Training course · Microsoft 365 Copilot · Procurement

Microsoft 365 Copilot for Procurement Teams

Use Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams productively, securely and in line with permissions.

Duration
1 day (7 hrs)
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

“Microsoft 365 Copilot for Procurement Teams” is designed for roles such as Strategic buyers and category managers, Operational buyers and material planners and Heads of procurement and CPOs and shows step by step how to use Microsoft 365 Copilot productively, safely and transparently in Procurement – from the fundamentals to advanced workflows.

Microsoft 365 Copilot brings AI right into the applications where your daily work happens: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. What sets it apart from publicly available chatbots is its grounding in your organisation's data via Microsoft Graph – Copilot can draw on the emails, meetings, chats and documents you already have access to. In this practical day you learn to use that connection deliberately: drafting content from existing files, summarising inboxes and long threads, following up on meetings and generating presentations from Word documents.

You also learn how the licensed Copilot differs from Copilot Chat, when web-grounded and when work-grounded answers make sense, and how to use both prebuilt and your own agents. A central topic is the permission model: Copilot only surfaces what you are allowed to see, so sharing settings in SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams directly determine the quality and security of results. You leave with tested prompts for every Office application and a clear understanding of responsible use within your tenant.

Procurement has evolved from order processing into a strategic value driver: cutting costs, securing supply, managing supply chain risk and meeting sustainability requirements. Generative AI supports buyers in every phase of the source-to-pay process. AI assistants draft specifications and tender documents, compare bids, summarise supplier contracts and prepare negotiations with arguments and scenarios. AI agents and automation research potential suppliers, analyse spend data, monitor risk signals such as insolvency or delivery delays and process order confirmations. This gives procurement more time for supplier development and strategic category management. Reliable master data, clear approval rules and careful handling of confidential terms and supplier information remain essential.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • Strategic buyers and category managers
  • Operational buyers and material planners
  • Heads of procurement and CPOs
  • Supplier managers and supplier quality engineers
  • Public sector procurement staff

Typical challenges we address

  • Comparing bids with different structures quickly and fairly
  • Keeping track of supplier risks and supply chain due diligence obligations
  • Drafting precise tender documents and specifications
  • Making spend data from different systems usable for analysis

What you will be able to do

  • You use Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams for your recurring tasks.
  • You write prompts that draw on existing files, emails and meetings as context.
  • You distinguish between Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat and choose the right mode.
  • You use prebuilt agents and create a simple agent of your own for your team.
  • Use AI for tenders, bid comparisons and negotiation preparation.
  • Analyse spend and supplier risks with AI support in a data-driven way.
  • Take confidentiality, public procurement law and supply chain due diligence into account when using AI.

Course outline

Module 1 Copilot fundamentals and Microsoft Graph
  • Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat: capabilities and licensing
  • Grounding in organisational data through Microsoft Graph
  • Switching between web and work context and referencing specific files
  • Prompt structure with goal, context, source and expectations
Module 2 Word and PowerPoint
  • Drafting from existing documents, notes and emails
  • Rewriting, shortening, adjusting tone and summarising text
  • Generating presentations from Word documents or outlines
  • Refining slides, adding speaker notes and sharpening key messages
Module 3 Excel and data analysis
  • Querying tables, spotting trends and highlighting outliers
  • Getting suggestions for formulas, calculated columns and conditional formatting
  • Creating charts and pivot analyses from natural language
  • Sanity-checking results and ensuring data quality
Module 4 Outlook, Teams and agents
  • Summarising long email threads and drafting replies
  • Summarising Teams meetings and extracting action items and open questions
  • Using Copilot Pages and Notebooks for collaborative work
  • Using prebuilt agents and creating your own with Agent Builder
Module 5 Permissions, data protection and governance
  • The permission model: Copilot only shows what you can access
  • Identifying oversharing in SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams
  • Sensitivity labels, data boundaries and GDPR considerations
  • Usage policies, team adoption and measuring impact
Module 6 Practice lab: Procurement
  • Drafting specifications
  • Bid comparison
  • Negotiation preparation
  • Supplier research
  • Spend analysis
  • Supplier risk monitoring
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • Bids, terms and supplier contracts are trade secrets and may only be processed in approved AI environments; contact details are subject to the GDPR. Public contracting authorities must also comply with procurement law and equal treatment, and companies may be subject to supply chain due diligence legislation.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Drafting specifications

An AI assistant turns requests from business units into structured requirement specifications and statements of work, closes gaps by asking follow-up questions and keeps wording product-neutral.

Bid comparison

AI extracts prices, lead times, payment terms and deviations from the request from differently structured bids and builds a comparison matrix as the basis for the award decision.

Negotiation preparation

Market information, price trends and supplier history are turned into negotiation strategies with targets, concessions and arguments, plus role plays to prepare for difficult conversations.

Supplier research

AI supports the search for alternative sources, summarises publicly available information on potential suppliers and creates questionnaires for supplier qualification.

Spend analysis

Spend data from ERP exports is classified with AI support, mapped to categories, consolidation opportunities identified and results presented clearly for management.

Supplier risk monitoring

Automations monitor news and public sources on key suppliers; AI assesses signals of insolvency, sanctions or human rights risks and alerts the responsible people early.

Prerequisites

Confident everyday use of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams; no prior AI knowledge is required. You work in procurement or purchasing and know your organisation's sourcing processes.

Technical requirements

A laptop with access to Microsoft 365 via your work account; a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence is ideal for all exercises, while Copilot Chat covers part of the content.

Data protection & compliance

Bids, terms and supplier contracts are trade secrets and may only be processed in approved AI environments; contact details are subject to the GDPR. Public contracting authorities must also comply with procurement law and equal treatment, and companies may be subject to supply chain due diligence legislation.

Suggested dates

All dates are suggestions – your preferred date is always possible.

  • Tue, 24 November 2026 Online Request
  • Fri, 11 December 2026 Stuttgart Request
  • Thu, 21 January 2027 Online Request
  • Thu, 4 February 2027 Berlin Request
  • Tue, 9 February 2027 Online Request
  • Mon, 15 February 2027 Munich Request

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat?

Copilot Chat is available to many work accounts without an additional licence and answers mainly from web content and uploaded files. The licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot also reaches your emails, meetings and documents through Microsoft Graph and is built directly into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams.

Can Copilot see my colleagues' confidential files?

Copilot respects existing permissions and only surfaces content you can already access yourself. Problems arise when files are shared too broadly – with the entire organisation, for instance. In the course you learn how to spot such oversharing and how to fix it properly together with your IT team.

Do I need prompting experience for this course?

No. We start with the fundamentals of good prompts and practise them directly in the Office applications. What matters is that you are comfortable using Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams day to day. Everything else – from referencing files to working with agents – we build up step by step through realistic tasks.

May AI decide on contract awards?

AI can structure and compare bids and highlight anomalies. The award decision is made by procurement according to defined criteria. In the public sector, the decision must also be documented and traceable under procurement law. We show how to integrate AI support transparently into your award process.

How do we protect confidential supplier terms?

Use only approved enterprise environments where inputs are not used for training and data processing is contractually governed. Terms offered by other bidders must never find their way into communication with suppliers. In the course we discuss practical rules for handling sensitive procurement data.

How much does “Microsoft 365 Copilot for Procurement Teams” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 1 training day(s) with a live trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. Our suggested dates are just a guide. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and confirm within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

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