👉 What you’ll learn     

• Identify the real blockers stopping AI adoption in teams 
• Shift from tool access to measurable business outcomes 
• Design role-specific AI use cases that drive daily value 
• Build AI training that fits real work, not theory 
• Measure AI adoption with practical KPIs and usage data 

✅ Highlights     

• "These two things are very, very different" 
• "Some things really need to happen in between those two places" 
• "This is not about the tech. This is about the people" 
• "They didn't know how to use the tool" 
• "They didn't know what they were allowed to do" 
• "When would they sit and just learn a link" 
• "To actually tailor use cases that are relevant" 
• "We have to measure how they are moving" 
• "We moved a department from 15% to 83%" 
• "It shifts how you are working" 

🧰 Mentioned     

• Microsoft Copilot (https://copilot.microsoft.com/)  
• Copilot Notebooks (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/get-started-with-microsoft-365-copilot-notebooks-0775e693-11c6-4d80-8aba-fcc81a737a06)  
• ChatGPT (https://chatgpt.com/)  
• AI Boost Academy (https://hannabergstrom.com/) [ 
• Vattenfall (https://group.vattenfall.com/) 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords      
ai adoption, copilot, generative ai, ai training, business transformation, ai use cases, digital productivity, ai skills, organisational change, ai strategy, workplace efficiency, ai literacy 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/836   

🎙️ What you’ll learn   

• How to frame technology decisions around outcomes, not vendors or features 
• Why traditional RFP processes drive cost blowouts and failed projects 
• The four core business problems most systems are really trying to solve 
• How AI tools are changing the speed and shape of consulting work 
• When building custom solutions now beats buying off-the-shelf software 

✅ Highlights 

• “So many people are still buying software like it’s a software decision rather than a business decision.” 
• “You’re really only trying to solve one of four business problems.” 
• “Most organizations aren’t even thinking in terms of what is the root of what I’m trying to solve.” 
• “Your highest qualified people are not even in the game because you’ve already excluded quality.” 
• “AI is now to the developer what Visual Studio was in the 90s.” 
• “It made the good developers really good and the bad developers a lot faster.” 
• “Low code was developed because we couldn’t get enough developers.” 
• “There’s a third option now, and that is vibe code your own add-on.” 
• “I think we’re less than 18 months away from this changing enterprise software.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Microsoft Power Platform: https://learn.microsoft.com/power-platform  
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Dynamics 365 CRM):
  https://www.microsoft.com/dynamics-365/solutions/crm  
• Microsoft Business Central:
  https://www.microsoft.com/dynamics-365/products/business-central  
• Microsoft Finance and Operations (Dynamics 365 Finance):
  https://www.microsoft.com/dynamics-365/products/finance 
• Notebook LM: https://notebooklm.google  
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator: https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/sales-navigator 
• DynamicConsultantsGroup.com: https://dynamicconsultantsgroup.com 

✅Keywords   
ai in consulting, outcome-based software, crm failures, erp projects, power platform, low code vs pro code, vibe coding, rfp process, enterprise software, applied ai skills, digital transformation, consulting strategy

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/835    

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• Use AI as an operating system to replace and create software 
• Move from idea to working solution in minutes, not hours 
• Build capability by mastering a few tools, not chasing every new model 
• Apply curiosity-driven workflows to unlock better AI outcomes 
• Avoid common enterprise pitfalls around governance and tool sprawl 

✅ Highlights  

• "This software rewards the patient and the curious." 
• "Learn two or three of these tools really well." 
• "Are you using these tools to improve your quality of life or aren’t you?" 
• "This is the last software that I’ll ever train." 
• "We can create bespoke applications through any of these tools." 
• "It’s eating other software." 
• "People who choose to be left behind." 
• "From idea to iteration in 30 minutes." 
• "I feel like I’m becoming a bionic person." 
• "The barriers to entry are just gone." 

🧰 Mentioned 

• ChatGPT – https://chatgpt.com/ 
• Bing (Copilot Search) – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/bing/copilot-search 
• Google – https://www.google.com 
• Gemini – https://gemini.google.com/ 
• Claude – https://claude.ai/ 
• Copilot – https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 
• Perplexity – https://www.perplexity.ai/ 
• Stability AI (Stable Diffusion) – https://stability.ai/ 
• Ethan Mollick (Wharton profile) – https://mgmt.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/emollick/ 
• Co-Intelligence (book) – https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/741805/co-intelligence-by-ethan-mollick/ 
• Suno (AI music generator) – https://suno.com/ 

✅Keywords 
ai tools, generative ai, chatgpt, ai productivity, solopreneur ai, ai governance, llm workflows, ai operating system, automation, business ai, ai adoption, digital transformation 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

