Copilot
KOH-pie-lut
An AI assistant embedded in a workflow to augment human work. Named after GitHub's product but now a generic pattern across industries.
A copilot is an AI assistant that works alongside a human inside their existing workflow. GitHub coined the term with GitHub Copilot in 2021. Microsoft adopted it for Microsoft 365 Copilot. Now every enterprise software company has a copilot. The word has become a pattern, not just a product name.
The copilot model is specific. The AI does not take over. It assists. A coding copilot suggests the next line of code, but the developer decides whether to accept it. A sales copilot drafts the follow-up email, but the rep edits and sends it. The human stays in the loop.
This is different from an agent. An agent acts autonomously. A copilot acts when prompted and defers to the human. Most products start as copilots and gradually add agent capabilities as users build trust. Both patterns are powered by large language models.
Examples
GitHub Copilot in a developer workflow.
A developer writes a function signature. Copilot suggests the implementation. The developer presses Tab to accept, edits a line, and moves on. GitHub reports Copilot generates 46% of code in enabled files.
Microsoft 365 Copilot in enterprise.
A product manager opens a Word document and types "Summarize the Q4 product roadmap from the attached planning docs." Copilot reads the referenced documents and generates a two-page summary. The PM edits and sends it.
A startup builds a copilot for data analysts.
An analytics copilot watches as an analyst writes SQL queries. It suggests query optimizations, catches potential errors (like missing WHERE clauses on large tables), and generates visualizations from query results.
In practice
Read more on the blog
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a copilot and an agent?
A copilot assists a human who stays in control. It suggests, drafts, and recommends. The human decides. An agent acts autonomously. It plans, executes, and completes tasks with minimal human input. Most AI products start as copilots and evolve toward agents.
Related terms
An AI system that can plan, reason, and take autonomous actions to complete tasks. Goes beyond chat to actually do things.
An AI tool that helps developers write, review, and debug code. GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Windsurf are the leading examples.
A neural network trained on massive text data to generate and understand language. The technology behind ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
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