Key Takeaway: Effective Microsoft Copilot adoption requires role-based user prompt training. Legal and compliance teams are empowered to maximize their investment in AI tools like Copilot and Copilot Studio with tailored education, peer-to-peer learning, and continuous learning. These steps enable users to reduce errors, validate outputs, and confidently integrate AI into workflows.

After completing the assessment and strategy phase of Microsoft Copilot adoption, educating your team with intentional, business function-specific prompt training is the essential next step. When users are intentionally and routinely trained on AI tools such as Copilot and Copilot Studio, your team proceeds with confidence that you are maximizing the full benefits of your investment.

Purposeful Training Sets the Tone

Business function-specific prompt training is the cornerstone of early success with AI adoption. According to the Lexis Nexis Legal AI Adoption Report, the legal technology industry is significantly growing in AI training for staff, jumping from eleven percent to eighteen percent.

Training creates a cohesive and powerful integration of AI by reducing misunderstandings and promoting informed prompting. Refined prompting transforms Copilot from a reactive tool into a proactive partner that establishes a strong foundation for streamlined decision-making and efficient workflows. Copilot education should include guidance on validating outputs, recognizing when AI outputs are incomplete or inaccurate, and iteratively improving prompt strategies.

Education Follows Remediation

Before deploying Copilot, organizations should consider assessing and remediating their data environments. Strategy, Planning, and Design, and AI Data Risk Assessments are the first steps to ensure that Copilot doesn’t inadvertently surface your most sensitive information. Flagging sensitive content does not have to hold up your implementation process; it simply allows your team to approach AI with the peace of mind that highly sensitive information is safeguarded. Gaining an in-depth view of your data estate requires more time, but the process can work alongside AI adoption rather than preceding it.

Business Function-Specific Copilot Training

While prompt training is essential for individual users, its impact multiplies when tailored to specific business functions. Legal, compliance, HR, and finance teams, for example, interact with AI tools like Copilot in distinct ways. Training programs that reflect these differences equip employees with the context and examples most relevant to their roles.

For legal teams, this may include guidance on drafting contracts or handling sensitive legal matters in accordance with enterprise governance standards. For compliance teams, education might focus on using Copilot to monitor regulatory changes, ensure adherence to internal policies, and automate the review of compliance documentation. 

Varied User Experiences

In addition to varied training approaches between business units, employees will understandably vary in their familiarity with Copilot. Some may be early adopters who have already experimented with AI tools independently. Others may be unfamiliar, hesitant, or resistant to the changes brought by automation. Training must account for this spectrum. This approach ensures equitable access to AI benefits across the organization and supports a unified learning experience.

Facilitator-Led, Interactive Training 

Passive, slide-based training no longer meets the needs of today’s legal professionals. To build real confidence with AI tools, training must be active, relevant, and hands-on.

Facilitator-led sessions create space for discussion, experimentation, and immediate feedback. Participants don’t just listen; they engage. They work through real-world scenarios that mirror the challenges they face on the job. They ask questions, test ideas, and learn by doing.

This approach accelerates adoption, builds trust in technology, and ensures that teams walk away not just informed but equipped to apply what they’ve learned.

The Value of Peer-to-Peer Learning

Practical Copilot training fosters peer-to-peer learning by encouraging users to share best practices, develop a shared vocabulary, and support one another by routinely enhancing their understanding of AI. As employees become more confident in working with AI, they are better equipped to communicate insights, troubleshoot challenges, and collectively enhance your organization’s AI capabilities. Those who have already been trained also have experience working with Copilot to support newer colleagues with practical insights throughout the education process.

Copilot Studio and Prompt Training Integration 

Copilot Studio empowers users to design, deploy, and manage custom AI agents tailored to specific business needs. With the swift arrival of agentic AI, organizations are enhancing the benefits of Copilot user training from comprehensive agent training within Copilot Studio. Prompt engineering remains a critical foundational skill. With strategic prompting in practice, teams further accelerate adoption with scalable automation and intelligent task execution by creating and using AI agents.

AI Adoption Is a Journey, Not a Destination

Routinely updated and function-specific training programs inform teams about new features, best practices, and industry trends. Initial training may get everyone started, but continuous education keeps adoption on track and improves it over time. Ongoing training sessions allow users to progress from basic to advanced usage (e.g., learning to build their own Copilot “agents” or automation workflows after mastering core prompts).

The legal and compliance industry’s experience with AI so far shows that investing in user training is not a mere best practice, but a prerequisite for success.

Learn more about Epiq Responsible AI and Copilot Readiness. 

 
Simon Bayangos, Director, Information Governance
Simon has been at the forefront of eDiscovery since its inception, back when it first earned its “e.” With decades of experience as a technology leader across law firms, legal software providers (including Summation, Nuix, and Relativity), and legal service suppliers, Simon brings extensive expertise in forensics, eDiscovery, and information governance across nearly every major industry vertical.