stronger outputs.

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Module 3 · 23 July

Copilot Chat as your knowledge navigator

Using Copilot as a knowledge aggregator — extracting patterns and project-wide insights rather than focusing on localised file edits.

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Module 4 · 23 July

Scaling up with agents and workflows

Copilot Agents and when they add value over one-off prompts. The emphasis is on sustainable value and controlled automation.

Skill

Data analysis in Excel

Ask questions of your data in plain English to spot trends and outliers. Create charts and summaries without wrestling with formulas.

Skill

Documents and presentations

Draft and refine documents with consistent structure and tone. Turn notes or an outline into presentation-ready content.

Skill

Structured prompting for reliable outputs

Use structured prompts to get clearer, more reliable outputs. Ask questions across your Microsoft 365 content based on your access permissions.

Skill

Insight across your content

Identify themes, gaps, risks and action points across documents, emails and Teams conversations. Refine outputs so you stay the human in the loop.

Skill

Build and share a simple Agent

What an Agent is, when to use one, and how to build, test, and share a simple Agent for repeatable work.

Skill

Pages, Workflows, and Copilot Studio

Chain tasks, reduce repeat admin with Workflows Agents, and understand when Copilot Studio adds value for more complex workflows.

Bonus Session

Copilot hackathon 23 July 10am - 11am

Included in price

One week after the course, bring your own projects and we'll help turn them into simple, repeatable workflows. Fix and improve your workflows, turn recurring chores into templates, and see how colleagues in different roles are working. You'll leave with one task fully set up and a library of your own prompts tailored to the way you and your team actually work.

What They're Saying...

Go further with the AI Institute

Our team builds automations. Your team runs them.

Agent Build

This course is where it starts, not where it ends. For those who are ready to go further, the AI Institute works directly with estate agency teams to build automations - listing workflows, tenant screening pipelines, client communication sequences - and hands them back through targeted training so your team can run and maintain them without depending on outside support.

"The Microsoft Copilot course was fantastic! The course leader explained complex concepts in a way that was easy to understand and highly practical."

Catriona Murphy — AI Institute course participant

About the instructor

Beau Warren

Microsoft Copilot specialist

Beau Warren leads IT and AI adoption at The Panel since 2022 and has worked with the AI Institute since 2024 to bring practical AI skills to professionals. Beau is known for sharing real-world ways to use AI that people can put to work straight away.

Frequently asked questions

Which Copilot licence do I need?

You need Copilot for Microsoft 365 (or Copilot Pro for personal accounts). We'll confirm your licence during the optional tech check one week before the course.

What if our organisation uses Microsoft 365 but hasn't deployed Copilot yet?

Contact us before booking. We can advise on whether this course is the right fit and what steps you'd need to take to be ready.

Will sessions be recorded?

Yes. All live sessions are recorded and available to access for 90 days after the course finishes, so you can revisit any section at your own pace.

Do I need any technical background?

None at all. This course is specifically designed for working professionals who want practical AI skills without needing a technical background.

What's included in the course materials?

All course materials — including video recordings, presentation decks, and workbooks — are available online and yours to access for a full 90 days after the course finishes.