What AI Actually Means for Your Business: Copilot, ChatGPT and Claude
Most business owners have now heard some version of "you should be using AI." Less often does anyone explain what that means in practice: which tool, for what work, and with what risks. This post covers what these tools actually are, how the three you'll hear about most (Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT and Claude) differ, and why a company policy should come before any of them.
What "AI" means here
When people talk about AI at work today, they almost always mean tools built on large language models. A language model has been trained on an enormous amount of text and has become very good at producing useful writing in response to a request: a draft email, a summary of a long document, an answer to a question, a formula for a spreadsheet.
That makes these tools fast and broadly capable, but they don't know your business unless you give them access to it, and they can state something incorrect with complete confidence. A useful way to think about them is as a capable new assistant: quick, tireless, and in need of clear instructions and a second set of eyes on anything important.
The newer versions go a step further. Instead of only answering, they can carry out multi-step tasks, like gathering information from several files, building a report and saving it where you asked. That's where most of the business value is, and also where access and oversight matter most.
Microsoft Copilot
Copilot is Microsoft's assistant, built into Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams. With a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license, it can draw on your organization's email, files, chats, meetings and calendar through Microsoft Graph, the layer that connects the data in your Microsoft 365 account. Ask it to summarize the last month of emails with a customer or draft a proposal from files on SharePoint, and it finds the material on its own.
The limitation is that Copilot's view of your business is largely what lives in Microsoft 365. Your accounting system, CRM, scheduling software or industry application are outside its view unless someone sets up connectors or custom agents to bring that data in. The free Copilot Chat that comes with most Microsoft 365 plans can't see your work data at all unless you upload a file into the conversation.
Copilot follows your existing Microsoft 365 permissions, so it only shows people what they could already open. That sounds reassuring, but many businesses have folders shared with everyone or old links open to anyone. Copilot makes those files much easier to find, so a permissions review should come before a rollout.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT, from OpenAI, is the tool most people have tried. Its business plans add a shared workspace with admin controls and connectors that let it work with company sources like SharePoint, Google Drive and Outlook. The workspace owner decides which connectors are turned on, and ChatGPT only sees what each user already has access to in those systems.
Compared with Copilot, ChatGPT is less tied to a single platform. It's a good fit for businesses that split their work between Microsoft 365, Google and other apps. It also offers an agent mode that takes a goal, makes a plan, does the work and checks in when it needs approval.
The plan matters. On business plans, OpenAI doesn't use your data to train its models by default. On free and personal plans, it may, unless the user turns that setting off.
Claude and Claude Cowork
Claude, from Anthropic, is known for strong writing, careful reasoning over long documents and a cautious approach to safety. Like ChatGPT, its business plans keep your data out of model training and offer connectors to other systems.
Anthropic introduced Claude Cowork in January 2026 for work that goes beyond a conversation. You give Claude access to a folder and describe the result you want, and it plans and carries out the steps: organizing files, turning scattered notes into a formatted document, reconciling spreadsheets or pulling updates from several sources into one report. Cowork became available on all paid Claude plans in April. In September, Anthropic began folding Cowork into the main Claude app, so Claude now decides on its own whether a request needs a quick answer or a longer task.
Because Cowork can create, change and move files, it's worth starting with copies or a test folder until you're comfortable with how it works.
How they compare
- Where it lives. Copilot is inside the Microsoft 365 apps you already use. ChatGPT and Claude are separate apps on the web, desktop and phone.
- What it knows about your business. Copilot sees Microsoft 365 data automatically with a paid license. ChatGPT and Claude see what you connect or upload.
- Systems outside Microsoft 365. Copilot needs connectors or custom agents. ChatGPT and Claude both offer connectors to a wider range of apps.
- Doing the work, not just answering. All three are adding agent features. ChatGPT's agent mode and Claude's Cowork features are the most developed for multi-step tasks across files and apps.
- Training on your data. None of the three train on your data on business plans. Free and personal plans don't all offer the same protection.
Many businesses end up using more than one. Copilot for everyday work in Outlook and Teams, plus ChatGPT or Claude for research, writing and longer projects, is a common combination.
Why a company policy comes first
Your staff are probably using AI already. The question is whether they're using business accounts you control or personal accounts you don't. When an employee pastes a customer list or a contract into a free personal account, that information leaves your control, and on some plans it can be used to train future models. You may never know it happened.
A written policy fixes most of this, and it doesn't need to be long. It should answer:
- Which tools are approved? Name them, and require business accounts that the company owns and can shut off when someone leaves.
- What can never go in? Customer financial information, passwords, health information, employee records, or anything covered by a confidentiality agreement.
- Who checks the output? Anything AI-written that goes to a customer, or is used for a decision, gets reviewed by a person first.
- What access do the tools get? Decide which connectors and folders each tool can reach, and review file sharing so the tools don't surface what they shouldn't.
- Who do people ask? Name the person who approves new tools and answers questions.
Put it in writing, have staff acknowledge it, and revisit it once or twice a year. These tools change quickly, and the policy should keep up.
Where to start
- Write the policy. Even a one-page version is better than none.
- Clean up permissions. Review who can see what in SharePoint, OneDrive and shared drives before giving any AI tool access.
- Pick one tool and a small group. Choose the tool that fits where your work lives, and try it with a few people on a few real tasks.
- Measure and expand. Keep what saves time, drop what doesn't, and roll it out from there.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to put company information into ChatGPT or Claude?
On business plans, OpenAI and Anthropic don't use your data to train their models by default. On free and personal plans, conversations may be used for training unless the user turns that off. That difference is the main reason to provide business accounts and require staff to use them.
Do we need Microsoft 365 Copilot if we already use ChatGPT?
Not necessarily. Copilot's strength is that it already sees your email, files, Teams chats and calendar. If most of your work lives in Microsoft 365, that matters. If it lives in other systems, ChatGPT or Claude with the right connectors may fit better.
Can AI tools see files people aren't supposed to see?
They only see what the signed-in user can already access. The risk is that many businesses have files shared more widely than anyone realizes. AI tools make those files easier to find, so it's worth reviewing permissions before you roll one out.
What should an AI policy cover?
Which tools are approved, what information can never go into them, who reviews AI-written work before it goes out, and who owns the accounts. One or two pages is usually enough.
If you'd like help choosing a tool, cleaning up permissions or writing an AI policy for your team, contact us.