Read the Bahasa Malaysia version here and Mandarin version here.

• New Work Trend Index insights reveal that the pace of work is outpacing people’s ability to keep up.
• Data indicates an AI optimism: Employees are more eager for AI to lift the weight of work than they are afraid of job loss to AI.
• Microsoft introduces Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program for 600 customers worldwide.
• The company also announced that new capabilities will be added to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Viva.

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 May 2023 — Earlier this year, Microsoft Corp. introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot, which will bring powerful new generative artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to apps that millions of people use every day like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Microsoft Teams and more. The company announced that it is now expanding access to the Microsoft 365 Copilot preview and introducing new features. Today, the company also unveiled the Malaysia data and insights from its 2023 Work Trend Index report: “Will AI Fix Work?”

The 2023 Work Trend Index surveyed 31,000 people across industries in 31 countries, including Malaysia, as well as trillions of signals from emails, meetings, and chats across Microsoft 365, plus labor trends on LinkedIn. The data shows that the pace of work has accelerated faster than humans can keep up and this is impacting innovation, but next-generation AI will lift the weight of work. Organizations that move first to embrace AI will break the cycle — increasing creativity and productivity for everyone.

The report shares three key insights for business leaders as they look to understand and responsibly adopt AI for their organization:

1. Digital debt is costing us innovation: We’re all carrying digital debt: The volume of data, emails, and chats has outpaced our ability to process it all. Every minute spent managing this digital debt is a minute not spent on creative work. 77% of people in Malaysia say they don’t have enough time and energy to get their work done and the same people are more likely to say they struggle with being innovative. Of the time spent in Microsoft 365, the average person spends 57% communicating and only 43% creating. And the #1 productivity disruption is inefficient meetings.
2. There’s a new AI-employee alliance: While 62% of respondents in Malaysia say they’re worried AI will replace their jobs – even more – 84% would delegate as much work as possible to AI in order to lessen their workloads. More than 4 in 5 workers in Malaysia would be comfortable using AI not just for administrative tasks but also analytical work and creative aspects of their role. Meanwhile, managers in Malaysia are 1.4x more likely to say that AI would be most valuable in their workplace by boosting productivity rather than cutting headcount.
3. Every employee needs AI aptitude: Every employee, not just AI experts, will need new core competencies such as prompt engineering in their day to day. Already, 76% of people in Malaysia say currently they don’t have the right capabilities to get their work done. As AI reshapes work, human-AI collaboration will be the next transformational work pattern and the ability to work iteratively with AI will be a key skill for every employee. In Malaysia, 90% of leaders anticipate employees will need new skills in the AI era.

“As work evolves with AI, leaders and employees alike are looking at how technology can help them be more productive in their workplace. With AI, there is now an opportunity for us to reimagine the way we work and collaborate in the workplace of the future.” – K Raman, Managing Director of Microsoft Malaysia

“But as our study shows, there is a need for a skilled workforce to reap the benefits of AI-powered technology and solutions. Human-AI collaboration is going to be critical as we shift from AI on autopilot to AI as our copilot. The most pressing opportunity and responsibility for every leader is to understand how to leverage AI to remove the drudgery of work, unleash creativity, and build AI aptitude,” said K Raman, Managing Director of Microsoft Malaysia at a media briefing to launch the Work Trend Index Malaysia data.

To empower businesses in the AI era, Microsoft is also introducing the Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program with an initial wave of 600 enterprise customers worldwide in an invitation-only paid preview program. In addition, the following new capabilities will be added to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Viva:

• Copilot in Whiteboard will make Microsoft Teams meetings and brainstorms more creative and effective. Using natural language, you can ask Copilot to generate ideas, organize ideas into themes, create designs that bring ideas to life, and summarize Whiteboard content.
• By integrating DALL-E, OpenAI’s image generator, into Copilot in PowerPoint, users will be able to ask Copilot to create custom images to support their content.
• Copilot in Outlook will offer coaching tips and suggestions on clarity, sentiment, and tone to help users write more effective emails and communicate more confidently.
• Copilot in OneNote will use prompts to draft plans, generate ideas, create lists, and organize information to help customers find what they need easily.
• Copilot in Viva Learning will use a natural language chat interface to help users create a personalized learning journey including designing upskilling paths, discovering relevant learning resources, and scheduling time for assigned trainings.

To help every customer get AI-ready, Microsoft is also introducing the Semantic Index for Copilot, a new capability we’re starting to roll out to all Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 customers. To learn more, visit the Official Microsoft Blog, Microsoft 365 Blog and the new Work Trend Index.