# Human checkpoint

> In the Rollo Academy Copilot track, the named step in a playbook where a person checks Copilot's output or makes the decision before the sequence moves on.

**Category:** Copilot

**A human checkpoint is where judgment stays with a person.** It is a concept from the Rollo Academy track, not a Microsoft feature. When you build a Copilot [playbook](/glossary#playbook), you pick the exact step a person reviews, rather than a vague "check everything at the end". Each of the track's four worked playbooks names one: reviewing Researcher's citations, reading email coaching's suggestions before applying them, checking the visible Python behind an Excel analysis, or confirming a meeting recap assigned action items correctly.

The rule of thumb: **automate retrieval, summarising and drafting; keep a person on anything that is a decision**. A playbook that lets Copilot decide what is urgent, or sends an email nobody read, has removed the one checkpoint doing real work. Chaining steps raises the stakes, since a small mistake can travel further before anyone notices.

## At work

An account manager's playbook drafts a follow-up email from the Teams recap, but she reads it and checks who owns each action item before it goes out.

## Often confused with

A final review. Glancing over everything at the end is not a checkpoint; a checkpoint sits on one named step where judgment matters, so a mistake is caught before it feeds the next step.

## Related terms

- Playbook
- Maturity ladder
- Toolkit inventory
- Email coaching

## See it in a lesson

[Putting it together: Copilot playbooks](/en/learn/copilot/advanced/copilot-playbooks)

## Further reading

- [Get email coaching with Copilot in Outlook (Microsoft Support)](https://support.microsoft.com/office/email-coaching-with-copilot-in-outlook-91a3cd56-1586-4a31-85c7-2eb8cdb02405): The coaching suggestions a person reads before a message goes out.
- [Use Copilot in Microsoft Teams meetings (Microsoft Support)](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-copilot-in-microsoft-teams-meetings-0bf9dd3c-96f7-44e2-8bb8-790bedf066b1): The meeting recap whose action items a person confirms.
- [Get started with Researcher in Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft Support)](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/get-started-with-researcher-in-microsoft-365-copilot): The cited reports whose sources a person reviews.

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Last updated: 14/10/2026  
Source: Rollo Academy glossary