🍳 Azure Copilot: Your AI Sous-Chef for Cloud Cost Optimization
Stop wasting hours hunting for cloud waste. Azure Copilot serves up cost savings in plain language—no enterprise complexity, no fancy consultants.
What's on the Menu
What is Azure Copilot? (The Ingredients)
Your Personal Taste-Tester for Cloud Services
Azure Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant that's baked directly into the Azure portal. Think of it as having a sous-chef that knows every cost-saving recipe in the cloud cookbook—ready to help you slice through complexity and serve up savings.
Unlike those fancy enterprise tools that require a PhD to operate, Azure Copilot speaks plain English (and 18 other languages). Just tell it what you're trying to accomplish, and it'll help you get there—no complex query languages or multi-day training required.
How Azure Copilot Works
Azure Copilot combines three powerful ingredients to create its cost-optimization magic:
Large Language Models
The brains that understand your questions and translate Azure complexity into plain language
Azure Control Plane
Direct access to your Azure environment to analyze resources and take action
Environment Insights
Context about your specific Azure setup to provide personalized recommendations
Where to Find Azure Copilot
You can access your AI sous-chef in three different kitchens:
- Azure Portal - Look for the Copilot icon in the top navigation bar
- Azure Mobile App - Perfect for checking costs on the go
- AI Shell - For the command-line chefs who prefer text-based cooking
Chef's Note
Azure Copilot is included at no additional cost with your Azure subscription. That's right—this sous-chef works for free!
Cost Optimization Capabilities (The Recipe Cards)
Azure Copilot isn't just another chatbot—it's specifically designed to help you trim the fat from your cloud bill. Here are the cost optimization capabilities that make it an essential tool in your FinOps kitchen:
Cost Analysis
Ask Copilot to analyze your costs across subscriptions, resource groups, or services—no complex queries needed.
"Show me my highest cloud costs from last month and suggest ways to reduce them"
Waste Detection
Identify idle resources, oversized VMs, and other cloud waste that's silently draining your budget.
"Find all my idle VMs and unused disks across all subscriptions"
Budget Forecasting
Get predictions on future spending and alerts when you're trending over budget.
"Forecast my Azure spending for the next quarter based on current usage"
Optimization Scripts
Generate ready-to-use scripts that implement cost-saving measures automatically.
"Create a PowerShell script to automatically shut down dev VMs after hours"
Cost-Saving Tip
Azure Copilot can access Azure Advisor recommendations and explain them in plain language. Try asking: "What are my top cost-saving opportunities according to Azure Advisor?"
Practical FinOps Use Cases (The Chef's Specials)
Let's move beyond theory and into the kitchen with real-world FinOps scenarios where Azure Copilot shines. These are our signature dishes that turn cloud waste into tangible savings:
1. The Idle Resource Hunter
The Problem:
Forgotten VMs, disks, and IP addresses silently draining your budget month after month.
The Copilot Solution:
"Find all VMs with less than 5% CPU utilization over the last 30 days across all my subscriptions"
"List all unattached disks and their monthly cost"
The Result:
Identify and clean up resources that are costing money without providing value. Typical savings: 10-15% of monthly cloud spend.
2. The Right-Sizing Wizard
The Problem:
Oversized VMs and services that were provisioned "just to be safe" but are now wasting money.
The Copilot Solution:
"Analyze my VM sizes and recommend downsizing opportunities based on actual usage"
"Generate a script to resize these over-provisioned SQL databases"
The Result:
Properly sized resources that match actual workload requirements. Typical savings: 20-30% on compute costs.
3. The Reservation Recommender
The Problem:
Paying on-demand prices for predictable workloads that could benefit from reservations or savings plans.
The Copilot Solution:
"Analyze my usage patterns and recommend which VMs should use reserved instances"
"Calculate potential savings if I purchase 1-year reservations for these resources"
The Result:
Optimized purchasing strategy that balances flexibility with cost savings. Typical savings: 30-40% compared to pay-as-you-go pricing.
4. The Budget Watchdog
The Problem:
Unexpected cost spikes that blow past budgets and create financial headaches.
The Copilot Solution:
"Set up budget alerts for all my resource groups with a 80% threshold"
"Explain why my costs increased by 30% last month and what I can do about it"
The Result:
Proactive cost management that prevents budget overruns. Value: Priceless (especially when explaining to your CFO).
Getting Started Guide (Prep Work)
Ready to put Azure Copilot to work in your cost optimization kitchen? Here's how to get started:
Step 1: Access Azure Copilot
- 1
Azure Portal: Look for the Copilot icon in the top navigation bar (it looks like a sparkly star)
- 2
Azure Mobile App: Tap the Copilot icon in the bottom navigation
- 3
AI Shell: Open the Azure CLI and type
az copilot
Requirements Check:
- Azure subscription (any tier)
- Appropriate permissions to view resources
- WebSocket connections to directline.botframework.com (check with your network admin)
First Prompts to Try
Start with these simple but powerful prompts to get a taste of what Azure Copilot can do for your cloud costs:
Cost Overview
"Show me my total Azure costs for the last 3 months broken down by service"
Quick Win
"Find any resources I'm paying for but not using"
Cost Spike Investigation
"Why did my costs increase last month compared to the previous month?"
