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Monthly briefing

What changed in AI this month

A practical filter on what's happening in AI, written for UK small business owners. What matters, what to watch, and what you can safely ignore.

📅 May 2026
Matters now

Microsoft Copilot is now doing multi-step tasks inside Word, Excel and PowerPoint

Microsoft Copilot can now handle multi-step tasks inside Word, Excel, and PowerPoint without you having to prompt it at every step. Outlook has similar features in early access. For businesses already paying for Microsoft 365, this is worth trying on your most repetitive document tasks.

What to do: If you have a Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on (it's not included by default), open Word or Excel and look for the Copilot icon. Try asking it to draft a report from your notes or summarise a spreadsheet.
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Matters now

Most UK small businesses have no rules about AI and client data. Here's how to fix it.

Government research published at the end of April found that only 24% of UK businesses using, adopting, or considering AI have security practices in place to manage the risks involved. For small business owners using tools like ChatGPT with client information, this is a practical issue worth addressing now.

What to do: Write a simple one-paragraph rule for your business about what client or customer information can and cannot go into AI tools. Write it down and share it with anyone else in your business. That alone puts you ahead of the three quarters who have nothing in place.
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Worth watching

OpenAI released a new model in May. Here's what small businesses should make of it.

OpenAI released GPT-5.5 Instant in May, with better performance on legal, financial, and medical topics. They also launched a self-serve advertising platform inside ChatGPT, though only for US businesses at first. Neither changes what UK small businesses should be doing with AI today.

What to do: Nothing yet. If you use ChatGPT, you already benefit from model improvements automatically. The ad platform was US-only at launch, so there was nothing for a UK business to act on — though it has since opened here.
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Safely ignore

Apple's plan to support multiple AI providers sounds big, but is it.

Reports in May suggested future versions of iOS will let users pick their own AI provider for Siri and Apple Intelligence features. This sounds significant. For small businesses, it changes nothing in the near term.

What to do: Nothing. This is a platform architecture change that won't affect how you use your iPhone for business until iOS 27 ships and settles. Focus on the tools that are already working for you today.
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This briefing is updated in the first week of each month by Greg Shaw. AI Growth clients receive a longer, personalised version.

June 2026 →