• Why Copilot increases the impact of poor data governance 
• How sensitivity labels affect what Copilot can access and summarise 
• When to use DLP versus inline DLP for AI risk management 
• How organisations can limit data sharing with third‑party AI tools 
• What licensing choices matter for Copilot and Purview governance 

✅ Highlights     

• “With the intro of the AI, the importance of the data governance compliance has much increased.” 
• “The first defense layer that you should be apply, that is the sensitivity label.” 
• “If a user doesn’t have permission, Copilot can’t actually extract the data.” 
• “Standard policy actually is not sufficient these days.” 
• “Users copy and paste or upload a sensitive file to third‑party AI sites.” 
• “Inline DLP policy is one step ahead of endpoint DLP policy.” 
• “Microsoft focus not to block something, to protect something.” 
• “Before enabling the copilot, they ensure that their environment is ready.” 
• “Copilot certainly honors the permissions the user have.” 

 🧰 Mentioned     

• Microsoft 365 Copilot: https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/copilot/ 
• Microsoft Entra Suite: https://www.microsoft.com/security/business/microsoft-entra-suite  
• E5 licence: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/enterprise/e5  
• Pay‑as‑you‑go Purview licensing: https://learn.microsoft.com/purview/purview-billing-models 
• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/ 
• Gemini: https://gemini.google.com/ 
• DeepSeek: https://www.deepseek.com/  
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords 
microsoft copilot, microsoft purview, data governance, sensitivity labels, data loss prevention, inline dlp, endpoint dlp, ai security, m365 e5, third party ai, information protection, enterprise ai 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

A practical rethink of how teams use Power Platform and Dynamics 365 to reduce technical debt, improve governance, and build sustainable solutions. The discussion centres on shifting from tech-first thinking to business outcomes, balancing low-code and pro-code principles, and preparing for AI and Copilot. The key insight is that long-term success comes from disciplined governance, reuse, and choosing when to adopt versus adapt. 

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/833

🎙️ What you’ll learn   

• Shift from technology-first to outcome-first solution design 
• Decide when to adopt vs adapt to reduce complexity 
• Apply coding principles inside low-code environments 
• Manage technical debt through governance and architecture 
• Evaluate where AI and Copilot add real value today 

✅ Highlights 

• "taking a step back and looking at business need and use a process rather than technology first." 
• "a term we're using in the department more and more is kind of adopt versus adapt." 
• "the more you’re restricting yourself off from these possibilities." 
• "it's treating it as a tool, a set of tools we can use rather than the default." 
• "governance to me means more preventative." 
• "it's really difficult to then stay on top of things like the Wave releases." 
• "it’s more a matter of time than anything." 
• "it's not the same thing as code, but it's not meant to be." 
• "there's still a level of maturity that we need to get to." 
• "what does Power Platform mean really and what is it there for?" 

 🧰 Mentioned 

• Power Virtual Agents (now part of Copilot Studio): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/blog/copilot-studio/microsoft-power-virtual-agents-now-part-of-microsoft-copilot-studio/ 
• AI Builder: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ai-builder/overview 
• Copilot: https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• Why AI has shortened breach timelines from days to minutes 
• How to shift from perimeter defence to a zero trust mindset 
• Practical ways to gain visibility over AI tools and data use 
• Where unplanned AI adoption creates insider risk 
• Why VPN-only security models struggle in cloud-first work 

✅ Highlights 

• “From the time of compromise to data exfiltration, we’re seeing 30 minutes.” 
• “Cybercrime is doing the same thing with AI that businesses are.” 
• “You can’t protect what you can’t see.” 
• “You can’t govern what you don’t know about.” 
• “We almost have to assume we’re going to get hit.” 
• “Security by obscurity doesn’t work anymore.” 
• “AI is introducing far more risk when there’s no planning.” 
• “Once you’re in with a VPN, there’s zero control on the inside.” 
• “The volume and scale and speed is what really concerns me.” 

