Domain 2: Microsoft AI Solutions (35-40%)
Which Solution for What?
| Need | Solution |
|---|---|
| Everyday productivity | Microsoft 365 Copilot |
| Custom AI apps | Azure AI Foundry |
| Sales workflows | Copilot for Sales |
| Customer service | Copilot for Service |
| CRM/ERP workflows | Dynamics 365 Copilot |
| Low-code automation | Power Platform AI |
Trap
Know the difference: M365 Copilot = productivity tool for users. Azure AI Foundry = platform for building custom AI.
Microsoft 365 Copilot by App
| App | What it does |
|---|---|
| Word | Draft, summarize, rewrite |
| Excel | Analyze, formulas, charts |
| PowerPoint | Create from docs, design |
| Outlook | Draft, summarize threads, prioritize |
| Teams | Meeting summaries, action items |
Business Chat / M365 Chat: Cross-app assistant. Queries emails, docs, meetings together.
Exam Tip
Copilot Studio is for extending Copilot. If a question asks how to give Copilot access to a non-Microsoft database (like Salesforce), the answer is usually Copilot Studio (Connectors).
Build vs Buy vs Extend (Strategic Selection)
Microsoft recommends this sequence to minimize cost and time-to-value.
| Approach | Tool | Best For... | Investment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy | M365 Copilot | Standard productivity, off-the-shelf value. | Low (Licensing) |
| Extend | Copilot Studio | Connecting Copilot to custom data/APIs. | Medium (Low-code) |
| Build | Azure AI Foundry | High-customization, unique business logic. | High (Pro-code) |
Copilot Security & Compliance
Three things to remember:
- Tenant isolation — Your data stays in your tenant.
- Respects permissions — Users only see what they already have access to.
- Not used for training — Microsoft doesn't train public models on your data.
Critical
Tenant Isolation: Your data is NOT used to train foundation models (like GPT-4). This is a foundational Microsoft promise you must know for the exam.
Advanced Security
- Data Residence: You can control where your data is stored (e.g., EU-only for GDPR).
- Sovereign Clouds: Specialized environments for high-security governments (e.g., Azure Government).
- Content Security: Built-in filters to block harmful content (hate, violence, self-harm) at the gateway.
Copilot Security
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❓
Does Copilot use my data to train public models?
(Click to reveal)💡
NO. Enterprise data stays private within your tenant and is not used to train the base models.
Azure AI Foundry
- Build custom AI applications
- Access multiple models (OpenAI, Meta, Mistral)
- Fine-tuning, RAG, prompt engineering tools
- Enterprise security and compliance
Licensing & Pricing (Cost Models)
Understanding costs is critical for a transformation leader.
Microsoft 365 Copilot
| Tier | Cost (Approx.) | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Copilot Chat | Included | Standard business/enterprise licenses. |
| Copilot Pro | $20/user/mo | Individuals, Family, and Personal plans. |
| M365 Copilot | $30/user/mo | Business & Enterprise. (No min. seat requirement). |
| Copilot Studio | $200/mo | For building and publishing custom agents. |
Exam Tip
Role-based Copilots (Sales, Service, Finance) are now generally included in the $30/mo M365 Copilot license. You don't need a separate add-on anymore.
Azure AI Services
- Pay-As-You-Go: Charged per 1,000 tokens (Input vs. Output). Flexible but variable.
- PTU (Provisioned Throughput): Reserved capacity for high-volume, predictable workloads. Costs are more predictable but require a commitment.
- Storage & Search: Additional costs for Azure AI Search (indexing) and Data Storage.
Azure AI Services Deep Dive
| Service | What it is | Where it is used (Use Case) |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Copilot | AI assistant integrated into M365 apps (Word, Excel, Teams, etc.). | Everyday productivity, summarizing meetings, drafting emails, and document creation. |
| Azure AI Foundry (Studio) | A unified platform for building, testing, and deploying custom AI solutions. | For developers/leaders to build custom AI apps using multiple models (OpenAI, Meta, etc.). |
| Azure OpenAI Service | Cloud-based access to OpenAI's powerful models (GPT-4o, DALL-E) with enterprise security. | Generating text, code, and images; building advanced chatbots and RAG systems. |
| Azure AI Search | A high-performance retrieval service for indexing and searching data. | RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)—connecting AI models to your specific business data. |
| Azure AI Language | Natural Language Processing (NLP) service for text analysis. | Sentiment analysis, key phrase extraction, summarization, and entity recognition. |
| Azure AI Vision | Computer vision service for analyzing images and videos. | Object detection, OCR (extracting text from images), and content moderation. |
| Azure AI Speech | Voice services for conversion between speech and text. | Transcription (Talk-to-Text), Speech Synthesis (Text-to-Talk), and real-time translation. |
| Azure AI Document Intelligence | Intelligent document processing using AI. | Extracting key-value pairs, tables, and text from PDFs, invoices, and forms automatically. |
| Copilot Studio | A low-code tool to create and customize Copilots. | Extending M365 Copilot or building custom standalone agents for specific business workflows. |
| Power Platform AI Builder | Low-code AI capabilities for Power Apps and Power Automate. | Automating business processes with AI without deep coding knowledge. |