Microsoft Copilot vs Custom AI Assistant: Which Is Better for Your Business?
Microsoft Copilot and a custom AI assistant are not rivals for the same job — one is a £13.80-a-seat licence inside Office, the other is software built around your data, your customers and your process. This guide puts verified UK figures on both: Copilot’s real pricing and the measured government trial results, what a custom build actually costs at £1,100 a day, a 50-person worked example run down both routes over three years, the hybrid pattern that uses each for what it is best at, and a five-question decision framework that settles the choice for most businesses in an afternoon.