🧰 Mentioned  

• Zero trust: https://learn.microsoft.com/security/zero-trust/zero-trust-overview 
• VPN (virtual private network): https://www.cisco.com/learn/topics/security/what-is-a-virtual-private-network-vpn.html  
• SASE (secure access service edge): https://www.microsoft.com/security/business/security-101/what-is-sase  
• Booz Allen: https://www.boozallen.com/  
• Gartner: https://www.gartner.com/en  
• Anthropic Claude: https://claude.ai/  

✅Keywords 
ai security, cybersecurity, zero trust, ai risk, data governance, cybercrime, vpn security, sase, insider risk, cloud security, ai adoption, threat landscape 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 What you’ll learn     

• Why low Copilot adoption is an opportunity, not a failure 
• How to think beyond productivity to AI-enabled business models 
• When building internal AI tools beats buying SaaS 
• What Work IQ enables that other AI systems cannot 
• How agentic systems change OKRs, dashboards, and execution 

✅ Highlights     

• “AI is transformative, it is expensive, and it requires several years of exposure to capital budgets” 
• “It’s not just about doing things better, but doing things you never could do before” 
• “Microsoft is the largest commercial AI company on the planet” 
• “Copilot can orchestrate over your information in a way that other AI can’t” 
• “Work IQ would be a little bit better than the word graph” 
• “I love the term vibe coding” 
• “It would have been a couple of hundred thousand dollars two years ago” 
• “I’ve taken over two thousand dollars of subscription costs out of my business” 
• “They do exactly what I needed to do and no more” 

🧰 Mentioned     

• Microsoft 365 Copilot: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-copilot 
• Host - Polaris podcast: https://polaris.synozur.com 
• Co-Host Microsoft’s Intrazone podcast: https://aka.ms/TheIntrazone 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords      
ai adoption, microsoft copilot, work iq, agentic ai, internal tools, ai strategy, okrs, vibe coding, business transformation, saas replacement, applied ai, enterprise ai 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

 👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/830   

🎙️ What you’ll learn   

• How agentic AI changes how users interact with ERP systems 
• Where Copilot Studio and Azure Foundry fit in real implementations 
• How AI accelerates requirements gathering and fit gap analysis 
• Why clean data foundations are critical for agentic scenarios 
• What multi agent, multi model AI means for enterprise teams 

 ✅ Highlights 

• “ERP being actually more the layer on the back where the agent inquires knowledge” 
• “It is probabilistic, not deterministic” 
• “We are deploying is on Teams” 
• “It will fundamental change how we interact with the ERP” 
• “You cannot start with the roof if you don’t have the foundation” 
• “We have an agentic driven methodology” 
• “Consistency creates predictability” 
• “It does have a soul” 
• “Multi agent, multi model will be the norm” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Dynamics 365: https://www.microsoft.com/dynamics-365 
• Copilot: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot  
• Copilot Studio: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio  
• Azure Foundry (Microsoft Foundry): https://ai.azure.com  
• Microsoft Fabric: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-fabric  
• Medallion architecture: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/databricks/lakehouse/medallion  
• Azure DevOps: https://azure.microsoft.com/products/devops  
• Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com  
• Microsoft Mesh: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-mesh

✅Keywords   
agentic ai, erp, dynamics 365, copilot studio, microsoft teams, multi agent systems, enterprise ai, ai governance, fit gap analysis, microsoft power platform, azure foundry, digital transformation 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

This episode explores why AI and innovation fail without culture change. Drawing on decades of innovation experience, the discussion breaks down common myths around productivity, frameworks, and lone heroes. The core insight is simple but hard to execute. Sustainable AI adoption starts with leadership alignment, psychological safety, and recognising that everyone is creative. Real change happens bottom‑up, reinforced by long‑term discipline, not hype or short‑term fixes. 

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• Why AI does not automatically improve productivity or innovation 
• How leadership behaviour shapes innovation culture 
• What psychological safety enables in teams and organisations 
• Why every employee is creative in practical, everyday ways 
• How to build long‑term innovation habits that actually stick 

 ✅ Highlights 

• “If it’s that easy, everyone will be doing it.” 
• “Sometimes I think AI makes me more unproductive.” 
• “There is no lone hero that is going to save the company.” 
• “Everyone knows at least one thing how they can improve something.” 
• “Innovation is much more complex than one framework.” 
• “Psychological safety is a property of a group, not an organisation.” 
• “Everyone is creative, not just artistic people.” 
• “Changing behaviour is one of the most difficult things.” 
• “You cannot trick people, they will see if you walk the talk.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• AI adoption: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/ai/ 
• Innovation frameworks: https://www.deloittedigital.com/us/en/offerings/customer-led-marketing/customer-strategy-and-applied-design/applied-design-and-innovation/ten-types.html 
• Design thinking: https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/what-is-design-thinking 
• Business Model Canvas: https://www.strategyzer.com/library/the-business-model-canvas 

✅Keywords 
ai adoption, innovation culture, psychological safety, creativity at work, leadership, organisational change, productivity myths, design thinking, innovation frameworks, applied ai, business innovation, technology change 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/828 

👉 What you’ll learn     

• How Microsoft Planner fits into modern, collaborative project management 
• Where AI adds value in planning, reporting, and risk management 
• Differences between Planner basic and premium plans and why they are merging 
• How Copilot supports everyday productivity beyond automation 
• Why data, feedback, and adoption timing matter for real-world AI impact 

