GitHub Copilot for Business at Imperial

What is GitHub Copilot for Business?

GitHub Copilot for Business is the enterprise version of GitHub Copilot, designed for organisations. At Imperial, all staff members access Copilot through a Business license rather than the individual Pro plan.

Benefits over the Pro plan

Copilot for Business provides staff with several advantages:

  • Increased AI credits – More generous quota for AI-powered features
  • Access to more powerful models – Use advanced large language models (LLMs) optimised for complex coding tasks
  • Centralised billing and recharging – Simplified procurement and cost allocation to departments
  • IP indemnity – GitHub defends you against claims that Copilot-generated code infringes third-party intellectual property
  • Data privacy – By default, no Imperial data is used to train LLMs. Your code and conversations are not used to improve the models

Cost and billing

GitHub Copilot for Business costs $19 per user per month. This includes 1,900 AI credits. Once these credits have been exhausted, usage continues at published per-credit rates. It’s possible to set budgets for users, teams, or departments to avoid excessive usage.

The cost is recharged to non-ICT departments via the centralised billing process (see Billing flow below).

ICT departments do not receive recharges for GitHub Copilot – the cost is absorbed by the ICT budget.

Prerequisites for non-ICT departments

If you are a member of a non-ICT department and want to request a Copilot license, you must have the following in place before submitting your request:

  1. Cost code – A cost code assigned to your department (or team within your department). This is used to recharge the license cost. A department-level cost code simplifies the process.

  2. Azure Subscription – An Azure Subscription linked to your cost code. If you do not have one, you can request one using the Azure Subscription request form.

  3. Azure Subscription linked to a GitHub cost centre – When requesting your Azure Subscription, mention in the “Please provide any additional information” field that this is for GitHub Copilot usage. The ticket will be assigned to the relevant team to attach your subscription to the GitHub cost centre. You can also request a monthly budget for GitHub Copilot usage at this point.

Billing flow

The billing process works as follows:

Imperial cost centre → Azure Subscription → GitHub cost centre (budget applied) → GitHub user account

Your department’s cost code funds an Azure Subscription, which is linked to a GitHub cost centre. When you use GitHub Copilot, costs are deducted from your department’s GitHub budget. This approach allows ICT to track usage and costs by department and cost code.

Next steps

To request a GitHub Copilot for Business license, see Requesting access.

Further reading