Barclays introduces Microsoft Copilot to 100,000 staff as AI adoption accelerates

Barclays plans to integrate Microsoft 365 Copilot with its employee productivity tool in order to create a single AI assistant that will give staff a one-stop shop access to its vast ecosystem of digital services. Barclays claims that the move will increase productivity. It includes collaboration tools, employee sites and online resources its staff needs to do their job.

Microsoft announced in a blog that the agreement would give Barclays staff access to its AI offerings. This includes its Copilot-powered Colleague AI Agent, which is designed to help staff with booking business travel, checking policy compliance, and finding assistance with HR-related questions.

The company also offers a personalised semantic Content Search tool that helps staff find location-based information in context based on user profiles. Another tool called Colleague Front Door is also available. The agentic dashboard is accessed through the employee experience platform Microsoft Viva. Barclays employees will use it to book annual leave and receive personalised news from the company.

Craig Bright is the group CIO at Barclays and deputy group co chief operating officer. He said that the company and staff are already familiar with AI tools. However, the company wants to improve its performance by incorporating generative AI. “At Barclays we’ve been using the power of AI and GenAI to drive deeper insight, improve efficiency, and create a more intuitiv experience across the organization,” he said.

A report by benchmarking firm Evident, which was covered by Computer Weekly on April 2025, confirmed that Barclays is the tenth largest hirer of AI talent in the banking sector.

Bright added: “Our rollout of Copilot integrated with our colleague productivity tools is a significant leap forward in simplifying the work we do, making it easier to accomplish things.”

Last week, news of the deal between Microsoft Barclays was reported.

In a report on the news site Bloomberg, Microsoft’s chief commercial officer Judson althoff was said to have flagged details of the 100,000 seat deployment during a town hall meeting. The report stated that Barclays is one of many household names that Microsoft has praised for signing similar-sized Copilot deals. This includes Volkswagen, Siemens, and Toyota. Barclays had already conducted a trial rollout of Microsoft 365 Copilot involving its employees.

This deal represents a deeper technology partnership between both companies.

Barclays has named Microsoft Teams its preferred collaboration platform. Microsoft UK CEO Darren Hardman stated that the company has always been an “innovator”, within the banking industry, by “embracing new technologies waves” to better serve its customers and employees.

Hardman continued: “The adoption by Barclays of Microsoft 365 Copilot as the UI [user interface] will help it deliver on its bold vision to put AI in the hands every employee. We look forward to working with Barclays and helping its colleagues maximize the benefits of using this transformational tech.”