Microsoft says that Copilot makes users more productive by minimizing time-consuming busy work such as searching for information. In a survey of software developers using GitHub Copilot, 88 percent said the tool makes them more productive. Microsoft also says that Copilot unlocks organizational knowledge by making it easy for users to gain insights from data stored across the enterprise.

It sounds great, but let’s consider the risks. Let’s say the organization is working on a project that, if successful, will redefine the business and bring incredible competitive advantages. Only the project team members and executive management know about it. Now let’s say that Bob in sales asks Copilot to create a PowerPoint presentation on all the organization’s current projects. As instructed, Copilot crawls the Microsoft data stores to gather the information. It finds Teams conversations and a SharePoint site on the top-secret project and includes the information in the PowerPoint.

Here’s another example. Sharon in accounting needs to compile a report on last quarter’s expense reports to determine if they meet the organization’s reimbursement guidelines. Copilot collects all the data — including employees’ bank account information in clear text.

Does this mean you shouldn’t use Copilot? Not at all. It means that all of the organization’s data must be accurate and properly categorized before unleashing this tool.