Microsoft’s Plan to Make Copilot AI More Affordable

Send us Fan Mail Episode Description 🔴 Need help with Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption, governance, and employee training? Let's build your strategy ➡️ https://go.stevecorey.com/chatcoworkautopilot Running AI at scale is expensive, and consumption-based services can make budgets harder to predict. Steve Corey explains Microsoft’s MAI family of in-house models, the role of multi-model orchestration, and why routine work should not automatically be sent to the most expensive model. The episode reviews MAI models for reasoning, coding, image generation, voice, and transcription, then considers how efficient routing could affect Copilot credits, pay-as-you-go usage, custom agents, and AI return on investment. ✅ Connect With Steve ☑️ Socials - https://stevecorey.social 🌍 Web - https://stevecorey.com 📝 Show Notes and Resources 📝 Topics Covered • The cost of operating AI at scale • Copilot licensing and consumption-based pricing • Copilot credits and variable AI costs • Microsoft’s MAI model family • Multi-model orchestration and automatic routing • Reasoning, coding, image, voice, and transcription models • Pay-as-you-go cost management • Cost-conscious custom agent design • Matching model capability to task complexity • AI solution feasibility and return on investment Key Takeaways • Not every request requires a frontier model. • Efficient routing can reserve expensive models for genuinely complex work. • Model choice directly affects the consumption profile of AI solutions. • Custom agents can use different models for routine and critical steps. • Organizations should continually reassess which models their workloads use. • Lower-cost models may make usage more manageable, but consumption remains variable. Chapters 00:00:00 Welcome to the Copilot Briefing 00:00:32 Why AI Costs Matter 00:01:37 The Copilot Pricing Challenge 00:03:14 Introducing Microsoft MAI 00:03:49 Why Microsoft Built Its Own Models 00:05:19 Multi-Model Orchestration 00:06:12 How Model Routing Works 00:06:56 MAI Model Lineup 00:07:01 Reasoning Model 00:07:53 Coding Model 00:08:23 Image Model 00:09:25 Voice Model 00:10:11 Transcription Model 00:10:49 Implications for Copilot Costs 00:12:18 Pay-As-You-Go Economics 00:13:20 Custom AI Cost Control 00:13:52 The Bottom Line 00:15:20 Podcast Takeaways 🔗 Links MAI Models - (Microsoft Techcommunity) ⌚ Book your free on 1 on 1 call with me to discuss your business challenges and how AI can help 👉 https://go.stevecorey.com/copilotbriefing 🔴 Need help with Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption, governance, and employee training? Let's build your strategy ➡️ https://go.stevecorey.com/copilotbriefing