As 2023 winds down, it’s unbelievable to mirror on all of the progress we’ve made throughout the Microsoft 365 ecosystem this 12 months. Above all, I wish to thank our prospects for trusting Microsoft Groups to be your software and platform for collaboration and communication. I’m proud to report that tens of tens of millions extra individuals adopted Groups this 12 months, together with the brand new model launched in October. Microsoft Groups now has over 320 million month-to-month lively customers.

I additionally wish to share my deep gratitude with the impartial software program distributors (ISVs), system integrators, and enterprise builders who’ve partnered to assist construct our Groups ecosystem. Because of your funding, there at the moment are greater than 2,000 apps within the Groups retailer and over 145,000 customized line-of-business (LOB) apps constructed by enterprises.

This 12 months’s largest information was the introduction of Microsoft Copilot, your highly effective new AI assistant for work. Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 grew to become usually accessible Nov.1, and we’re making certain that your funding in Groups gives the muse for Copilot extensibility, which lets you increase Copilot with customized abilities and convey its capabilities to your apps. Organizations with Copilot for Microsoft 365 can decide into the public preview for extensibility.

As we glance ahead, I wish to share key sources we’ve created for ISVs and enterprise builders so that you could plan the way you’ll harness the ability of AI by extending Copilot. I additionally wish to spotlight a couple of unbelievable Groups apps that may assist enterprises enhance their end-of-year operations, acknowledge excellent staff, and kick off subsequent 12 months with renewed function.

Ideas for extending Copilot for Microsoft 365 utilizing Microsoft Graph connectors

In 2024, enterprise adoption of Copilot for Microsoft 365 will achieve growing momentum, and enterprise builders and ISVs should put together accordingly. You’ll be able to lengthen Copilot two methods: plugins and connectors. First, we’ll cowl Microsoft Graph connectors, which convey info and content material from exterior information sources into Microsoft Graph, enhancing the data layer and grounding Copilot’s responses in additional of your distinctive context. This extensibility choice, which is usually accessible, additionally helps customers uncover extra of your group’s content material throughout Microsoft 365 experiences, like Microsoft Search.

For instance, in early spring 2024, Copilot customers will be capable to seek for and summarize content material from Lucidspark’s digital whiteboards and Lucidchart’s clever diagramming, bringing pure language processing to a brand new degree. Lucid will obtain that new functionality by extending Copilot with Graph connectors, making it potential to cause over the varied information properties within the whiteboard or diagram and reply complicated person questions. Data such because the content material of Lucid canvases, the date the Lucid doc was created or modified, the writer, and different related fields can be ingested by way of Graph connectors to floor wealthy insights to customers. Content material ingested from Graph connector information can be linked in Copilot’s references, permitting customers to hyperlink again to the unique Lucid whiteboard or diagram.

Go to Microsoft’s new developer portal to study extra about methods to get began constructing Graph connectors, or take a look at this fast begin information. You’ll be able to obtain options from the Pattern Answer Gallery, and go to the Microsoft 365 Developer YouTube channel for movies on finest practices. It’s also possible to overview the record of all revealed Graph connectors which were enabled to be used with Copilot.

Ideas for extending Copilot for Microsoft 365 with plugins

It’s also possible to lengthen Copilot utilizing plugins. A strong option to create a plugin is to use Groups message extensions, which may retrieve exterior information, analyze and summarize info, and permit customers to take actions by way of Adaptive Playing cards in Groups. Builders can now create message extensions utilizing Groups Toolkit for Visible Studio and Visible Studio Code. For current message extensions, make certain app manifests are up to date.

We now have a wealth of sources to assist builders construct best-in-class plugins and efficiently lengthen Copilot.

1. Comply with our information for constructing high-quality plugins.
2. Construct plugins with low code, or create your individual enterprise copilots, with Microsoft Copilot Studio.
3. Try finest practices for designing Adaptive Playing cards and Groups job modules to set the stage for nice plugins.
4. Develop an experience in immediate design and engineering to extend the accuracy of responses from giant language fashions (LLMs).
5. Arrange a dev surroundings by making use of for the Microsoft 365 Developer Expertise Adoption Program, which has a restricted variety of Copilot licenses accessible for ISVs to buy in non-public preview.

How Groups AI library allows clever apps

Enterprises and ISVs may also start their AI journey by utilizing Groups AI library, in public developer preview, to streamline the event of clever apps utilizing APIs, controls, and prebuilt code. Ramp, an ISV that automates funds and expense administration, used the AI library to map person intent to actions contained in the Ramp expertise extraordinarily rapidly, with out requiring customized immediate engineering or guide LLM calls. The API additionally makes it easy so as to add actions to Ramp’s Groups app with little or no growth effort.

The ensuing integration with Groups removes friction from conventional monetary workflows and unlocks important productiveness good points—in the end making finance less complicated and extra environment friendly.

“Ramp is right here to redefine the established order and make finance easy, so companies can deal with work that issues,” says Eric Glyman, CEO of Ramp. “Simplicity and ease-of-use are on the coronary heart of what our prospects love about Ramp—from clever routing for the fitting approvals, to routinely matching receipts to transactions, to sustaining efficient controls. By seamlessly integrating with Groups, we make clever monetary instruments accessible the place a whole bunch of tens of millions of individuals do their finest work on daily basis.”