✅ Highlights     

• “Everybody starts with a plan, whether or not you’re trained in project management.” 
• “The future is collaboration and artificial intelligence, not desktop-only tools.” 
• “We need to be able to ask a question of my plan and get the answer back.” 
• “AI is doing a really nice status report that used to take hours of work.” 
• “The average person doesn’t even know enough to know what it could do.” 
• “They’ve made it so you can’t make the most common project management mistakes.” 
• “Power BI is the winner if you want resource capacity across portfolios.” 
• “Most companies are not ready, even though the future is already here.” 
• “A lot of what people call AI is really automation.” 
• “It’s the little annoying things that Microsoft is fixing that people don’t notice.” 

🧰 Mentioned     

• Microsoft Planner: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/planner  
• Microsoft Teams: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams  
• Microsoft Project: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/project/project-management  
• Microsoft To Do: https://to-do.microsoft.com 
• Microsoft Copilot: https://www.copilot.com  
• Planner Agent: https://support.microsoft.com/office/access-planner-agent-86bf60a1-239d-4c37-b7b6-9a4111e1cc02 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords      
microsoft planner, project management, ai agents, copilot, microsoft teams, dataverse, power bi, task management, productivity, automation, collaboration, planning

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙️ What you’ll learn  

• How to drive Copilot adoption through culture, not training courses 
• Why Copilot works best as the enterprise interface for AI 
• How governance and data protection change AI adoption decisions 
• Why agent creation is moving from technical to accessible 
• How to introduce AI through small, habit forming use cases 

✅ Highlights 

• “It got me maybe 60% there, right?” 
• “Things are getting so much more natural.” 
• “Copilot really does well that other tools don’t is that it’s agile.” 
• “You’re not training the model.” 
• “It’s a perfect enterprise work solution.” 
• “Copilot adoption is not necessarily a technical motion.” 
• “It’s almost a habitual motion, a cultural motion.” 
• “Why do you need to see ROI on electricity?” 
• “This is exactly the type of thinking of a frontier firm.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Microsoft Copilot: https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 
• Microsoft 365: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365 
• Copilot Studio: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio/  
• Agent 365: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-agent-365 
• Microsoft Cowork (Copilot Cowork): https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/blog/2026/03/09/copilot-cowork-a-new-way-of-getting-work-done/  
• Microsoft Teams: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams 
• Slack: https://slack.com/ 
• OpenAI: https://openai.com/ 
• Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/ 
• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/ 

✅Keywords 
copilot, microsoft copilot, ai adoption, enterprise ai, ai governance, copilot studio, ai agents, microsoft 365, frontier firm, generative ai, ai culture, agent 365 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

Jeff Mahony joins AI Unfiltered to explore why AI adoption has not yet hit its consolidation point, and how blockchain’s immutability can restore trust at scale. The conversation connects AI agents, bias, regulation, and distributed systems, arguing that transparency, not speed alone, is the real unlock. Jeff explains how larger, collaborative teams can mitigate bias, why current AI agents often reduce productivity, and where AI plus blockchain can create real-world value across finance, supply chains, and public systems.
 
👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/826   

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• Why the AI market has not yet reached its S-curve consolidation phase 
• How bias enters AI systems and how team design can reduce its impact 
• Where AI agents help productivity, and where they quietly reduce it 
• Why blockchain creates authenticity through transparency 
• How AI and blockchain together can enable scalable audits and pattern detection 

✅ Highlights 

• “Each of us has built-in flaws, but our flaws don’t touch too many people.” 
• “If I’ve somehow biased that model, now my flaw could touch millions.” 
• “The fix is going to be those collaborative, larger teams.” 
• “Blockchain is authenticity born through transparency.” 
• “On a blockchain, it would be very clear what the anomaly was.” 
• “The intermediary is the source of virtually all corruption.” 
• “We’re seeing a reduction in productivity by those people using agents.” 
• “You wouldn’t let that person give you the synopsis and then act from it.” 
• “Layer that on top of a blockchain, and now you can do data analysis.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• AI agents: https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/ai-agents 
• Blockchain: https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/blockchain 
• Distributed data warehousing: https://www.educative.io/answers/what-is-a-distributed-data-warehouse-dwh 
• Sovereign entities: https://fiveable.me/ap-hug/key-terms/sovereign-entity 
• Voting systems: https://electionlab.mit.edu/research/voting-technology 
• FinTech: https://www.britannica.com/money/financial-technology-fintech 
• right.io (RYT.io): https://right.io/ 

