Hi everyone,
A year ago, I'd have turned down a Copilot client. Copilot barely worked back then, so I told people to use Claude.
Now most of my training weeks run on Copilot, so I’ve changed the upcoming webinar to match.
Why the webinar changed
Last week I said our November 18 webinar was Build Your Own Terminal Company. I've changed the topic and the date. It's now Copilot 101: Set Up Your Copilot the Way We Teach It.
Almost every company I train right now runs on Microsoft. They already pay for Copilot, but what's missing is the setup, and the habit of opening it every day.
IT teams play a big part, too. When I suggest Claude, they often say yes, but with no connectors. When I suggest Copilot, they relax. The files are already in SharePoint, so nothing has to move.
I still run my own company from the terminal, and I'll keep writing about it here.
What changed in a month
In October I wrote that Microsoft caught up. It kept moving after that. Here's what I showed in trainings this week.
Home puts Chat and Cowork in one place.
Projects keep related chats, tasks, instructions and files together.
Automations run Cowork tasks on a schedule, or when something happens.
They roll out worldwide this month. You may not see all of them yet. Microsoft lists them in its October update.
I also showed how one agent can hand work to another. Say a daily briefing agent gets a reporting question. It passes it to a second agent that knows the data.
One thing to try this week
Most of us have a prompt we type almost word for word every week, like the Monday status summary or the “what did I miss” check after a day of meetings. That prompt is the easiest place to start getting time back.
This week in trainings I explained it as a ladder with four rungs, and it clicked for people:
A prompt you type every time. This is where almost everyone starts, and that’s fine.
A saved skill, where you write the steps once so you don’t have to remember them.
An agent that follows the skill for you.
A scheduled prompt that runs at a set time and has the result waiting for you.
You don’t need to climb all four. Just move one rung up from wherever you are this week.
In a training today, one person set a prompt to run at 9:30 every morning. It reviews the rest of the week’s meetings, so their day starts with a plan already made.
To try it, pick a prompt you’ve already run in a chat. In Copilot, look for Automations or the option to schedule it at the bottom of the chat. Claude and ChatGPT have their own versions, usually called scheduled tasks.
There’s one rule we teach with this, and it’s what makes it safe to try: a scheduled prompt only brings a result back to you. It never sends to a client, changes a system or deletes anything, so the worst that can happen is a summary you didn’t need.
Wed December 2: Copilot 101
Microsoft's big event, Ignite, runs from November 17 to 20. The webinar comes two weeks later, so there will be fresh news to talk about.
It's for CEOs, COOs, CFOs and private equity teams who already pay for Copilot. I'll show the setup we teach and how to pick the first task. I'll also show how to check an answer before you trust it.
It's live on Wednesday, December 2. That's 9:30 AM ET, 2:30 PM GMT and 5:30 PM in Turkey.
Registration is open. Save your seat here.
Worth knowing this week
Gemini can now edit a whole deck. In Google Slides, you can ask Gemini to change many slides at once, or even the whole deck. It's on most paid Workspace plans, in English only for now. The rollout can take a few weeks.
The Gemini app now makes real files. You can create, preview and edit files right in the Gemini chat. It works on Workspace and personal Google accounts. PDFs work on mobile too. Other files are web only for now.
Copilot can now fill your Planner. A new Planner plugin connects Planner to Cowork. It breaks a goal into tasks and adds them to a plan. It shows you every change first, and nothing changes without your OK. Your admin has to switch it on.
Two quick updates
The Q1 waiting list is still open. Right now, our cohorts are for companies. In Q1, you'll be able to join on your own. Reply "Q1" and I'll add you.
I still haven’t made my mind up about the new MacBook Pro and the 3D printer. If you have a view on either, I'd love to hear it.
From the blog
Who should read it: operating partners who hear "we're adopting AI" from every portfolio company.
TLDR: Eight questions that show whether people actually work differently. Each one comes with the red-flag answer and the strong answer.
What's the one prompt you'd put on a schedule first? Hit reply and tell me. I read every reply.
Thanks for reading.
Tim