Ramp has additionally taken the following step by integrating with Copilot, offering every worker with a finance assistant that may full expense workflows on their behalf, give immediate perception into spending tendencies, and reply expense coverage questions.

Groups apps to enhance year-end actions and jumpstart 2024

With the 12 months wrapping up, I’d additionally like to focus on some Groups apps that may enhance recognition applications for excellent staff in 2023 or assist refine enterprise operations for 2024, beginning with one other take a look at Ramp.

Along with accelerating day-to-day duties, Ramp’s integration with Copilot additionally fosters extra strategic, data-backed considering and decision-making. With deep perception into the monetary internal workings of your small business, the Ramp plugin is a useful companion to finance groups planning, monitoring, and managing budgets as we method 2024. For instance, finance managers planning journey and leisure budgets can use Ramp to grasp how a lot their firm spent on resorts final 12 months and regulate their forecasts based mostly on the info.

Achievers for Groups: Have a good time moments that matter

Because the tempo of labor accelerates, Achievers for Groups helps prospects simplify worker engagement by merging the worker expertise into the day by day circulation of labor, and by leveraging a software that staff already use and love—Microsoft Groups. This extends the worth of worker engagement methods and will increase a way of belonging by embedding recognition alternatives all through day by day routines.

“The Achievers for Groups app permits us to convey recognition into the circulation of an worker’s regular course of labor,” says Michael Cohen, Chief Product Officer at Achievers. “With so many staff spending the majority of their day in communications instruments like Groups, the power to ship and obtain recognition from throughout the software permits us to satisfy staff the place they’re and to encourage culture-building with out ever leaving the Groups app.”

Organizations which have applied the Achievers for Groups integration have seen important will increase within the variety of recognitions despatched and better total worker engagement versus these with out the combination.

Enterprises may also use Achievers to amplify year-end recognition initiatives, using key capabilities like celebrating moments that matter the place and once they happen by sending social or points-based recognitions inside Groups. Factors-based recognitions are redeemable for rewards staff truly need. Achievers is an business chief with a market of over 3 million rewards and a couple of,500 international manufacturers—with native success companions that guarantee speedy and dependable supply in over 190 nations, all backed by award-winning customer support.

BHN Rewards: Simplify worldwide gifting to incentivize staff

In keeping with BHN’s 2022 Worker Incentives Report from NAPCO Analysis, 83 % of staff say that getting rewards improves their productiveness and loyalty. Reward playing cards and pay as you go playing cards are essentially the most requested choice (cited by 90 %).¹ BHN Rewards for Groups makes it simple to present staff what they need whereas additionally simplifying price range controls, worldwide rewarding, and reward monitoring.

Customers can ship rewards throughout stay digital conferences or in one-on-one chat messages, and the reward announcement will be simply shared to Groups channels as nicely. The choice to ship rewards publicly—even amongst distant, hybrid, and international groups—amplifies the affect as a result of colleagues can see and touch upon the popularity. Recipients can simply declare their digital present card or pay as you go card with just some clicks.

With the exponential rise in distant staff and international workforces, delivering end-of-year workers appreciation presents and honoring high performers has gotten extra sophisticated for lots of enterprise firms. However with BHN Rewards for Groups, these rewards will be despatched on the spot throughout digital division conferences or vacation gatherings, making them easy, significant, and efficient worldwide.

Matter for Groups: Give customizable kudos to revolutionize recognition

Matter for Groups begins by making a recognition behavior known as Suggestions Friday, the place staff are routinely inspired and guided to offer kudos to their friends. Enterprises can make the most of Matter’s templating system to create totally customizable kudos templates to match your organization’s model, firm values, or particular occasions. Matter’s rewards platform consists of present playing cards and donations from 1,500+ retailers in 80+ nations, and you’ll create your individual firm rewards retailer for gadgets like merchandise or a PTO day.

“Matter for Groups has made worker recognition and rewards enjoyable and straightforward to make use of proper the place you’re employed,” says Matter CEO Brett Hellman. “Inside weeks, 83 % of staff actively interact in peer-to-peer recognition, all from automated reminders. This uptake highlights Matter’s effectiveness in fostering a tradition of appreciation. It isn’t nearly software program; it is about revolutionizing how we acknowledge and reward our teammates.”

Use Matter’s analytics instruments to grasp engagement and recognition patterns. This information can inform HR and administration concerning the effectiveness of recognition methods, worker morale, and areas needing enchancment. When the 12 months ends, you need to use Matter’s highly effective analytics to search out which staff obtained essentially the most recognition for a selected firm worth or theme after which reward these staff just about in your Matter Groups channel or in actual time.

Discover out extra concerning the apps highlighted above on the Achievers web site, the BHN Rewards web site, the Lucid web site, the Matter web site, and Ramp’s web site and Groups integration website.

Maximize your funding in Copilot and Groups in 2024

Try these sources for extra on methods to get began with Copilot and benefit from your funding in Groups apps:  

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¹2022 Worker Incentives Report, NAPCO Analysis and BHN. March 2023.