These checklists outline the essential steps for a successful large-scale Copilot rollout. While numerous Copilot resources exist, these checklists focus on the minimum requirements to avoid overwhelming users with too much information at once. They are not exhaustive, but they represent the critical elements for initial success.

Tip

For any security questions or requirements it is recommended to first check GitHub Copilot Trust Center and the Compliance tab in GitHub under Your Enterprise > Compliance

• Phase 1 - Pilot
  • Setup & Configuration
    • Configure IDP
    • Design organization & team structure
      • GitHub Enterprise Server (GHES)
      • Enterprise Managed Users (EMU)
      • Copilot Business Only (Standalone)
    • Copilot Policies
      • Enterprise configuration
      • Organization configuration
    • Network & Security Policy
  • Provide Self Serve Training
    • Training Examples
    • Copilot Fundamentals
    • Advanced
    • GitHub Specific Fundamentals
    • Additional Training
    • Troubleshooting
  • Invite Pilot Teams
  • Optional Setup
    • Cost Centers
    • Developer ROI
      • Baseline
      • Copilot Metrics
• Phase 2 - Early Adopters & Early Majority
  • Start an internal community
  • Invite additional teams
• Phase 3 - Enterprise-wide
• Phase 4 - Maintain & Improve
• Appendix
  • Word-of-mouth evangelism
  • Additional Reading
  • Requesting Access to Copilot

Phase 1 - Pilot

Setup & Configuration

Configure IDP

• Configure Authentication to GitHub EMU via IDP
• Configure SCIM provisioning for EMU

Design organization & team structure

GitHub Enterprise Server (GHES)

• Create production organization in your Copilot EMU
  • Create teams and map to IDP groups
• Create test/preview organization in your Copilot EMU
  • Create teams and map to LDAP groups

Enterprise Managed Users (EMU)

• Option 1 - Use existing org/team structure to provide access
  • This option can be cumbersome if a large number of organizations exist
• Option 2 - Create additional organizations to control copilot access - follow GHES steps

Copilot Business Only (Standalone)

• Create enterprise teams since organizations do not exist in this instance
• Map teams to IDP groups

Note

See the user management folder for script examples of creating & mapping teams to IDPs

Copilot Policies

The following policy decisions typically require more consideration than a single Enterprise owner due to a company’s specific risk & business posture.

• IP indemnification which requires these mitigations.
  • See code referencing release for additional information when enabling “Suggestions matching public code”
  • See these prompt engineering examples when disabling “Suggestions matching public code”
• Premium requests for models

Enterprise configuration

• Assign each organization the ability to assign Business or Enterprise licenses
• Enable the desired policies & models at the Enterprise level
  • Use No Policy if configuring differently at the organization level

Organization configuration

• Enable the desired policies on the production org
• Enable the desired policies on the test/preview org
• Install desired extensions at the org level
• Add teams to appropriate organization

Network & Security Policy

Configure Network & Device Management settings to align with your organization’s security and policy requirements

• Configure firewall settings for GitHub Copilot
• Restrict network traffic to your enterprise with an IP allow list
• Require two-factor authentication for organizations in your enterprise
• Ensure proxy configuration for smooth GitHub Copilot integration in enterprise networks
• Centrally managing allowed extensions for use with MCP Servers & VS Code Chat Participants

Provide Self Serve Training

Bundle training and provide a distribution method using the content sections below.

Training Examples

• Training by Feature
• Copilot-Intro

Copilot Fundamentals

• Install the Copilot extension in your IDE of choice from the IDE marketplace or organization-specific installation
  • VS Code is recommended for the latest preview features
• Getting code suggestions in your IDE with GitHub Copilot
• Chat in the IDE
• Prompt Engineering
• GitHub Copilot in VS Code
• Edits & Agent Mode

Advanced

• Copilot Extensions
• MCP Servers
• Customize Copilot with personal custom instructions
• Create a series of interactive tutorials or challenges that encourage users to try out Copilot in their coding work.
  • Example

GitHub Specific Fundamentals

• Chat in GitHub or with @github extension
• Code Review

Additional Training

• Copilot Certification
  • The official GitHub Copilot certification
• Microsoft Learning Training
  • For those that prefer training module style learning from Microsoft on Generally Available features
• Mastering GitHub Copilot for Paired Programming
  • Language specific lessons using Codespaces

Troubleshooting

Ensure that users are aware of the support resources available to them and providing common troubleshooting links.

