ITS AI Pilot Program

Explore Enterprise AI at NAU

The ITS AI Pilot Program provides faculty and staff with guided access to enterprise AI tools including Microsoft Copilot Premium and Claude Enterprise. Whether you’re exploring AI for teaching, research, administration, or everyday productivity, our team can help you find the right solution and get started quickly.

What is the AI Pilot Program?

The ITS AI Pilot Program gives NAU faculty and staff the opportunity to evaluate approved, paid enterprise AI tools in a supported environment. Participants receive access to AI technologies, training resources, and guidance from the AI Enablement team to help determine which tools provide the most value for their work.

The pilot is designed to:

  • Support responsible AI adoption across campus
  • Help faculty and staff evaluate paid enterprise AI tools
  • Provide training and consultation resources
  • Enable departments to make informed AI investment decisions
  • Build AI knowledge and skills throughout the university

Available Enterprise AI Options

Review the NAU-managed AI tools below to determine which will best meets your needs.

COST: FREE

M365 Copilot Chat (Basic) is already available with your NAU Microsoft account

What can you do with Copilot Chat (Basic)?
  • Ideal for: drafting, summarizing, brainstorming, and research
  • AI within Outlook: summarizing, drafting, scheduling and more
  • AI Chat Powered by the Web: Ask complex questions and get answers drawn from live web sources, with citations included. Powered by the latest models, including GPT-4o
  • Upload and Analyze Files: Drag in a Word document, PDF, spreadsheet, or presentation and ask Copilot to summarize it, extract key points, rewrite sections, or answer
    questions from within it.
  • Generate Images: Create original visuals, diagrams, and illustrations using DALL-E 3— useful for course materials, presentations, and program
    communications. No design tools required.
  • Copilot Pages: Turn any AI-generated response into a shareable, collaborative file your team can edit together — ideal for meeting prep, reports, planning
    documents, and committee work.
  • AI Agents: Access ready-made agents built for specific tasks.

For more information about Copilot, visit the ITS knowledge article Using Microsoft Copilot @ NAU

COST: Flat Rate / Predictable

Requires a yearly subscription purchase.

ITS recommends this AI tool for individuals who perform the majority of their work within Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook or Teams due to the flat-rate predictable cost.

What can you do with Copilot (Premium)?
  • Ideal for: individuals working heavily in Microsoft 365 apps
    • AI integrated into Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and PowerPoint
  • Claude AI models are included inside Copilot (with no extra monthly usage fees).
    • This is not the same thing as a Claude Enterprise account.
  • Microsoft Graph/Work IQ: Unlike Copilot Chat, the paid license connects to your organizational data — emails, documents, meetings, and chats —
    through Microsoft Graph/Work IQ, so answers are specific to your actual NAU work context.
  • Analyze and Explain Data in Excel: Ask questions about your spreadsheet data in plain English, generate formulas, identify trends, build charts, and receive clear
    explanations of complex calculations — no formula expertise required.
  • Draft and Rewrite in Word: Generate first drafts, rewrite sections for tone or clarity, summarize long documents, and create structured reports — all with AI that uses NAU data to produce smarter, faster, and more context-aware responses that save you time.
  • Build Presentations in PowerPoint: Generate a complete slide deck from a prompt or an existing document, add slides on demand, rewrite speaker notes, and apply consistent design — in seconds, not hours.
  • Draft and Triage Email in Outlook: Summarize long email threads, draft context-aware replies, prepare for meetings based on your calendar, and prioritize your inbox — all using your actual NAU email history and organizational context.
  • Summarize Meetings in Teams: Get real-time meeting transcription, intelligent summaries, action item lists, and catch-up recaps for meetings you missed — so nothing falls through the cracks.

For more information about Copilot, visit the ITS knowledge article Using Microsoft Copilot @ NAU

COST: Usage-based / variable monthly costs

Claude Enterprise billing works differently than standalone/consumer accounts. It requires both a paid yearly subscription AND monthly usage credit purchases

About the yearly subscription:

  • Purchased through NAU ITS
  • The purchase of a yearly subscription does not include any usage credits.  In other words, purchasing a subscription doesn’t let you actually use Claude; it is essentially a seat/license fee required to have access to a Claude Enterprise account.

About the monthly usage credits and cost:

  • An additional monthly usage credit purchase is required in order to actually use your Claude Enterprise account. This is billed directly to the department’s speedchart.
  • Departments control costs by setting a monthly spending cap.
  • Individuals cannot exceed their monthly cap.
  • Caps can be adjusted if additional usage is needed for specific projects.
When should I choose Claude Enterprise as my AI Tool?

If the majority of the work you perform happens within Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook or Teams, then ITS recommends you consider M365 Copilot (Premium) as the more cost-effective option. Claude Enterprise is recommended for individuals whose primary work is conducted outside of Microsoft 365 apps who also need specific Claude features.

If the following describes your daily workflow, then Claude Enterprise may be the right option for you:

  • You need to use Claude with levels 1-3 data
    • Claude Enterprise accounts are allowed level 1-3 data usage.
    • Any other type of Claude account is allowed level 1 data usage only
  • Analyze contracts, research papers, policy docs, or technical reports
  • Write, review, or debug code; agentic development with Claude Code
  • Build, deploy, or automate with Claude Code in a developer workflow
  • Multi-session project work organized around a defined research question
  • Analyze or model large institutional datasets requiring secure data handling
  • Run multi-session agentic projects with tool integrations and connectors

More information about Claude Enterprise will be available Summer 2026.

Training & Support

The AI Enablement team provides multiple ways to get help:

Have a quick question? We hold 1:1 office hours weekly at the following times:

  • Mondays: 1-2 pm
  • Tuesdays: 2-3 pm
  • Wednesdays: 12-1 pm
  • Thursdays: 9-10 am

Schedule a 15 minute appointment with one of our AI Enablement team members.

  • M365 Copilot and Claude Enterprise – Brandy Gilles
  • Copilot Studio and Agent building – Graham Hagerty

Need more than 15 minutes? Need help selecting the right tool, evaluating a use case, or planning an AI project?

Submit an AI Consultation Request

Attend workshops, brown bags, and AI learning opportunities designed to build practical AI skills.

Check the schedule to see if the workshop you want to attend is already scheduled to be presented.

Visit the AI Workshop page to schedule a workshop for your team/division (via MS Bookings).
Visit

Looking for training that’s not listed on the AI Workshop page?
Schedule a 15 minute appointment to discuss your training needs.  If you know what topic your training falls under, you can select the desired training contact when scheduling your appointment

AI Enablement team training contacts:

  • M365 Copilot and Claude Enterprise – Brandy Gilles
  • Copilot Studio and Agent building – Graham Hagerty

Start Your AI Journey

You don’t need to arrive with a complete plan. Simply tell us what you’re trying to accomplish and we’ll help identify the right AI solution for your work.

Ready to Explore AI?