CASE STUDY Repsol
By partnering with Accenture, Microsoft and Avanade, Repsol became one of the first companies to harness Microsoft Copilot, redefining work processes and boosting efficiency across its teams.
3-MINUTE READ
The use of AI in the energy sector is booming. Many companies are leveraging AI—with performance improvements ranging from 10% to 25%, and many planning to increase AI spending. Leading the way is Repsol, a global energy leader based in Spain, adopting these technologies to attract top talent and reshape how its people work. When the chance to join the Copilot for Microsoft 365 early access program came along, Repsol jumped at the opportunity. In collaboration with Accenture, Microsoft, and Avanade, they became one of the first companies to deploy Copilot across the organization, setting a new benchmark for efficiency and employee experience—both globally and locally.
Before the transformation, Repsol recognized that everyday tasks like summarizing content, pulling key information, and managing emails took up time that could be better used on more strategic work. They wanted to empower their workforce and boost productivity and work quality by adopting new ways of working.
Now, thanks to generative AI, employees can record meetings and ask Copilot to pull out key tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities. Then, with just a few prompts in Word, they can transform those notes into a clear summary and then draft a PowerPoint presentation. Copilot also has different uses across departments—now, teams in finance can better analyze responses to Request for Proposals (RFPs) or even create them from scratch.
To truly understand Copilot’s impact, we conducted a detailed study analyzing efficiency, quality, and employee experience. After four months of experimentation, pilot testing, and analysis, a detailed paper published by MIT Technology Review revealed the average employee was saving 121 minutes per week.
Technology alone could not achieve these results. We needed an integrated approach, combining technology, strategy, talent, and operations to ensure the solution worked for Repsol’s people.
We launched a pilot study with 550 employees to gauge Copilot’s impact and dove into comprehensive training, support, and community building initiatives. We showcased Copilot’s capabilities in engaging demos, followed by hands-on training sessions that allowed participants to explore practical use cases in their daily tasks. Our gamification strategies made the learning process enjoyable and motivating while our Community of Practice encouraged collaboration and knowledge sharing.
The insights from this research led Repsol to develop a change management plan that included a communication strategy, a training and learning program for continuous support, and a technical plan to manage incidents and updates.
Ultimately, the goal of the pilot was to see how people adapt to new ways of working with AI while also measuring the ROI of the Copilot investment.
Repsol's AI-driven workflows boosted output quality by 16.2%, giving employees a lift in confidence, creativity, and analytical thinking. We compared tasks done with and without Microsoft 365 Copilot and saw clear improvements when evaluating writing, communication, originality and design.
Prior to the pilot, only 20.2% of participants reported frequent use of a generative AI tool. After the study, more than 60% of Repsol’s licensed users claim they want to keep using Copilot. Training sessions were a success too, with a 92% Net Promoter Score (NPS), and our real-time help hubs reaching a perfect score. Most importantly, the initiative has sparked a mindset change that now embraces generative AI.
Looking ahead, Repsol is set to expand Copilot to all 25,000 employees, starting with an initial phase involving 3,000 users. Training and continuous support will ensure everyone can use the tool effectively. Additionally, the rollout of new AI agents will continue to reinvent workflows—from planning and forecasting to application maintenance and incident resolution.
Our collaboration is changing how work at Repsol is done— unlocking new capabilities across its entire workforce.
