Microsoft Cloud · AI & Copilot
As a Microsoft Copilot Partner we make the difference between license cost and impact. Copilot has been broadly available for two years — yet market research shows that roughly 80% of employees at companies with Copilot licenses stop using the tool actively after a few weeks. We deliver adoption, custom agents, and a solid AI governance framework.
Current Microsoft promotion · Customer Service Enterprise
Through 2026-06-30: reduced list price for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Contact Center.
Eligibility: enterprise license in the CSP channel. Relevant for AI strategies because Customer Service Premium includes 1,000 Copilot Credits per user per month. Example for 50 users over 12 months: approximately €27,300 difference versus list price. Source: microsoft.com — as of May 2026.
The state of play
The Bitkom AI Study 2026 shows a remarkable number: 41% of German companies use AI today — a doubling versus the prior year. At the same time the economic effect lags expectations. The reason rarely lies in technology. 53% of respondents cite missing in-house competence as the central hurdle — not missing tools.
Microsoft Copilot shows the pattern especially clearly. Whoever rolls out a wave of licenses without bringing staff along in concrete use cases typically observes a drastic usage drop after three months. The licenses keep running — the impact doesn't. We see this in many initial conversations: the license bill comes monthly, ROI stays absent, management asks whether this can continue.
Our answer: Copilot is a good tool, but it doesn't train itself. Three things are needed — thoughtful adoption (so staff use the tool in role-specific ways), custom agents where standard Copilot isn't enough, and a governance framework that meets EU AI Act and GDPR requirements. Each of these disciplines stands on its own — we bundle them into three coordinated sub-services.
Engineering focus areas
Two engineering sub-services that turn Copilot licenses into measurable usage — adoption for the workforce and custom agents where standard Copilot falls short.
500 licenses become 500 users. 4-phase program with pilot group, role-specific use-case workshop, skill transfer, and adoption monitoring. Concrete use cases for sales, service, marketing, and IT — on Premium licenses, the 1,000 Copilot Credits per user typically suffice for 4–5 agent actions per day.
View Copilot AdoptionCustom agents that do more than smalltalk. Q&A agents for knowledge bases, process agents for workflows, data agents for reports. On Microsoft Copilot Studio, Power Platform, and Dataverse.
View Copilot Studio AgentsPro-dev platform instead of Copilot?
Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Studio are the tools for end users and citizen developers. Whoever develops production-ready agents with their own model selection, data pipelines, and full governance control is in the right place with Microsoft Foundry — Microsoft's unified enterprise AI platform with 11,000+ models, Foundry IQ, and 1,400+ connectors.
Microsoft Copilot — the family
"Copilot" at Microsoft refers to a whole product family. To roll out Copilot successfully you should know the variants — and tell apart which license brings which value.
The built-in assistant in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. Accesses your Microsoft 365 data (mail, files, calendar) — provided permissions are right. List price: €26.00 net per user/month as an add-on. This is where most of the adoption work sits. Source: microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/copilot — as of May 2026.
The platform for building your own agents — from simple FAQ bots to process agents with connections to Dataverse, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and third-party systems. Licensed by message consumption or per-user model. Our focus in the sub-service Copilot Studio Agents.
Built-in assistant in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 apps Sales, Customer Service, Field Service, and Customer Insights Journeys. Drafts emails, summarizes tickets, generates service notes. Effective when the underlying CRM data is clean — otherwise it hallucinates.
Specialized Copilot variants as a bridge to third-party systems like Salesforce. A useful transitional solution for existing customers gradually moving to Microsoft. Not every variant is fully available yet — we check this as part of our License Cost Calculator advisory.
In general availability since May 2026 — the new top license tier above E5 at a list price of €91.90/user/month. Includes Agent 365 (platform for managing, securing, and auditing autonomous agents), Microsoft Entra Suite, and extended AI features. Target audience: large organizations with high compliance demand and many active agent scenarios — the premium tier of the Microsoft 365 family. Source: microsoft.com — as of May 2026.
The developer assistant. Separate product, separate license — not part of Microsoft 365. For software teams often the only Copilot touchpoint. We use it daily ourselves and advise on rollout under our Independent Engineering pillar.
Pricing notice: Microsoft adjusts list prices regularly (currency adjustments, NCE updates, plan restructurings). Figures here are indicative values from May 2026. For current prices including arades CSP conditions, see the License Cost Calculator (licenses.arades.de) ↗ daily.