• Troubleshooting common issues with GitHub Copilot
• Viewing logs for GitHub Copilot in your environment
• Troubleshooting firewall settings for GitHub Copilot
• Troubleshooting network errors for GitHub Copilot
• Troubleshooting issues with GitHub Copilot Chat

Invite Pilot Teams

• Add pilot teams to organizations via IDP group
• Send welcome email with self serve training to pilot teams

Optional Setup

Cost Centers

• Create cost centers & allocate spending
  • Strategies for Managing Copilot Premium Request Spending

Developer ROI

Tip

If this section seems overwhelming, there are vendors who assist with this analysis and provide out-of-the-box solutions

Baseline

• Read and apply the GitHub Engineering System Success Playbook (ESSP)
  • Define trackable key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect the goals and expected benefits of using GitHub Copilot.
  • Conduct a baseline measurement of development metrics prior to introducing GitHub Copilot.

Copilot Metrics

• Use one of the following for a dashboard
  • Power BI
  • NodeJS
  • Grafana
  • Create your own using API
    • Examples of API Usage
      • Getting started with Copilot Metrics APIs
      • Copilot Usage GitHub Action - Get Copilot usage data as .md, CSV, XML, JSON, or emailed PDF report
      • Copilot Metrics Retention GitHub Action - GitHub Action designed to persistently store Copilot Usage Metrics data over time in a JSON file format.
• Focus on engagement metrics vs acceptance metrics that can be a red herring and should be avoided in the beginning
  • Compare the number of licensed users, total engaged users, and the overall developer population
• Add qualitative metrics by implementing surveys
  • GitHub Value - provides a combined survey engine and value dashboard via GitHub Application
  • Pull Request Survey Engine - a GitHub App built on Probot that will prompt developers during PRs about their Copilot experience
  • ESSP - Developer Survey

Phase 2 - Early Adopters & Early Majority

Start an internal community

• Identify internal advocates/champions -  Find employees who have successfully used GitHub Copilot. These advocates can share their experiences, offer insights, and help guide others in the community.
• Determine the best community building tool - Choose a tool that most of your employees are already familiar with such as Slack, Discord, Confluence, GitHub Discussions, etc.
• Populate your new community channel - Kickstart the channel by adding initial content such as FAQs, case studies, and success stories.
• Market your GitHub Copilot community internally - Promote the new community within your organization. Invite your developers to explore, participate, and engage with the content and discussions. Highlight the benefits of GitHub Copilot and the value of being part of this community.

Invite additional teams

• Design a team priority rollout plan
• Add additional teams via IDP group based on the rollout plan

Phase 3 - Enterprise-wide

• Mandate Usage from Executive Leadership using success stories gathered from advocates, the internal community, and metrics gathered
• Add remaining teams via IDP group

Phase 4 - Maintain & Improve

• Analyze usage data to pinpoint patterns that suggest underutilization
• Conduct a survey to identify the gaps in knowledge or barriers to effective GitHub Copilot use
• Organize focus groups with developers to discuss challenges and solicit suggestions
• Formulate a plan to address identified issues and improve enablement resources
  • Remind inactive users

Appendix

Word-of-mouth evangelism

• Organize training sessions to demonstrate GitHub Copilot’s features and benefits.
• Conduct hands-on / hackathon to let people feel the latest AI coding

Additional Reading

• Taking GitHub Copilot to the stars, not just the skies - a detailed whitepaper on GitHub & Accenture’s rollouts of Copilot with implementation advice
• Advice on Driving Adoption - GitHub official documentation on adoption
• GitHub Copilot Adoption Blueprint - ask your Customer Success Manager for a company specific GitHub Project. If you prefer to export this project’s issues, you can run the plan export script
• GitHub Learning Pathways

Requesting Access to Copilot

While this method will slow down your adoption rate of Copilot, it can be automated if this approach is required due to regulation requirements such as self attestation.