New from Apress · 2026

The Copilot
Compass

Navigating Copilot and Agents in Microsoft 365

By April Dunnam Published by Apress 2026

Microsoft Copilot, AI agents, and the ecosystem around them are genuinely confusing. The names overlap, the capabilities keep changing, and the hype makes it hard to know what’s real. This book cuts through all of it and gives you a clear, honest framework for understanding what these tools actually are, how they work, and how to make smart decisions about using them.

The Copilot Compass book cover

Who is this for

Written for people who have to
make real decisions about AI

Not a step-by-step tutorial. Not a marketing pitch. An honest exploration of what Copilot and agents actually are, how they work, what they’re good at, and where they fall short.

💼

Business Users & Knowledge Workers

You’re using or about to use Copilot and want to understand what it actually does, what the different versions mean, and how to use it without overestimating or underestimating what it can do.

🔧

IT Pros & Decision Makers

You need to make real decisions about Copilot licensing, deployment, and governance. This book gives you the foundation to evaluate options and lead adoption without getting lost in the buzzwords.

Builders & Low-Code Makers

You want to build agents and extend Copilot but need clarity on which tool to reach for and when. The agent builder’s toolbox chapter and decision frameworks are built for you.

What’s inside

A practical framework,
chapter by chapter

01
The Copilot Confusion
Why there isn’t just one Copilot, how Microsoft Copilot, Copilot Chat, and Microsoft 365 Copilot differ, and a practical framework for choosing the right tool for the job.
02
How Copilot Works
The road from rule-based systems to large language models, how generative AI actually learns, what hallucination is and why it happens, and what to do about it.
03
The Buzzword Decoder Ring
Prompts, tokens, grounding, models, orchestration. What these terms actually mean, how they interact, and why they matter to anyone building or using Copilot.
04
Workflows, Chatbots, and Agents
The real differences between chatbots, workflows, AI automation, and agents. When to use each, common misconceptions, and one scenario solved four different ways.
05
The Agent Builder’s Toolbox
Declarative agents vs. custom engine agents vs. pro-code. Copilot Studio as the gateway between them. Decision frameworks for picking the right approach for four real scenarios.
06
Use Cases, Pitfalls, and the Road Ahead
Six patterns from Copilot in the wild, the Copilot adoption maturity curve, where agents earn their keep, and a realistic look at what the AI future actually holds.

Get your copy

Available now in print and digital formats wherever books are sold.

From $39.99
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Free Resources

Start here if you're confused
about which Copilot to use

Microsoft has a lot of Copilot products. Scout, Copilot Cowork, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio — they overlap, they have similar names, and it's genuinely hard to know which one to reach for. This free guide cuts through it.

Decision Guide

Which Microsoft Copilot Should I Use?

A full comparison of Scout vs. Copilot Cowork vs. Microsoft 365 Copilot vs. Copilot Studio — with a decision framework, comparison matrix, and detailed examples for each tool.

Microsoft Scout Copilot Cowork M365 Copilot Copilot Studio
Read the Free Guide →
🧭
Free
No signup required

The Newsletter

Stay ahead of the
Copilot curve

The Microsoft AI space moves fast. New Copilot features, agent capabilities, and tools drop constantly and it’s hard to keep up with what actually matters. The Copilot Compass newsletter cuts through the noise.

Practical, honest updates on what’s new, what’s worth your time, and what’s just marketing.

Join the newsletter

Free. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

📬

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Training & Workshops

Bring Copilot clarity
to your organization

The Copilot Compass isn’t just a book. We offer live training, workshops, and keynote sessions to help organizations cut through the noise and actually get value from Microsoft AI tools.

🎤

Keynotes & Conference Sessions

Engaging, demo-heavy presentations on Microsoft Copilot, AI agents, and the future of work. Tailored for developers, business users, or executive leadership.

Speaking
🏢

Enterprise Workshops

Half-day and full-day hands-on workshops for enterprise teams. Covers Copilot adoption, agent building with Copilot Studio, and practical AI integration.

Workshop

Promptathons

Live, facilitated prompt engineering sessions where your team learns by doing. Great for Copilot rollouts and getting skeptical teams actually excited about AI tools.

Interactive

Ready to bring this to your team?

Tell us a bit about what you’re looking for and we’ll get back to you within 48 hours to discuss your needs, timeline, and budget.

Submit a Training Inquiry
April Dunnam

About the author

April Dunnam

Principal Cloud Advocate at Microsoft

April Dunnam is a Principal Cloud Advocate at Microsoft with over a decade of experience building on the Microsoft stack. She’s watched the platform evolve from on-premises SharePoint to modern M365 to the AI era, and has been hands-on through every chapter.

She co-founded Agent Academy, a free open-source AI agent curriculum that has surpassed one million views worldwide. She speaks at international conferences on AI agents, Copilot, and Power Platform, and creates practical, demo-first tutorials for her 53K+ YouTube subscribers.

The Copilot Compass is her first book.