The new Microsoft currency for AI
With Copilot Credits, Microsoft introduced a shared AI consumption unit that counts across all Copilot Studio capabilities, Microsoft Dynamics 365 agents, and custom agents. Anyone operating AI seriously in the Microsoft Cloud will encounter this model — and should know the mechanics before the first license is bought.
Copilot Credits are the shared currency across all Copilot Studio capabilities. Each agent response and each action consumes credits — variable by complexity and model choice. A simple FAQ answer can cost 1–3 credits, a complex data lookup with tool use 20–50 credits, a multi-step action with MCP access across multiple systems correspondingly more.
Three procurement paths are available:
The Microsoft Agent Pre-Purchase Plan can reconcile eligible credit consumption from a range of agent scenarios against the pre-purchased Agent Commit Units — at up to 20% savings versus pay-as-you-go. This turns part of AI cost into a classic up-front investment that's accounted for differently. New Azure customers in the German market additionally have a free Azure trial credit of €173.30 available — well-suited for first Copilot Studio pilot builds. Source: azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free — as of May 2026.
In November 2025 Microsoft equipped the Premium tiers of Dynamics 365 with a Copilot Credits bundle. Rule of thumb: Premium licenses include 1,000 Copilot Credits per user/month; all other tiers need separate credit procurement.
| License type | Copilot Credits |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Premium | 1,000/user/month included |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise | Purchase separately |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Professional | Purchase separately |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service Premium | 1,000/user/month included |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service Enterprise | Purchase separately |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service Professional | Purchase separately |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance Premium | 1,000/user/month included |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance | Purchase separately |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management Premium | 1,000/user/month included |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management | Purchase separately |
Important: credits accumulate tenant-wide and must be actively assigned to the right Power Platform environments, otherwise they expire unused at month-end. We set this up as part of the adoption work. Source: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide, May 2026, page 41.
Since February 2026
With the Model Context Protocol (MCP), since February 2026 an open, standardized protocol has been available in Microsoft Dynamics 365 that lets AI agents — including non-Microsoft agents — access enterprise data in natural language. MCP is industry-open (initiated by Anthropic, now broadly adopted in the industry) and is thus the first real bridge between Microsoft data and external LLM platforms.
Inside Copilot Studio, MCP is usable without additional charges — anyone building an agent in Copilot Studio that accesses Dynamics 365 data via MCP pays the regular Copilot Studio credits, no MCP surcharge. Between Microsoft 365 Copilot and Dynamics 365, MCP use is also covered under the respective licenses.
As soon as a non-Microsoft agent (e.g., a custom Anthropic Claude agent, OpenAI API–based system, local LLM, custom agent on a third platform) wants to access Dynamics 365 data via MCP, an MCP-capable license must be in place that unlocks this access.
MCP fundamentally changes the strategic question "do we build a custom agent or use Microsoft standard Copilot?" Anyone preferring custom LLM agents (Anthropic, OpenAI, local models) — for better tool-use abilities, lower per-request costs, or specific domain tuning — can now connect them cleanly to Dynamics 365, provided the license prerequisite is met. This makes the Premium license even more attractive, because with MCP inclusion it gains a second value dimension alongside the 1,000 Copilot Credits.
For our clients this means: architecture decisions that were Copilot-Studio-only 12 months ago are now open to hybrid setups (Copilot Studio for standard use cases, custom LLM agent via MCP for specialty workflows). We advise on both worlds — via our second pillar Open AI Integrations we also deliver the custom-LLM side. Source: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide, May 2026, pages 41–42.
GA since May 2026
In May 2026 Microsoft brought license tier E7 to general availability — list price €91.90/user/month. The central novelty: Agent 365. A management, security, and audit layer for autonomous agents — i.e., for Copilot Studio agents that may act without human confirmation. That makes E7 the premium SKU of the Microsoft 365 Enterprise family, well above E5 (€55.20).
For most mid-sized companies, E7 is still too big today. The model targets enterprises with hundreds of active agents that must be centrally monitored, licensed, and audited. Anyone introducing Copilot Studio today typically does better with the per-user or message-based licenses. That changes with the next wave of custom agents — we keep an eye on the development and advise you with an open outcome.
Beyond Microsoft
We are a Microsoft Partner — and still say honestly: not every AI use case belongs in Microsoft Copilot. If you want to enrich your own product with AI features, if your data doesn't sit in M365, if you want to integrate open models (OpenAI directly, Anthropic, Mistral, local LLMs) — then Copilot Studio isn't the natural lever.
For these scenarios we have our second pillar: Open AI Integrations. Platform-independent LLM integration, RAG architectures, function calling, vector stores. Both worlds interlock — many of our clients use Copilot for staff and custom LLM backends for their customer-facing products.
