Microsoft taps ex-Meta marketing boss to boost Copilot AI

What you need to know

• Microsoft has brought in marketing heavyweight Mark D’Arcy (ex-Meta, ex-Time Warner) to its Copilot team.
• D’Arcy reports directly to Mustafa Suleyman, who’s betting big on building smarter AI.
• Microsoft is betting D’Arcy can help flip the script and give Copilot a voice that clicks with everyday users.

Microsoft’s AI department has roped in Mark D’Arcy, a seasoned marketing executive who cut his teeth at Meta and Time Warner, to help shape the future of Copilot AI, The Information reports.

The move signals Microsoft’s push to make Copilot not just smart, but also the kind of AI assistant you’d actually want to shoot the breeze with.

D’Arcy has spent a decade at Meta helping big brands create eye-catching campaigns across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Before that, he was the chief creative officer at Time Warner.

From ads to AI

Now he is rolling up his sleeves at Microsoft, reporting directly to Mustafa Suleyman, who is in charge of the company’s consumer AI division.

Suleyman has been vocal about crafting an AI that’s more empathetic than your average cold, calculating bot. Microsoft’s Copilot might not be as famous as ChatGPT (yet), but the software giant has been making moves. You can find it built into Windows, Bing, and Edge, and Microsoft even dropped a Super Bowl ad last year to get it on people’s radar.

Still, Copilot’s market share is sitting under 5%, while OpenAI’s ChatGPT is dominating with over 80%, based on Similarweb's data, as noted by The Information.

That’s where D’Arcy comes in. His mission is to make Copilot more relatable.

D’Arcy is stepping in to get Microsoft’s engineers, designers, and ad folks rowing in the same direction. At the top of his list is giving Copilot the marketing juice it needs to really take off.

Last month, Microsoft rolled out some fresh upgrades to Copilot, including a new feature that remembers key stuff from your past chats.

D’Arcy hasn’t said much publicly, but behind the scenes, he’s expected to work closely with designers and engineers to help Copilot find its voice. It’s a big bet, but with all the tech giants racing to win the AI race, Microsoft is clearly hoping that giving Copilot some heart and style will help it stand out in the crowd.