Microsoft’s Copilot branding sparks internal doubts — but Satya Nadella believes “a billion users of each” will clear up confusion

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In recent years, Microsoft has heavily invested in generative AI, particularly after a significant multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI. CEO Satya Nadella has since signaled a change in direction for the company, moving beyond Bill Gates’ original focus on software to prioritize artificial intelligence, integration, and broader intelligence solutions.

Recently, our Executive Editor, Jez Corden, expressed concerns about Microsoft’s branding. He felt their approach was flawed, specifically pointing to the shift from Microsoft Office to Microsoft 365 and the latest addition, Microsoft 365 Copilot, as examples.

The shift to Microsoft 365 was a strange decision, seemingly ignoring how people were used to working with Microsoft products for years, and feeling more like a philosophical choice than a practical one. Now, branding it with ‘Copilot’ before that technology is fully developed just seems premature and confusing.

Exec Editor at Windows Central, Jez Corden

According to Corden, Copilot isn’t quite polished enough for widespread use yet. He describes it as essentially a simplified interface for ChatGPT, lacking deep integration with the systems it’s meant to work with and offering limited features. It appears Microsoft agrees and may be rethinking Copilot’s prominent branding across its products.

Currently, there are two Copilot apps you can download on mobile devices. One is a completely new app created by Microsoft for everyday users, and the other is simply the existing Microsoft Office app with a new name.

Most people probably wouldn’t notice the differences between these apps, as they generally work in a similar way. This can lead to users missing useful tools already included, like Excel and Word.

During a recent town hall, a Microsoft employee inquired about what the company is doing to help users avoid confusion when using their new tools, as reported by Business Insider.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared an interesting approach and solution for this issue:

The best way to simplify things is to get a lot of people using them – ideally, billions. Really, the easiest way to understand something is just to use it every day.

The executive explained that understanding the product’s background should resolve any misunderstandings. He used GitHub Copilot as an example, noting that its purpose and features are already clear to everyone.

He also explained that the company’s users have become comfortable with its technology, making it simple to move between personal and work or school accounts.

You’re right, and we definitely need to make sure our marketing and branding clearly communicate that.

Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella

According to Yusuf Mehdi, who leads consumer marketing at Microsoft, around 100 million people use both Copilot features every month.

Microsoft is strengthening its marketing efforts. Key leaders – Mehdi, CEO of AI; Mustafa Suleyman, who leads the consumer Copilot team; and Rajesh Jha, who leads Microsoft 365 Copilot – will be in charge of how each product is shown to and sold to customers. As an example, computers for business customers will come with Microsoft 365 Copilot already installed.

Microsoft has a Copilot problem

Jeff Taper, who leads Microsoft Teams, stated in May that Copilot and ChatGPT offer similar functionality, but Copilot is more secure and provides a better experience for users. Surprisingly, internal feedback at Microsoft shows that the biggest issue with Copilot is that employees feel it doesn’t perform as well as ChatGPT.

Microsoft quickly denied the reports that ChatGPT outperforms Copilot. They argued that users weren’t getting the most out of Copilot because they weren’t crafting their requests – or ‘prompts’ – effectively.

Companies currently prefer ChatGPT over Copilot, even though both are powered by the same technology from OpenAI. According to Amgen, OpenAI has created a product that is simply more enjoyable to use.

A critical report last year revealed problems with Microsoft’s Copilot, specifically concerning its privacy and security. One Microsoft employee stated:

We have a big vision for what we want to create, but the user experience isn’t quite there yet. We’re still actively developing and improving things as we go, which is causing some challenges. We often refer to these issues as ‘growing pains’ because we’re building and refining the product simultaneously.

Another Microsoft employee highlighted a flaw in the company’s Copilot branding strategy:

Our marketing team is currently focused almost entirely on incorporating the name ‘Copilot’ into everything we do. It feels like all other branding and messaging has taken a backseat to finding ways to connect our products and initiatives to Copilot.

The report showed Microsoft heavily depends on outside companies to ensure Copilot functions properly with its various products. This reliance is similar to how Microsoft integrated Anthropic’s AI technology into Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Despite the excitement around Copilot, one of Microsoft’s top leaders called many of its AI features superficial. However, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella believes OpenAI had a two-year head start to create and refine ChatGPT without significant competition.

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2025-10-02 14:49