If you run Microsoft 365 for your organization, Copilot in PowerPoint has probably reached your desk as a configuration task. Licenses assigned. Policies reviewed. And now, a request from marketing — or a question from leadership — about making generated presentations “on brand.”
Here’s a straight answer for IT: the parts of this that are genuinely yours can be done quickly. The part that decides whether generated presentations are any good isn’t a setting at all. Understanding where that line sits will save you from owning a problem you can’t solve with configuration.
What IT owns
These are the tasks that sit naturally with Microsoft 365 administration.
Licensing. Copilot requires the appropriate licenses on top of a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan, and some Brand Kit capabilities list specific license requirements in Microsoft’s documentation. License names and bundles have changed several times, so confirm current requirements with your Microsoft account team.
Designating brand managers. Only designated brand managers can create and edit official Brand Kits. IT designates them under the organization’s brand manager policy. Microsoft notes it can take up to 24 hours for the permission to take effect after designation.
The asset library. Official Brand Kits can reference your SharePoint Organization Assets Library, so approved images don’t have to be uploaded twice. The library, its permissions and its structure are IT’s.
Change awareness. Microsoft announces changes to Copilot in PowerPoint through the Message Center. In September 2026 alone, it announced strict brand adherence and note instructions (MC1470415, 10 September) and Brand Skills (MC1473166, 16 September). IT sees these first. Passing them to the brand managers promptly is one of the most valuable things IT can do.
Governance scaffolding. Microsoft’s guidance for Brand Skills recommends governance review — security, privacy, accessibility, legal and brand — before publishing, testing before broad release, and periodic audits. IT is well placed to set up that process, even though brand should own the content.
What IT shouldn’t own
The brand manager role itself. Because IT grants the permission, it’s easy for an administrator to become the brand manager by default. Resist it. The brand manager decides which template is official, whether Copilot is locked to it, and which written rules Copilot follows across the organization. Those are brand decisions, and they carry brand accountability.
The template. Uploading a template to a Brand Kit takes a minute. Deciding whether that template is fit to teach Copilot is a design question.
The written rules. Brand Skills and note instructions encode presentation standards. They should be written by the people who own those standards and tested against real output.
Why the template is the hard half
It’s worth understanding why configuration alone doesn’t produce good decks, because you’ll likely be asked why the settings are “done” and the output is still generic.
Copilot in PowerPoint learns from the template’s content, not from its settings. Microsoft’s guidance says:
- Copilot learns primarily from the template’s sample slides, and “falls back to the Slide Master” when there aren’t enough — “which may result in less optimal output.”
- It uses placeholder type, position and size to decide what content goes where, and doesn’t treat placeholder text as instructions.
- It draws colors and fonts from the theme, which must be defined properly rather than applied by hand.
None of these can be configured. They’re built, by designing a template: brand colors moved into the theme, layouts rebuilt with real placeholders, and a set of finished example slides at the light, medium and heavy densities Microsoft recommends. That’s design work, and it’s where most of the quality comes from.
Strict brand adherence makes this sharper. It restricts Copilot to the approved template and layouts, and end users can’t override it. That’s an excellent control over a good template. Over a weak one, it enforces consistency in the wrong direction: every generated deck inherits every gap.
A clean division of labor
| Task | IT | Brand / creative |
|---|---|---|
| Licenses | Owns | Informs demand |
| Brand manager designation | Grants | Nominates people |
| Official Brand Kit contents | Supports | Owns |
| Template design and examples | — | Owns |
| Strict brand adherence, note instructions | Advises | Decides |
| Brand Skills | Sets up governance review | Writes, tests, publishes |
| Asset library | Owns structure and permissions | Curates content |
| Microsoft change notices | Monitors, forwards | Tests impact |
| Testing generated output | — | Owns |
Questions IT can ask to protect itself
Before you configure anything on marketing’s behalf, it’s reasonable to ask:
- Who are the brand managers? Names, not a team.
- Is the template ready to be taught from? Has anyone checked it against Microsoft’s guidance — theme, placeholders, example slides?
- How will we know it’s working? Is there a test set of realistic prompts, and who reviews the output?
- Who responds to Microsoft changes? When the next Message Center post arrives, who tests its effect?
If those questions have answers, the configuration is straightforward. If they don’t, configuring anyway puts IT in the position of owning output quality it has no way to control.
Common questions
Can IT turn on strict brand adherence?
Only the Brand Kit owner or a brand manager can change Brand Kit template settings, according to Microsoft. IT designates brand managers; it shouldn’t make the brand decision itself.
Does IT need to give an outside partner admin access?
Usually not. The template work, example slides and rules can be done with your brand manager, who configures the kit under your own access rules.
Where do Microsoft’s change announcements appear?
In the Microsoft 365 Message Center. The two September 2026 changes that matter most here were MC1470415 (strict brand adherence and note instructions) and MC1473166 (Brand Skills).
Key takeaways
- IT owns licensing, brand manager designation, the asset library, change awareness and governance scaffolding.
- IT shouldn’t own the brand manager role, the template or the written rules.
- Copilot’s quality comes from the template’s examples, placeholders and theme — built, not configured.
- Strict brand adherence rewards a good template and multiplies a weak one’s gaps.
- Ask who owns brand, template, testing and change response before configuring on marketing’s behalf.
Want the hard half done properly? Have your template scored.**
Related reading
- The brand manager role in Microsoft 365, and why someone must own it
- Brand Kit in Microsoft 365 Copilot, explained for brand teams
- What creative teams get back when routine decks go to Copilot
Sources
- Microsoft Support, Create and manage official Brand kits (July 2026)
- Microsoft Support, Manage template settings in your Brand Kit for Copilot in PowerPoint (August 2026)
- Microsoft Support, Keep your presentation on-brand with Copilot (July 2026)
- Microsoft 365 Message Center, MC1470415 (10 Sep 2026) and MC1473166 (16 Sep 2026)