As the world of artificial intelligence (AI) keeps evolving, it's important for those in financial services, like asset managers and fund managers, to keep up with the latest tools and tech. Microsoft has two core AI solutions that serve different needs: Azure Open AI and Microsoft 365 Copilot. Here, we'll break down the main differences to help you figure out which one’s right for your firm.

Microsoft 365 Copilot

Microsoft 365 Copilot is meant to fit right into the Microsoft 365 suite. It uses data from apps like Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams to offer helpful insights and assistance. If you're already using Microsoft 365, Copilot can boost your productivity by:

• Managing tasks: Copilot can help draft emails, generate reports, and keep your calendar organised, all within the Microsoft 365 suite.
• Providing insights: It uses data within Microsoft 365 to give you actionable insights for your projects and communications.

But there's a catch—Microsoft 365 Copilot only works with data stored in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. For firms that rely on multiple data sources, this can be a bit limiting.

Microsoft Azure Open AI

On the other hand, Microsoft Azure Open AI offers a more flexible and customisable AI solution. Azure Open AI lets you tap into Microsoft's AI power across a wider range of data sources, not just those in Microsoft 365. This makes it especially useful for asset managers and fund managers who work with varied datasets like market data, client info, and proprietary research.

Azure Open AI has a number of benefits:

• Create your custom Copilot: Azure Open AI allows you to build your own Copilot tailored to your business needs. You can integrate data from various sources to create a more comprehensive AI assistant.
• Better data integration: Azure Open AI has the capacity to utilise data from multiple sources outside of Microsoft 365 - databases, CRM systems, and even external APIs, offering a richer dataset for analysis.
• Scalability: Built on the Azure platform, this solution ensures your AI can scale with your business with the pay-as-you-use pricing model of the cloud.

Examples of Azure Open AI in action

• Market Predictions: By analysing historical market data, Azure Open AI can help fund managers predict market trends and make more informed investment decisions.
• Customer Insights: Integrate Azure Open AI with your CRM to gain deeper insights into client behaviour, helping you tailor your services to meet their needs better.
• Risk Management: Use Azure Open AI to evaluate risk factors by pulling data from various sources, such as financial reports, news articles, and social media, to mitigate potential risks more effectively.

Setting Up Azure Open AI: A Typical Workflow

Setting up Azure Open AI for your firm is more straightforward than you might think. Here’s a typical workflow:

Step 1: Define objectives

Start by identifying your business objectives and the specific problems you want to solve using AI. This could range from improving customer insights to enhancing market predictions.

Step 2: Data integration

The most important step is to gather and integrate data from various sources. This may include internal databases, CRM systems, market data providers, and even external APIs. With any Generative AI model, the data you get out of it is largely dependent on the data you put in which means heavy text-based datasets are the best type of data to feed into Azure Open AI but there is typically effort required to get it into the right format that Azure Open AI will understand.

Step 3: Model refining

Using context prompts, you can refine the behaviour of how the AI will interact with users. There are many other advanced options to help tweak how the AI model works.

Step 4: Deployment

Deployment of a web interface so that users in the firm can interact with the AI, hosted privately in your own Azure tenant.

Is Azure Open AI secure and private?

It's important to note that Microsoft Azure Open AI does not use your data to train its models. Instead, you are leveraging pre-existing models, such as ChatGPT-4o, to analyse and process the data you provide. This ensures that your proprietary information remains secure, remains in your own Azure tenant, and is not incorporated into the broader training data used by Microsoft. By utilising these existing, pre-trained models, you get the benefits of advanced AI capabilities without compromising the confidentiality of your data.

When it comes to the confidentiality and security of your data, Microsoft Azure Open AI is built on robust principles that ensure your information remains protected at all times. Data encryption is applied at rest and in transit, using advanced encryption standards to safeguard sensitive information against unauthorised access. Azure's compliance with international standards such as GDPR, ISO/IEC 27001, and SOC ensures that your data is managed according to rigorous security protocols.

Does Microsoft 365 Copilot offer the same protection?

In comparison, Microsoft 365 Copilot also prioritises data security but is primarily designed to operate within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. While it offers robust security measures, including encryption and compliance with industry standards, its focus is on enhancing productivity within existing Microsoft Office applications. Therefore, while Microsoft 365 Copilot is secure, it may not provide the same level of customisation and flexibility in security settings as Azure Open AI, particularly when dealing with diverse data sources.

In essence, for asset managers and fund managers who require a highly secure, flexible, and customisable solution to handle varied data sources, Azure Open AI stands out as a superior choice. Its advanced security features ensure that your data remains confidential and protected, giving you peace of mind as you leverage AI to drive insights and operational efficiency.

Why financial services firms should consider Microsoft Azure Open AI

For asset managers and fund managers, the ability to integrate and analyse data from various sources is crucial. Microsoft Azure Open AI offers the flexibility and customisation needed to enhance your firm's operational capabilities. By creating a custom Copilot, you can ensure your AI tools are in sync with your specific business processes and data needs.

Plus, the scalability and performance of Azure Open AI means you can trust the platform to grow with your business, handling more data and more complex analyses as needed. This makes Azure Open AI a future-proof solution that can adapt to the ever-changing demands of the financial services industry.