From Curiosity to Confidence
How IComm’s Amplify Solution Is Driving Copilot Adoption in Higher Education
The context
Copilot adoption is no longer experimental.
Across higher education, institutions are rolling out licences with clear intent — to reduce administrative load, support staff, and modernise the way work gets done.
What typically follows is what we call the sugar rush.
Initial excitement.
High curiosity.
A spike in usage as people explore what Copilot might be able to do.
Then, without ongoing support, reality sets in.
Competing priorities return. Teaching loads increase. Confidence dips. Usage drops — not because Copilot lacks value, but because novelty wears off before habits form.
This pattern exists everywhere technology is introduced — but the complexity of higher education makes it particularly visible.
The IComm approach
More than ten Australian higher education institutions have partnered with IComm to move beyond the sugar rush and into sustained Copilot adoption using Amplify.
Amplify is a long-term training program designed for tools that don’t stand still.
It moves beyond one-off sessions and static content, supporting staff as Copilot evolves and as their confidence grows. Training is revisited, refreshed, and refined over time — so learning keeps pace with the platform itself.
In the past year alone, Microsoft has released over 700 updates across Copilot. Without ongoing training, knowledge dates quickly. Amplify is built to prevent that drop-off.
How Amplify works
Amplify starts before training begins.
Each engagement begins with understanding how the institution actually operates — across academic, professional, and administrative roles. Workflows, friction points, confidence gaps, and role-specific needs are identified first.
Training is then designed around real work, not generic scenarios.
Delivery happens over time:
hands-on, role-specific sessions
repeated exposure to practical Copilot use cases
evolving content aligned to platform updates
reinforcement that supports habit building
Amplify is delivered as a minimum 12-month engagement, and multiple higher education customers have extended their contracts, continuing to build capability as Copilot and the platform evolve.
Outcomes
Across more than ten Australian higher education institutions, IComm’s Amplify program has delivered consistent, measurable results.
Indicative outcomes include:
4,000+ staff trained
1,277 hours of Copilot training delivered across higher education
92% observed adoption
These outcomes weren’t driven by heavier promotion or more complex tooling.
They were driven by ongoing, personalised training — delivered at scale.
What the data shows
To validate this approach, IComm analysed Copilot usage across two comparable higher education cohorts of 250 users each.
Without ongoing training, monthly active users spike early, then steadily decline as the sugar rush fades.
With ongoing support through Amplify, monthly active users remain stable over time, with usage sustained well beyond initial deployment.
Copilot usage without ongoing training (250 users)
Initial engagement is high following deployment, driven by early curiosity and experimentation. Without continued training and reinforcement, monthly active usage declines as the sugar rush fades.
Copilot usage with ongoing support via Amplify (250 users)
With structured, ongoing training through Amplify, monthly active usage remains stable over time. Consistent reinforcement supports habit formation and sustained adoption beyond initial rollout.
What changed
Copilot shifted from something staff experimented with
to something they relied on.
From occasional use
to habitual use.
From “I’ll come back to this”
to “I use this every week.”
Why this matters
Copilot doesn’t fail because people aren’t capable.
It fails when learning stops while the technology keeps changing.
Amplify is designed to prevent that drop-off — helping higher education institutions move past the sugar rush and embed Copilot into everyday work.
Not briefly.
Not theoretically.
But sustainably.