FAQ
Microsoft 365 Copilot costs €26.00 net per user/month as an add-on to an M365 license. Since May 2026, Microsoft 365 E7 with Agent 365 is additionally available — priced above E5, with extended agent capabilities for larger organizations.
The most common reason is not technology issues but missing use cases, lack of role-specific training, poor data hygiene in M365, and the absence of governance. According to the Bitkom AI Study 2026, 53% of companies cite missing competence as the main hurdle.
M365 Copilot is the built-in assistant in Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams. Copilot Studio is the platform with which you build your own agents that access your data and workflows — from simple FAQ bot to process agent with Dataverse connection.
Microsoft Copilot can be operated GDPR-compliantly but requires specific configuration: EU Data Boundary, tenant settings, clear role assignments, and training per Art. 4 EU AI Act (training duty since February 2025). We review your setup in our AI governance advisory.
In May 2026 Microsoft brought license tier E7 to general availability. E7 contains Agent 365 — a platform for managing, securing, and auditing autonomous agents in the enterprise. Target audience: large organizations with high compliance demand and many active agent scenarios.
From experience, measurable effects (time savings in email, meeting summaries, research) appear after 6–12 weeks if structured adoption takes place. Without use-case workshops and skill transfer, most licenses remain unused after three months.
Copilot Credits are the common consumption currency across all Copilot Studio capabilities, Microsoft Dynamics 365 agents, and custom agents. Each agent response or action consumes credits — variable by complexity: simple FAQ answer 1–3 credits, complex data lookup with tool use 20–50 credits, multi-step action with MCP access correspondingly more. Three procurement paths are available: Pay-as-you-go, Copilot Studio Credit Pack Subscription, or Pre-Purchase Plan (with volume discount). Premium licenses (Sales Premium, Customer Service Premium, Finance Premium, Supply Chain Management Premium) include 1,000 credits/user/month each since November 2025. Important: credits accumulate tenant-wide and must be actively assigned to the right Power Platform environments, otherwise they expire unused. Source: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide, May 2026.
MCP is an open, standardized protocol that lets AI agents — including non-Microsoft agents like Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, or local LLMs — access enterprise data in natural language. Available in Dynamics 365 since February 2026. No additional charges inside Copilot Studio; building an agent there that accesses Dynamics 365 data via MCP pays only the regular Copilot Studio credits. As soon as a non-Microsoft agent accesses Dynamics 365 data via MCP, an MCP-capable license is required: Premium licenses unlock MCP access to your own Dynamics 365 data; Microsoft 365 Copilot USL additionally to non-Dynamics 365 data (SharePoint, OneDrive, Outlook, Teams, OneNote). This makes the Premium license even more attractive for AI agent strategies.
30 min · open outcome · no obligation
Bring your specific situation to the initial conversation. We tell you honestly whether adoption, custom agents, or a governance framework is the right next piece of work — or whether you should hold off for now with your existing license configuration.
Related topics from Insights
AI governance is not an engineering deliverable but a regulatory question around the EU AI Act and GDPR. Covered in depth in our topic pages — as a knowledge foundation for your own risk assessment.
Accompanying services
Engineering projects rarely stand alone — license logic, architecture clarification, quality gates, knowledge transfer, and follow-on operations usually run in parallel. Here are the most common accompanying services we add to Discovery Spikes, sprint fixed-price engagements, or Application Care contracts.
Up front · architecture
Before implementation: tenant structure, data model, security concept, integration mapping. The result is an architecture document any engineering team can pick up — including one other than us.
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Up front · CSP
Which license bundles for which users, which add-on SKUs are needed, where you are over- or under-licensed. Procured via Microsoft Licensing Partner — with the option to use CSP purely as a control mechanism without margin maximization.
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During · quality gate
Independent second opinion during a running implementation project — whether we are delivering it or another partner. CMMI-based quality gates, risk reviews, fixed price per gate.
During · adoption
Not the classic two-day workshop that's forgotten after a week — but a dynamic learning program over 4–6 weeks with kickoff training, application phases, and advanced sessions. Training matrix for roles and topics.
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After · operations
After go-live: a predictable Application Care contract with monthly flat rate, SLA-based. Includes releases, hotfixes, extensions, tenant hardening — and continuous support instead of merely reacting to tickets.
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After · knowledge
When the original developers are gone, the previous partner is no longer reachable, or the documentation is outdated — reverse engineering of the existing solution with a documented result: code map, data model, customization inventory.
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