If you’re building a case for Microsoft 365 Copilot, you’ll quickly meet a handful of figures that appear in almost every vendor deck and article: a triple-digit ROI, hours saved per user per month, a payback period measured in months. Most trace back to one family of studies: Forrester’s Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) research, commissioned by Microsoft.
These studies are useful. They’re also frequently quoted in ways their authors wouldn’t endorse. This post walks through what the main study found, how it was produced, and what it can and can’t tell you about presentations specifically.
The study
The Total Economic Impact™ of Microsoft 365 Copilot, published by Forrester Consulting in March 2025, is the most-cited source. Its method, as Forrester describes it:
- interviews with 16 decision-makers across 12 organizations using Microsoft 365 Copilot;
- a survey of 367 respondents at organizations using it;
- a composite organization built from those inputs: $6.25 billion in annual revenue, 25,000 employees, with Copilot rolled out to 40% of the workforce over three years.
The headline findings
For that composite organization, over three years, Forrester reports:
- ROI of 116%;
- net present value of $19.7 million;
- benefits of $36.8 million against costs of $17.1 million (present value);
- payback in 10 months.
On time, the study reports that the average user saves 9 hours per month, and gives task-level time savings including:
- content creation: 34.2%;
- information search: 29.8%;
- meeting summarization: 18.6%.
It also reports faster onboarding for new hires — up to 25%, or 11 days per employee.
A separate Forrester study for small and medium businesses, published in October 2024, projected a three-year ROI range of 132% to 353%.
How to read those numbers
The figures are real outputs of a careful method. They also come with conditions that should travel with them whenever they’re quoted.
It’s commissioned research. Forrester states that the study was commissioned by Microsoft. That doesn’t make it wrong. It does mean it’s the vendor’s evidence, and a reader should weigh it as such.
It’s a composite, not a customer. The financial results describe a modeled organization assembled from interviews and survey data, not a single real company. Your organization’s size, rollout, roles and adoption will differ.
It’s risk-adjusted. Forrester applied downward adjustments to account for adoption and integration uncertainty. That’s good practice, and a reminder that the unadjusted estimates were higher.
Forrester tells you to use your own numbers. The study states that Forrester “strongly advises that readers use their own estimates within the framework provided.” The framework is the durable part; the composite’s results are an illustration.
The SMB figures are projected. The small and medium business study describes projected ranges, not measured outcomes.
What it says about presentations
Here’s the specific point for anyone focused on presentations: the main study doesn’t report a PowerPoint-specific figure. Presentation work is part of what “content creation” covers, and 34.2% is the relevant number in that sense. But it’s an average across content-creation tasks, not a measurement of how long generated presentations take to finalize.
That matters because presentations have an unusual cost profile. The time to produce a first draft can fall sharply with Copilot. The time to finish the deck — correcting structure, emphasis, layout and brand, and checking facts — depends heavily on the template Copilot learned from and on the stakes of the deck. A study that averages across content tasks can’t tell you how that balance works out in your organization.
What it can’t tell you
No external study can answer the questions that decide your return on Copilot for presentations:
- How much fix-up time do your generated decks need? That depends on your template, examples and rules.
- What share of your presentations are routine? Routine decks benefit most; high-stakes decks still need experienced people.
- How deep are your licenses? Savings accrue to people who create documents and decks; licensing roles that rarely do changes the math.
- What does review cost? Microsoft states that generated presentations should be human-reviewed. That time is real.
How to use the research responsibly
Quote it with its conditions. “A Microsoft-commissioned Forrester study of a composite organization reported 34.2% time savings in content creation” is accurate. “Copilot saves 34% of presentation time” is not.
Use the framework, not the result. Forrester’s own advice is to put your estimates into its framework. Do that.
Measure your own baseline. Before rollout, estimate how much time your people spend on presentations and how long typical decks take. After rollout, measure again — including the time spent fixing generated drafts.
Separate draft time from finish time. The biggest risk in presentation ROI is counting the fast first draft and forgetting the correction that follows.
We follow the same rule ourselves: we cite the studies with their conditions, and we don’t quote savings figures of our own until we’ve measured them.
Common questions
Is commissioned research unreliable?
Not necessarily. Forrester’s methods are documented. But commissioned research is the vendor’s evidence, and its results describe a composite organization. Treat it as context, not as a forecast for you.
Is there research specific to PowerPoint?
The main Forrester study doesn’t report a PowerPoint-specific figure. Content creation, at 34.2%, is the closest category, and it’s an average across many content tasks.
What should we measure ourselves?
Time per deck before rollout, then draft time and fix-up time after, by deck type. Fix-up time is the part external studies can’t tell you.
Key takeaways
- The most-cited Copilot ROI figures come from Forrester TEI studies commissioned by Microsoft.
- The main study reports 116% ROI, 9 hours saved per user per month and 34.2% content-creation time savings for a composite organization.
- It’s commissioned, composite and risk-adjusted, and Forrester advises readers to use their own estimates.
- It gives no PowerPoint-specific figure; presentation value depends on finish time, not just draft time.
- Quote it with its conditions, use its framework, and measure your own baseline.
Want to know how much finishing your generated decks will need? Have your template scored.**
Related reading
- Estimate your own presentation savings: a model you can fill in
- What Copilot for PowerPoint costs in 2026
- Spending less on routine decks without cheapening the ones that matter
Sources
- Forrester Consulting, The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft 365 Copilot (March 2025), commissioned by Microsoft
- Microsoft 365 Blog, Microsoft 365 Copilot drives up to 353% ROI for small and medium businesses (October 2024)
- Microsoft Support, Create a new presentation with Copilot in PowerPoint (June 2026)
