Build AI 101
Practical, checked guides to Microsoft Copilot, agents, Microsoft Copilot Studio, Copilot Cowork and Power Automate, written for busy professionals in UK organisations. Start at Level 1 and climb one rung at a time.
- 19 guides in four levels
- Copyable prompts in every guide
- Checked against Microsoft Learn, October 2026
- Free to read, no sign-up needed
IGOE AI learning resource · Our guides are independent educational content, not a promise of course inclusions. See the current five-course training offer.
Four levels, from first prompt to governed agents
Each guide takes under ten minutes, gives you prompts to copy, flags what to check, and ends with one thing to do next.
- 1
Beginner
Start here. Find your way around Microsoft Copilot and get useful results on day one.
6 guides - 2
Intermediate
Use Microsoft Copilot properly in Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and go deeper with Researcher and Analyst.
5 guides - 3
Advanced
Build agents, hand multi-step work to Cowork and automate with Power Automate.
4 guides - 4
Expert
Copilot Studio, governance, licensing and rolling Microsoft Copilot out to a team.
4 guides
Beginner
Start here. Find your way around Microsoft Copilot and get useful results on day one.
Microsoft Copilot from zero
Never opened Microsoft Copilot at work? Start here.
Which Microsoft Copilot do I have?
Chat, Basic, Premium, Cowork. What your licence actually includes.
The four-part prompt
Goal, context, source, expectations. The only framework you need to start.
Copilot in Outlook
Summarise long threads, draft replies and get coaching on tone.
Copilot in Teams
Catch up on meetings and chats without rewatching the recording.
Trust, but check
A simple routine for checking Microsoft Copilot's work before it reaches a client.
Intermediate
Use Microsoft Copilot properly in Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and go deeper with Researcher and Analyst.
Copilot in Word
From blank page to reviewed draft, without losing your voice.
Copilot in Excel
Ask questions of your data, build formulas and explain what you inherited.
Copilot in PowerPoint
Turn a document into a first-draft deck in your organisation's template.
Researcher and Analyst
Microsoft's built-in agents for deep research and data analysis.
Prompts for real work
Six prompt patterns that hold up on messy, real tasks.
Advanced
Build agents, hand multi-step work to Cowork and automate with Power Automate.
Your first agent
Build a useful agent in Agent Builder in under an hour, no code.
Writing agent instructions
The instructions box is where agents succeed or fail. Here is a structure that works.
Copilot Cowork
When Microsoft Copilot stops drafting and starts doing multi-step work for you.
Automations with Power Automate
Describe the process in plain English and let Microsoft Copilot build the first version of the flow.
Expert
Copilot Studio, governance, licensing and rolling Microsoft Copilot out to a team.
Microsoft Copilot Studio first steps
When your agent needs to take actions, reach more people or be properly governed.
Agent Builder or Microsoft Copilot Studio?
A quick decision guide so you build in the right place first time.
Governance and licensing basics
What leaders, IT and risk teams need to agree before Microsoft Copilot scales.
Rolling Microsoft Copilot out to a team
A five-day plan that gets a team using Microsoft Copilot on real work.
Prompts and workflows by role
Ready-to-use prompts and step-by-step workflows for legal teams, finance teams, managers and client-facing professionals, with the checks that should go with them.
Microsoft Copilot for legal teams
Matter summaries, clause review, client updates and knowledge agents.
Microsoft Copilot for finance teams
Variance commentary, reconciliations support, policy Q&A and month-end routines.
Microsoft Copilot for managers and operations
Status updates, meeting follow-ups, process documents and team briefings.
Microsoft Copilot for client and business development work
Meeting preparation, proposals, follow-ups and relationship summaries.
Checked, dated and honest about limits
I'm Josh Igoe, a Microsoft Certified Trainer, and I write these guides as the starting point I want to hand people: short, practical and in a sensible order. Microsoft's documentation is thorough, but it is written for admins and developers as much as for the person with a client email to answer by five o'clock.
Build AI 101 is an independent educational resource by IGOE AI LTD. It is not produced or endorsed by Microsoft.
- Checked against Microsoft's own documentation. Every product statement is checked against Microsoft Learn, Microsoft Support or the official Microsoft blog, and each guide lists its sources.
- Dated. Microsoft Copilot changes monthly. Each guide shows when it was last checked and flags anything in preview or likely to change.
- No invented numbers. I don't quote statistics I can't source. My course prices are published on the training page.
- One takeaway per guide. Every guide ends with something specific to do next.
Choose the right starting point for your organisation
Tell us who you want to train. Request dates for a private Copilot cohort or ask about a discovery conversation.
Prefer email? josh@igoe.ai