✅Keywords 
ai agents, blockchain, s-curve adoption, ai bias, transparency, immutability, fintech, regulation, productivity, distributed systems, supply chain, sovereign solutions 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙️ What you’ll learn   

• How Copilot and generative AI change creative and campaign planning 
• Where AI agents add the most value in marketing workflows 
• Practical differences between Copilot Studio and Microsoft Foundry 
• Why experimentation becomes easier with agent-driven automation 
• How to reduce repetitive work without losing human judgement 

✅ Highlights     

• “From one day to another, we had a whole new world of ideas.” 
• “I’ve been fully into agents to try to automate all the marketing work.” 
• “Not to replace me, but to assist me.” 
• “Before I spent more or less half of the day doing things that didn’t add value.” 
• “Now I can try to do things differently.” 
• “This helps us to do different things that we would never have tried.” 
• “With Copilot Studio, it took me half an hour.” 
• “With Foundry, it took me one week.” 
• “With Foundry, you have to sit down and think.” 

🧰 Mentioned     

• Microsoft Copilot: https://www.copilot.com  
• Copilot Studio: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio/  
• Microsoft Foundry: https://ai.azure.com/ 
• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/  
• OpenAI: https://openai.com/  
• Google Ads: https://ads.google.com/ 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords      
ai agents, microsoft copilot, copilot studio, microsoft foundry, marketing automation, generative ai, campaign automation, ai workflows, experimentation, productivity, marketing strategy, human in the loop 

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

This episode with Balazs Horvath explores how AI is shifting from hype to practical value in business applications. The core insight is that models are now good enough, but value comes from context, not tools. CRM is becoming a database, interfaces are disappearing, and skills like problem framing, signal detection, and prompting matter more than building apps. AI works best as a colleague when organisations invest in shared language, data foundations, and human judgement.
 
👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/824   

🎙️ What you’ll learn   

• Why context, not models, is the real limiter of AI value 
• How CRM is shifting from interfaces to signal-driven systems 
• Where ERP and data platforms still have defensible moats 
• How reverse prompting improves thinking and outcomes 
• Why consulting skills matter more than coding in the AI era 

✅ Highlights  

• "It’s been more hype than actual value." 
• "Models are good enough. It’s about the context that you give them." 
• "I haven’t logged into my CRM for the past two weeks." 
• "CRM will just become a database." 
• "Finance is audited, legislated, and hard to replicate." 
• "The way we interact with apps is changing." 
• "I flipped our academic program upside down." 
• "AI understands intent." 
• "Ask me 20 questions, one at a time." 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Dynamics 365: https://www.microsoft.com/dynamics-365  
• Microsoft Power Platform: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platform 
• Business Central: https://www.microsoft.com/dynamics-365/business-central  
• Finance and Operations (Dynamics 365 Finance): https://www.microsoft.com/dynamics-365/finance  
• Power BI: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platform/products/power-bi  
• Microsoft Fabric: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-fabric  
• Dataverse: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platform/dataverse  
• Copilot: https://copilot.microsoft.com  
• Claude: https://claude.ai 
• Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com  
• Microsoft Graph: https://learn.microsoft.com/graph  
• Vibe.powerapps.com: https://vibe.powerapps.com 

✅Keywords   
ai context, crm future, power platform, dynamics 365, copilot, anthropic, claude, reverse prompting, vibe coding, business central, microsoft fabric, applied ai 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

This episode breaks down why AI governance must evolve alongside agentic AI, drawing on the insights of Matthias Darblade. The conversation explores the EU AI Act, continuous compliance, and why the biggest business value often sits in high‑risk AI use cases. For organisations adopting agents, governance becomes a live system, not a one‑time checkbox, balancing innovation, responsibility, and trust at scale. 

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/823   

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• Why agentic AI turns governance into a continuous process 
• How the EU AI Act affects organisations inside and outside Europe 
• Where the real business value lies in high‑risk AI systems 
• Why static compliance models fail for AI and agents 
• How organisations can govern AI without slowing innovation 

✅ Highlights 

• “With this black box that needs to be governed and controlled.” 
• “It gives you a certain sense of being safe regarding the regulators.” 
• “It starts to become a lot, even for a company as big as Airbus.” 
• “It’s definitely a live system.” 
• “For AI, it will be a bit more complex.” 
• “High risk is where most of the value lies for companies.” 
• “You’re leaving a lot of money on the table.” 
• “It needs to be running and monitoring in real time.” 
• “You need to be respecting the law and proceed in a certain way.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• ISO 24001: https://www.iso.org/standard/81230.html 
• AI governance: https://www.oecd.org/ai/governance/ 
• Agentic AI: https://www.ibm.com/topics/agentic-ai 
• Copilot: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot 
• OpenAI: https://openai.com/ 
• Gemini: https://ai.google/gemini/ 

