Microsoft Copilot or your own enterprise AI?

What can Microsoft 365 Copilot do?

Microsoft 365 Copilot is the AI in the Microsoft 365 applications. It drafts texts in Word, summarises emails in Outlook and meetings in Teams, and answers questions about content in Microsoft 365. According to Microsoft, Copilot only shows content the person is allowed to see anyway, and it does not train the underlying models with inputs, responses or data from Microsoft 365. Buying it requires a suitable Microsoft 365 plan. Microsoft is currently renaming the product to “Microsoft Copilot”.

Where does Copilot process your data?

Copilot runs in the Microsoft cloud. For customers in the EU, Microsoft describes Copilot as a service within the EU Data Boundary, with two exceptions (as of October 2026):

• Flex routing: Under high load, the model may run in the US, Canada or Australia. For tenants created after 25 March 2026, this is switched on by default; it can be switched off in the admin centre.
• Models from Anthropic: They can be selected in Copilot and are currently excluded from the EU Data Boundary.

Microsoft is a US company. The US CLOUD Act obliges providers subject to US law to hand over data on an official order, even when the data is stored in Europe. More on this in the guide US CLOUD Act and in the comparison basebox and Microsoft 365 Copilot.

What does “your own enterprise AI” mean?

It means an AI where your organisation decides where the platform and the AI model run and who has access. Three routes are common:

Route	What it means	Who operates it
Platform in a separate environment at the provider	Separate environment per organisation in a data centre you know	The provider
Platform on a server on your premises	Hardware for your organisation only, without an internet connection if you wish	Your IT or the provider remotely
Self-build from open-source components	Interface, model and connection to your systems assembled yourself	Your IT

The key difference is between an interface that sends requests to another provider’s model and a platform that runs the model itself. More on this in the guide Wrapper or standalone platform?

When is Copilot enough, and when do you need more?

Situation	Copilot	Your own enterprise AI
Emails, meetings, presentations without sensitive data	fits	not needed
Patient, citizen or social data	assessment by your data protection officer	fits if location and proof are right
Professional secrecy under § 203 StGB	check the obligation in the contract	agreement under § 203 StGB with the provider
Health data in the cloud (§ 393 SGB V)	check the provider’s proof	C5 attestation or equivalent proof; not needed for a server on your premises
Operation without an internet connection	not publicly described	possible with a server on your premises
Systems outside Microsoft 365	via Graph connectors	via the platform’s connectors

How do Copilot and your own enterprise AI work together?

Copilot can stay. Your own AI is added for data that your organisation wants to process under its own control. To make this work in daily practice, settle four points:

• Sign-in: through the same identity management, for example Microsoft Entra ID; groups and roles come from there.
• Data from Microsoft 365: The platform reads SharePoint and Exchange via connectors, with the permissions of the person asking.
• Clear separation: A rule in your organisation sets out which tasks with sensitive data belong in your own AI.
• Proof: Data processing agreement, an agreement under § 203 StGB where professional secrecy applies, the provider’s certificates.

What does Copilot cost?

For Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, for organisations of up to 300 people, Microsoft states €18.20 per person per month with annual billing, plus VAT (as of 11 October 2026, with a temporary promotional price), on top of the Microsoft 365 plan. For larger organisations, Microsoft stated 30 US dollars per person per month at launch; Microsoft and its partners give the current price in their quote. Your own enterprise AI is usually billed per person or per server. Compare the total costs over several years, including operation and connection to your systems.

What does Copilot offer that your own platform usually does not?

• Work in the Office applications: Copilot writes in Word, calculates in Excel and builds slides in PowerPoint. Your own platform usually has its own interface.
• Meetings in Teams: summaries and tasks from meetings.
• Work context from Microsoft 365: a person’s emails, calendar, chats and documents together.
• ISO 42001: Microsoft states a certification for AI management systems. Ask other providers whether they have one.

How does this work with basebox?

basebox is your own enterprise AI in the sense of the first two routes: in our cloud, with a separate environment per organisation and the AI model on our servers in the Munich-East data centre, or on a server for you only. basebox is a German company; with the AI model in basebox, the US CLOUD Act does not apply. Features, prices and what Copilot offers that basebox does not are set out in the comparison basebox and Microsoft 365 Copilot.