Savings Opportunity
"What are my top 3 cost optimization opportunities right now?"
Chef's Tip
Be specific about timeframes and scope in your prompts. "Find waste" is too vague, but "Find idle VMs in my dev subscription that haven't been used in 30 days" will get you actionable results.
Advanced Techniques (Master Chef Level)
Ready to elevate your cloud cost optimization game? These advanced techniques separate the line cooks from the master chefs:
Multi-Step Cost Analysis
Chain together multiple prompts in a conversation to drill down into specific cost issues:
1. "Show me my highest cost services from last month"
2. "For the top service, break down costs by resource group"
3. "For the highest cost resource group, recommend specific optimization actions"
This conversational approach lets you follow the money trail to find the biggest optimization opportunities.
Automated Cost Control Scripts
Have Azure Copilot generate scripts that implement cost controls automatically:
"Create an Azure PowerShell script that identifies all VMs with less than 10% CPU utilization over the past 2 weeks, tags them as 'Optimization Candidate', and sends a report to admins@mycompany.com"
These scripts can be scheduled to run regularly, creating a continuous cost optimization pipeline.
Custom Dashboard Creation
Have Azure Copilot help you build custom cost dashboards:
"Help me create an Azure Dashboard that shows daily cost trends, top 5 expensive resources, and potential savings opportunities"
These dashboards give you at-a-glance visibility into your cost optimization efforts.
Comparative Analysis
Use Azure Copilot to compare different cost scenarios:
"Compare the cost of running a workload on Standard_D4s_v3 VMs versus using Azure Container Instances over a 6-month period, running 24/7 in Azure West Europe region."
This helps you make data-driven decisions about architecture and service selection.
Pro Technique
Combine Azure Copilot with Azure Resource Graph for even more powerful cost analysis. Try: "Use Resource Graph to find all VMs with premium disks that have had less than 5% utilization in the past month."
Real-World Savings (The Tasting Menu)
The proof is in the pudding—here are real-world examples of how Azure Copilot can help you achieve significant cost savings:
Dev/Test Cleanup
25% SavingsA software development team used Azure Copilot to identify forgotten dev/test environments and implement auto-shutdown schedules.
Storage Optimization
35% SavingsAn e-commerce company used Azure Copilot to identify and tier storage based on access patterns, moving cold data to cheaper tiers.
Reserved Instances
42% SavingsA SaaS provider used Azure Copilot to analyze VM usage patterns and purchase optimal reserved instances for stable workloads.
Case Study: Mid-Size Retailer
A mid-size retailer with 50+ Azure subscriptions was struggling to keep cloud costs under control. Their small IT team didn't have time for complex cost analysis.
Using Azure Copilot, they:
- Identified 30+ orphaned resources costing $2,100/month
- Right-sized 15 oversized SQL databases saving $1,800/month
- Implemented auto-shutdown for dev/test environments saving $3,500/month
- Purchased reserved instances for stable workloads saving $4,200/month
Total monthly savings: $11,600 (28% of their Azure bill)
By the Numbers:
Limitations and Workarounds (Kitchen Hacks)
Every kitchen has its limitations. Here are some current constraints of Azure Copilot and how to work around them:
| Limitation | Workaround |
|---|---|
24-hour conversation limit Conversations expire after 24 hours | Save important insights and scripts to files. For multi-day analyses, break work into daily sessions. |
10-resource action limit Can't act on more than 10 resources at once | Have Copilot generate scripts that you can run manually for bulk operations. |
List result limitations Some lists only show top 5 items | Ask for results in batches or have Copilot generate a query you can run in Resource Graph Explorer. |
Resource naming issues Sometimes requires resource IDs instead of names | Keep resource IDs handy or ask Copilot to help you find the resource ID first. |
Usage throttling Excessive use may be temporarily throttled | Focus on high-value queries and batch related questions together. |
Important Note
Azure Copilot requires confirmation before taking any actions that modify your environment. Always review suggested changes carefully before approving them.
Next Steps (Tomorrow's Menu)
Ready to make Azure Copilot a regular part of your cloud cost optimization routine? Here's how to integrate it into your ongoing FinOps practices:
Weekly Cost Review
Schedule a 15-minute weekly session with Azure Copilot to review costs and identify new optimization opportunities.
"Show me any cost anomalies from the past week and suggest optimization actions"
Automation Library
Build a library of cost optimization scripts generated by Azure Copilot that you can run on a schedule.
"Create a PowerShell script that generates a weekly cost optimization report"
Combining with Other CloudCostChefs Tools
Azure Copilot works even better when combined with other tools in your CloudCostChefs toolkit:
- Azure Cost Tracker Template - Use Copilot to help populate and analyze your cost tracking spreadsheets
- Forgotten Resource Detective - Have Copilot explain detective findings and generate remediation scripts
- Mise-en-Tag Enforcer - Ask Copilot to help you design the perfect tagging strategy for cost allocation
Future Capabilities to Watch
Azure Copilot is constantly improving. Keep an eye out for enhanced cost forecasting, more detailed optimization recommendations, and deeper integration with Azure Cost Management.
Ready to Start Cooking Up Savings?
Your AI sous-chef is ready to help you slice through cloud costs and serve up savings. Log into the Azure portal and start your first conversation today!