✅Keywords 
ai governance, eu ai act, agentic ai, ai compliance, high risk ai, ai regulation, autonomous agents, responsible ai, continuous monitoring, enterprise ai, ai oversight, ai strategy 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

 🎙️ What you’ll learn    

• How Copilot’s value changes when it is connected to your work data 
• Why outcome engineering is replacing prompt engineering 
• When AI automation increases noise instead of productivity 
• How agents can replace SaaS tools and reduce recurring costs 
• What applied AI skills look like for consultants and knowledge workers 

 ✅ Highlights   

• “They forgot about the entire plugged into your work data, and that’s what Copilot is good at.” 
• “It was a rough start using Copilot.” 
• “It will keep iterating on a task till it gets to the destination.” 
• “I think this is the start of outcomes engineering rather than prompt engineering.” 
• “We expect all this magic from these new tools.” 
• “Why would you send out meeting notes to everyone?” 
• “It’s insanity.” 
• “I’ve taken over $2,000 of annual cost out of my business SaaS expenses.” 
• “The only limitation is your own creativity at this point.” 

 🧰 Mentioned     

• Microsoft Copilot: https://www.copilot.com/ 
• Microsoft 365: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365  
• Microsoft Graph: https://learn.microsoft.com/graph/overview 
• Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/ 
• Claude (by Anthropic): https://claude.com/ 
• Bitly: https://bitly.com/ 
• RAG systems (Retrieval‑Augmented Generation): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrieval-augmented_generation 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

 ✅ Keywords      
ai productivity, microsoft copilot, applied ai skills, outcome engineering, ai agents, automation, microsoft 365, anthropic, claude, openai, knowledge work, business ai 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

• How coding agents are expanding into everyday knowledge work 
• Practical ways to turn notes into repeatable automation 
• When to use multiple AI agents and when to limit them 
• How memory features can introduce risk and bias 
• Why APIs matter for an AI-driven future of work 

✅ Highlights 

• “I realised that I had incredible power to create anything my mind can conceive digitally.” 
• “Tokens have become my money.” 
• “The productivity gains is causing this tremendous burnout for some reason.” 
• “I’ve put the guardrails in place so they’re not allowed to talk to me after 9pm.” 
• “It started with notes, and it’s turning into automation.” 
• “The internet is a very hostile place to AI.” 
• “Memory is the first thing I turn off everywhere.” 
• “I don’t want anybody else’s code in my mix.” 
• “It allows you to become almost like superhuman in a weird way.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• AI Brain Fry: https://hbr.org/2026/03/when-using-ai-leads-to-brain-fry 
• GitHub Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot 
• Work IQ: https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/copilot/extensibility/workiq-overview 
• Claude:https://claude.ai/ 

✅Keywords 
ai agents, github copilot, coding agents, automation, productivity, ai burnout, ai memory, privacy, workflows, devops, markdown, applied ai 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/820

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• How personal AI assistants differ from traditional chat based tools 
• Why one click and voice first interfaces unlock broader AI adoption 
• How users are building and sharing tools without technical knowledge 
• What skills matter most as AI accelerates workplace change 
• How AI can propagate innovation across teams automatically 

✅ Highlights 

• “We’re doing a very personal AI assistant, like you’re a multi tool employee, 24 7.” 
• “My thing is one click solutions.” 
• “The last person knows about how AI works, they’re more like gold.” 
• “It’s an OpenClaw for my mum.” 
• “The less people know, they don’t know it doesn’t work this way.” 
• “It’s small blocks like in Minecraft.” 
• “Overnight she made a few thousand dollars.” 
• “Everything else AI will do.” 
• “It’s never going to be perfect.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• OpenClaw: https://openclaw.ai/  
• Portal: https://portal.ai/  
• Telegram: https://telegram.org/  
• Apple App Store: https://www.apple.com/app-store/ 
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/  
• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/ 
• Google: https://www.google.com/ 
• Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/  
• OpenAI: https://www.openai.com/  
• Minecraft: https://www.minecraft.net/ 
• Codemasters: https://www.codemasters.com/  

✅Keywords 
personal ai assistant, applied ai, openclaw, portal ai, telegram bots, voice first ai, ai productivity, ai skills, automation tools, innovation propagation, ai adoption, human ai collaboration 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 What you’ll learn     

• How to prepare your data estate before enabling Copilot 
• Why oversharing creates real security and quality risks for AI 
• Practical approaches to cleaning up SharePoint and file sprawl 
• How metadata improves findability and Copilot results 
• Where Copilot adoption stalls and how to push past basic automation 

✅ Highlights     

• “Don’t switch it on yet. Do stuff first.” 
• “If your security is not in place, then God knows what information you’re surfacing.” 
• “Rubbish in, rubbish out.” 
• “Human error is littered through the landscape of corporate data.” 
• “Stop sharing.” 
• “Deduplication is a tough process to do.” 
• “People tend to have the folder structure on top of mind.” 
• “That’s why we need Copilot.” 
• “Most people just use Copilot as the new search agent.” 
• “More than 90% of the ideas were just automation.” 

