Caps Lock Off as Per Original is Kept to Retain:
Lawrence Fong previously had a system in place for emails that he was too busy to respond to – he would move them to a folder labeled “Follow up.” However, this follow-up sometimes didn’t occur.

Last year, Fong began utilizing Microsoft 365 Copilot to rapidly draft routine email responses, such as accepting an event invitation or following up on an upcoming deadline. He estimates that he now responds to up to 20 percent of emails using Copilot in Outlook and has also started using Copilot in Word to draft speeches.

According to Fong, who serves as Director, Digital & IT at Cathay, a premium travel lifestyle brand that operates Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s home carrier, “It’s very helpful.”

As businesses make generative AI tools available to employees throughout their organizations, those leading the initiative are experimenting and exchanging notes alongside everyone else.

Approximately 1,000 Cathay employees are currently utilizing Microsoft 365 Copilot, with this number expected to increase to several thousand this year.

Cathay’s head of procurement informed Fong that he used Copilot to summarize a proposal in just a few minutes, rather than taking an hour, and was impressed by the “very high” accuracy. Others have used it to summarize meetings and write emails.

For Fong, Copilot is most useful for summarizing lengthy emails and responding to them. It occasionally picks up on minor points or niceties that Fong may overlook. It also remembers to express gratitude to the recipient.

His preferred prompts include “Draft me a reply,” “Write me an email,” as well as “long,” “short,” “formal,” “casual,” or “say thank you,” depending on the recipient.

Fong has a wish list for future improvements. He wishes Copilot could generate emails that sound more like him or create a document that incorporates his specific line of reasoning or utilizes the correct aviation industry terminology. Although he needs to perform some editing, typically 80 percent of the text is acceptable.

He believes that “more personalization would be beneficial somewhere down the road.”

Ultimately, Fong views Copilot as expanding access to AI in the same way that PCs democratized computing and smartphones democratized mobility.

As Fong stated, “Everyone can use it in the home, the office, or wherever.”

Top image: Lawrence Fong, Director, Digital & IT, Cathay. Photo: Cathay.