GPT-5 is here, and you can use it right now with Microsoft Copilot 

Introduction 

With the speed that AI is developing, it’s a surprise the tech world doesn’t have whiplash.  

But it seems nothing can slow OpenAI down – and the all-new GPT-5 model is the proof. 

Even better, unlike previous versions of their AI model, GPT-5 is available in Microsoft Copilot right away – no need to wait for an upgrade.  

That means the AI assistant in the apps your teams use every day just got a pretty major boost to its brain power. Whether you’re drafting emails, wrangling spreadsheets, or running a Teams meeting, Copilot’s answers should be smarter, more consistent, and better at handling multi-step reasoning tasks.  

Let’s walk through what GPT-5 actually brings to the office, how it shows up inside Microsoft 365, and what UK businesses like yours should do before they get started with GPT-5.  

What is GPT-5? 

GPT-5 is the next-generation large language model from OpenAI, built to provide both quick conversational responses and deeper reasoning when situations demand it.   

Practically speaking, Microsoft describes GPT-5 as a system with two “modes”: a faster model for simple prompts and a slower but more thoughtful model for complex reasoning tasks. The platform automatically routes requests to the right model so you get speed when you need it and deep-thinking brain power when it matters. 

As a Copilot user, that should translate to an AI experience that feels less like autocomplete on steroids and more like an assistant that can really think and hold longer conversations, follow subtler instructions, and make fewer obvious mistakes on complicated questions.  

This improved context handling is especially useful for long documents, multi-step planning, or when you need Copilot to bring together information from several different sources. 

GPT-5 inside Microsoft Copilot: Where can you find it? 

Microsoft has rolled GPT-5 into several Copilot touchpoints, so the benefits show up where yours teams already work:  

• Microsoft 365 Copilot (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams). Within the 365 suite of products, you can expect better summaries, more intelligent edits, and stronger multi-step reasoning. Draft a complex client proposal, ask for a risk analysis of a dataset, or get a meeting summary that actually keeps the thread of discussion –Copilot should now do better at all of these. 
• Copilot Chat (web and app). The free Copilot chat now uses GPT-5’s “smarter” mode by default for more capable, coherent conversations. That makes quick brainstorming, drafting, and ad-hoc research more reliable for anyone who uses the web or app interface. Whether you’re signed in or not, you can try GPT-5 right now at https://copilot.microsoft.com  
• GitHub Copilot and developer tools. If you have a software development team in your organisation, they’ll benefit too: GPT-5 can write longer, more cohesive code snippets, suggest fixes, and reason across larger code contexts. That’s a long way of saying your will be able to code better, and code faster.  
• Copilot Studio and Azure integration. IT teams can also select GPT-5 in Copilot Studio to build tailored agents, and GPT-5 is also available in Azure AI services for custom integrations with enterprise-level controls. 

Of course, all of these GPT-5 instances run within the Microsoft cloud, and are protected by the company’s enterprise-grade security and compliance features, so you don’t need to worry about data governance or other cybersecurity risks. 

Our advice on deploying an AI-assisted workflow 

Whether you’ve already signed up for a Microsoft 365 Copilot license or you’re still using the free version, we’re rapidly approaching a point where GPT-5 powered tools will be in use across most business functions. 

That direction of travel has led a lot of our clients to ask how to deploy an AI-assisted workflow in their business practically and – more importantly – safely. Here are our best practices for doing just that: 

1. Pilot with a single team. Pick HR, your Sales team, or a small Marketing group to run a 4 – 6 week pilot scheme. Define what success would look like to you (time saved, drafts produced, error rates, etc.) so you can assess how much of a help AI tools have been during the pilot. 
2. Draft a short acceptable-use policy. Data is precious, and it’s all too easy for some team members to start dropping proprietary information into AI tools – even with Microsoft’s data safeguards in place. To avoid this, educate your team on what not to paste into their prompts and how best to handle AI outputs.  
3.  Train power users. You’ll likely have a few early adopters who are already using AI in their day-to-day. Help these power users to learn how to craft better prompts, verify their outputs, and how to recognise those less valuable AI contributions.  
4. Enable logging and review. Thanks to the backing of the Microsoft infrastructure, Copilot usage is fully auditable and IT admins are able to review logs at any point for a snapshot of how the team is getting on with the tools.  
5. Scale with safety. If the pilot shows valuable and you want to roll it out across the business, do so with role-based access and an accompanying compliance checklist to ensure everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.  

Need to Get Support? We’re a phone call away  

Want help testing GPT-5 in Copilot, building a pilot scheme for AI-assisted workflows, or need assistance setting out sensible AI governance for your organisation? We’re here to help!  

Just ask your Get Support Customer Success Manager or call us on 01865 594 000. We’ll help you make Copilot work for your people – safely, securely, and in a way that delivers real results.