🧰 Mentioned     

• SharePoint: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/sharepoint/collaboration 
• Microsoft Copilot: https://www.copilot.com/ 
• Microsoft Graph API: https://learn.microsoft.com/graph/ 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords      
copilot adoption, sharepoint governance, data quality, oversharing, metadata, ai readiness, security, automation, microsoft copilot, document management, information architecture, enterprise ai 

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

This episode explores how AI, agents, and prompting are reshaping how software and business solutions are built. Mark Smith and Keith Atherton discuss the shift beyond traditional low-code towards natural language, agent-driven development, where context, outcomes, and governance matter more than interfaces. They examine why developer fundamentals still matter, how generative AI accelerates delivery, and what new makers should focus on as Microsoft investment, tooling, and certifications pivot towards agentic and AI-first approaches. 

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/818   

🎙️ What you’ll learn   

• How agent-based development changes the way applications and systems are designed 
• Why context engineering and outcomes engineering matter more than short prompts 
• When low-code tools help and when direct code or CLI is faster 
• How experienced developers gain leverage in an agent-driven world 
• Where new makers should focus their learning as platforms and certifications evolve 

✅ Highlights 

• “Beyond that hype, now organizations and customers, I can see them getting more mature and ready to actually adopt.” 
• “We’re designing for API efficiency for AIs, not just human interfaces anymore.” 
• “You wouldn’t have to put anything in your system that isn’t explicitly needed.” 
• “If you can build something in a few minutes, why spend hours dragging and dropping?” 
• “Context engineering is the next step beyond prompt engineering.” 
• “My prompts are not one or two sentences, they’re hundreds of lines of data.” 
• “It’s almost cumbersome today to go through visual steps when CLI is just speed.” 
• “It could be seen as a bit of a superpower having that developer background.” 
• “You need to know what good looks like to hold agents to account.” 

🧰 Mentioned  

• Microsoft Power Platform: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platform 
• Copilot Studio: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio  
• ChatGPT:  https://chatgpt.com  
• Visual Studio Code: https://code.visualstudio.com  
• Power Automate: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platform/products/power-automate  
• Dataverse: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platform/dataverse  

✅Keywords   
ai agents, power platform, low code, generative ai, prompt engineering, context engineering, outcomes engineering, dataverse, power automate, software development, cli, microsoft ai 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• Why a leader’s emotional state is contagious and shapes team outcomes 
• The difference between change management and change leadership in practice 
• How calm, consistency, and grounding build trust during rapid change 
• Frameworks leaders use to recognise stress triggers and manage reactions 
• Why emotional intelligence is a competitive advantage in AI driven workplaces 

✅ Highlights 

• “The emotional state of the leader is highly contagious to the team.” 
• “You really need to understand those stakeholders and get those folks aligned.” 
• “Change management is about ensuring completion to a standard.” 
• “Change leadership is keeping people hopeful, inspired, and focused on the future.” 
• “The leadership element is what the human brings.” 
• “Calm, consistency, and stability in leaders has been really underemphasised.” 
• “Even when you think you’re hiding your emotions, you’re not.” 
• “Cultivating inner calm is a surprisingly vital foundational skill for leaders today.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Shirzad Chamine: https://positiveintelligence.com/about/  
• Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine: https://books.google.com/books/about/Positive_Intelligence.html?id=ziSoxw_ACSwC  
• The Problem with Change by Ashley Goodall: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203578496-the-problem-with-change  
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: https://www.themyersbriggs.com/en-US/Explore-Solutions/MBTI 

✅Keywords 
emotional intelligence, change leadership, change management, leadership resilience, grounded leadership, stakeholder alignment, organisational change, ai leadership, inner calm, self awareness, saboteur mindset, positive intelligence 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙️ What you’ll learn     

• How conversational interfaces like Telegram change the way agents are built and operated 
• Where traditional automation adds friction compared to autonomous agents 
• Practical infrastructure choices for running experimental agents safely 
• Real-world security and governance risks when working with agentic AI 
• Why hands-on agent maintenance accelerates architectural understanding 

✅ Highlights   

• “I literally talk into the microphone and then it builds it overnight without any effort for me.” 
• “They’re not really autonomous, most of them are retrieval agents.” 
• “Please don’t install OpenClaw on your PC or MacBook.” 
• “It could literally delete your whole C drive without your command.” 
• “I never learned so much around Linux scripts than in my whole life.” 
• “I’m losing my fascination because I have to fix it every single day.” 
• “It’s taken me further into understanding agents than I have ever been.” 
• “We are in a very, very early stage here.” 
• “The interface as we know it is going to go away.” 

