Find Faster: AI That Searches All Your Data

AI Adoption
Written By Inbal Rodnay

Hi there,

Today I’m going to tell you about a new capability in ChatGPT — and how it appears in Copilot, Gemini, and other engines too.

And then I’ll tell you a bit of news about me.

Let me show you the new capability:

A Big Shift: You No Longer Have to Choose

Until now, we had to choose between:

  • ChatGPT, with the latest and greatest capabilities but didn't have access to our own environments

  • Or Microsoft Copilot / Google Gemini, which were integrated into our environment — and could search our e-mails, calendars, files.

Now, that’s changing.

We always knew this was the Holy Grail (well, it's one of them, the other one is agents and automation, will talk about this another time): search and AI on top of our data.

We still don’t know who’s going to win — the office providers like Microsoft and Google? Or the third parties like Perplexity, Claude, and ChatGPT?

We’re definitely getting closer.

What It Looks Like

In ChatGPT:

ChatGPT released a new option called Search Connectors (under Tools).

You can connect sources like:

  • Google Drive

  • SharePoint

  • and many others

You can choose to:

  • Only search your sources

  • Only search web

  • Or mix both

For example, I asked ChatGPT to research my keynotes based on my SharePoint — and it trawled through my entire file library in SharePoint and came back with a long, detailed summary, including where and when I presented. It listed the sources, which were all from my SharePoint — not from the web.

If you're on ChatGPT Team Edition, your team admin needs to go to Workspace Settings to enable the connectors users will be able to link.

In the other tools:

  • Claude: Similar search functionality — you can link your own document libraries such as Google Drive and also your gmail and calendar to include them in your responses. 

  • Perplexity: The ability to link own data is only under Enterprise Pro plans.

  • Copilot: Because it’s already inside Microsoft, it automatically includes Outlook, OneDrive, Teams and SharePoint as sources. With the Work tab, the Web tab and the Web on/off toggle, you can choose only work, only web or a combination, just like with ChatGPT.

  • Gemini: similar functionality across Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Drive.

What Do You Use It For?

Those of us who've used this functionality in Copilot or Gemini love asking questions like:

  • Where do I stand on a particular job?

  • Summarise the last month on this project for me.

  • What do I need to follow up on in my e-mail? (and then, prioritise it for me)

  • Help me prepare for the week.

  • Who do I know at [Company X] — do I have their contact details?

Anything you’d search your inbox or calendar or files for — you don’t search anymore.

You just ask.

Want To Do AI Together?

At the end of July, I’m hosting an in-person AI Bootcamp in Melbourne!

You can see all the details here, and sign up with early bird pricing now.

We’ll be going deep:

  • Exploring advanced AI capabilities

  • Reviewing tools for different use cases

  • Running mastermind sessions to share how we all use AI

  • Even starting to play with AI agents

And we’ll stay connected as a community so we can keep learning and sharing ideas.

It’s going to be great.

Here's that link again: www.inbal.com.au/ai-bootcamp

—-

Inbal Rodnay

Guiding Firms in Adopting AI and Automation

Keynote speaker | AI Workshops | Executive briefings | Consulting CIO

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Inbal Rodnay https://inbal.com.au
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Let the AI Lead (Just a Little)