About Copilot

what copilot can do

Copilot can answer questions about your project's RFIs, Submittals, and Specifications. It can also answer questions about how to do something in Procore based on information from Procore's support site.

To learn more about what kinds of questions Copilot can answer, and what information it can reference in your project to provide answers, see What can I ask Copilot?

how it works

Copilot is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool, and its foundation is a Large Language Model (LLM). It is capable of reading a question asked in natural language, like the kind of question you might ask a coworker. It references certain information to respond using natural language, but a lot happens in between asking your question and receiving Copilot's response. Here is how Copilot works behind the scenes:

1. First, you ask a question in natural language. As opposed to the search engine technology we're used to, Copilot responds much better to questions asked using full sentences, instead of just a few keywords. It needs your full thought written out to interpret the intent of what you're asking, just like a person might. It then takes your natural language question, and converts it into a sequence of numerical values on a kind of map, called vectors.
2. Next, Copilot determines the intent of your question. When we talk about interpreting intent, we mean that Copilot is deciding which "skill", or database, to access to find the right information to answer your question. If your intent is to find out how to do something in Procore, Copilot would send your query in mathematical form over to the skill that addresses all questions about how to use Procore. The skill looks at the numerical values from your question, and finds the closest values present in the database to determine which information should be used to answer your question.
3. Then, information is sent from the service back to Copilot.  When Copilot receives the information from the relevant skill, still in numerical format, it collects it and translates it back to natural language. Finally, Copilot presents the answer to you along with links to the files or items in Procore where it found the answer to your question. 

how to ask a question to get the best results

As opposed to the search engine technology we're used to, Copilot responds much better to questions asked using full sentences, instead of just a few keywords. It needs your full thought written out to interpret the intent of what you're asking, just like a person might.

Ask questions using full sentences, and include as much context and detail as you can. Simple questions about a single piece of information yield the best results.

At this time, Copilot can answer one question at a time. It can't yet answer follow up questions. It does not understand your project's history, or your role on the project. Be sure to provide Copilot with any context that would be helpful if you were to ask an intern to find the same information.

View Sample Questions.

Submittals

• What is the size of the hepa filter for the cleanroom air shower?
• How much attic stock was indicated in the bamboo flooring submittal?
• What is the most recent submittal with shop drawings for electrical work?
• What is the casing spacer made of in the utility accessories submittal?
• What type of windows are used on our project?
• What submittals pertain to the roof walking mats?
• What is the submittal type for natural gas distribution?
• Which specialty contractor submitted the LED exterior lighting?
• How much attic stock is required for tile carpeting?
• What does the submittal for cable trays indicate about fire rating?
• Does flooring system have any open submittals for their ceramic tile?
• Are the common area casework shop drawings approved?
• Is the ceramic tile submittal currently open?
• How long of a warranty was indicated in the door hardware submittal?

RFIs

• Do we have any RFIs on the elevator sump pit?
• What RFIs have been asked regarding the exterior siding?
• Where is the fire protection RFI?
• What RFIs are related to fume hoods?
• What RFIs have been asked about the brick work?
• Is there an RFI on the window film?
• What RFI changed window size?
• What RFIs have affected exterior corridor topping slabs?
• Which RFI relates to the ATS pad?
• Please summarize the response to RFI 67.
• Are there any RFIs that reference engine exhaust?

Specifications

• What is the required insulation thickness for copper pipe in the specifications?
• Which specifications require third party testing?
• What specs require owners training?
• What are the warranty requirements for the emergency generator?
• Are the maintenance procedures listed for the elevator system in Specifications?
• What product do we need to use to clean the countertops, per the Submittals?
• Which sections of the Specifications cover sitework and landscaping?
• What is the recommended installation procedure for the carpet?
• Can you show me the roof hatch specification requirements?
• How many shop drawings are we required to submit for review?
• Which Specification section includes air coils?
• What are the warranty requirements for the door hardware?
• What are the required closeout documents for coiling doors?

Procore Support

• How do I create a Submittal package?
• How can I change or reset a password?
• How do I create locations in Procore?
• How do I apply markups from a previous revision to a new Drawing revision?
• How can I create an RFI revision?
• What does "mark official" do in RFIs?
• How do I publish an RFI in the Drawings tool?
• How do I change permissions for an RFI?
• What is a typical workflow for change orders?
• How do I add someone to the Directory?
• How do I grant granular permissions for a project? 
• How to submit a bid in Procore?
• How do I create a submittal?
• Where do I upload drawings?
• How do I submit a new subcontractor invoice?

What’s the current status of Procore Copilot?

Procore Copilot, announced during Groundbreak 2023 is gradually moving into open beta over the next few weeks. The open beta is available to customers in the United States using Procore in English who license the minimum required toolset.

How can my company participate in the beta program? 

To learn if the beta is available to your company, visit your Company Admin tool and look for the option to sign the beta agreement. Then, follow the steps in Enable Copilot to start participating.

Which third party generative AI technologies does Procore Copilot utilize?

Procore Copilot currently utilizes Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service. Microsoft Azure OpenAI is a listed Procore subprocessor. 

Does Microsoft Azure OpenAI use customer data to train their AI models? 

No, customer data is not used to train, retrain, fine-tune, or improve Microsoft Azure OpenAI or any other Microsoft products or services, and is not provided to OpenAI. Additionally, the indexed data sent to the LLM is not persistently stored by Microsoft, only the prompts and responses are stored securely for up to 30 days by Microsoft to detect and mitigate abuse. You can learn more about how Microsoft uses prompts and data by reviewing Microsoft's Data Privacy and Security for Azure OpenAI page. 

How do other AI models besides the LLM, used by Procore Copilot utilize customer data?

In addition to Azure OpenAI, Procore Copilot also utilizes internal AI models that help it better understand user inputs and prioritize relevant search results, improving the overall user experience. These internal models may utilize data collected from customer inputs and outputs to help improve Copilot accuracy. Procore never shares or discloses a customer’s data with another customer, and that includes customer prompts to Procore Copilot and Procore Copilot’s responses. Due to the nature of machine learning and the technology powering Procore Copilot, output may not be unique, and Procore Copilot may generate the same or similar output for third parties.

How does Procore Copilot follow permissions in our Procore instance?

We've designed Copilot to strictly adhere to existing data permissions set in Procore. Copilot’s responses (output) are based only on data that the user can access based on these set permissions. As an example, if a user does not have access to the RFIs tool at all (based on the settings in the permissions tool), and they ask a question related to a specific RFI, then they would not get any answer based on RFIs.