🧰 Mentioned     

• OpenClaw: https://openclaw.ai/ [openclaw.ai] 
• Copilot: https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 
• Microsoft responsible AI standards: https://www.microsoft.com/ai/responsible-ai 
• Copilot Studio: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio/ 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords      
openclaw, autonomous agents, agentic ai, copilot, copilot studio, power automate, telegram interface, linux scripting, ai security, governance, mcp servers, infrastructure 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

This episode features Martin Miller and explores the practical reality of using AI inside organisations. The conversation cuts through hype to focus on where AI genuinely adds leverage, where it breaks down, and why subject matter expertise, data quality, and critical thinking still matter. From AI‑generated code and agent teams to data governance, outages, and deepfakes, the discussion frames AI as a powerful amplifier rather than a replacement. The core message is clear: AI rewards clarity of intent, strong foundations, and human judgement. 

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/815

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• How AI‑generated code fails without clear problem definition 
• Why data quality and governance are prerequisites for AI success 
• When AI amplifies expertise versus creating costly mistakes 
• How organisations misuse AI by chasing headcount reduction 
• Why critical thinking weakens when AI replaces core learning 

✅ Highlights 

• “It’s not about can you write a for loop. It’s about can you define what you’re trying to accomplish.” 
• “The more you know, the more you can use this tool.” 
• “Nothing like making a decision off of bad data.” 
• “AI is a power tool in the box of tools, and it’s a super tool.” 
• “It will confidently deliver you results that may or may not be what you need.” 
• “Headcount reduction and creating solutions are mutually exclusive.” 
• “If you can’t manage your data with or without humans, you need to know that.” 
• “You can generate the anomaly of the moment using AI all day long.” 
• “There’s no Brent to call when your AI isn’t working.” 
• “People that used AI couldn’t remember anything about the paper.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Claude: https://claude.ai/ 
• OpenAI: https://openai.com/  
• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/  
• Gemini: https://gemini.google.com/ 
• DevOps: https://www.atlassian.com/devops 
• The Phoenix Project: https://itrevolution.com/product/the-phoenix-project/  
• Foursquare: https://foursquare.com/ 
• Book: AI in a Weekend: An Executive’s Guide: https://www.amazon.com/Weekend-Executives-Guide-Martin-Miller-ebook/dp/B0D4JPSRH2

✅Keywords 
ai strategy, ai coding, data governance, critical thinking, ai agents, devops, site reliability engineering, ai outages, deepfakes, prompt engineering, subject matter expertise, enterprise ai 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/814

👉 What you’ll learn     

• How agentic workflows are moving from demos into real production use 
• When simple SharePoint grounding is enough and when Azure AI Search is required 
• How to combine automation and agents to avoid slow, interactive AI experiences 
• Practical approaches to Copilot adoption for leaders and teams 
• Why token usage, orchestration, and model choice are becoming operational concerns 

✅ Highlights     

• “On Friday, I let Claude Opus go and build me a Teams agent overnight.” 
• “The agentic side and being able to have these long running tasks is really shifting things.” 
• “Customers are now getting much more open to trying things out.” 
• “Copilot Studio is the first port of call.” 
• “You don’t get the quality back from the agent that you need with complex content.” 
• “How you chunk it is so important for RAG.” 
• “Not everything needs to be a full on agent.” 
• “Automation with AI sprinkles is sometimes the better option.” 
• “My world is fast becoming measured by tokens.” 
• “You don’t have to use the most expensive model on everything.” 

🧰 Mentioned     

• Copilot Studio - https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio 
• Azure AI Search - https://azure.microsoft.com/products/ai-services/ai-search 
• EmpowerM365 -  https://empowerm365.com 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords      
ai agents, copilot studio, microsoft 365, automation, rag, azure ai search, sharepoint, claude opus, agentic workflows, copilot adoption, power automate, tokens 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

Dani Kahil breaks down the growing complexity of Copilot and AI agents in the Microsoft ecosystem and how practitioners can make sense of it. The conversation focuses on practical mental models, minimum viable agents, and real-world use cases, including document-heavy processes in higher education. The core insight is that successful AI adoption depends less on tools and more on clear roles, scoped responsibilities, feedback loops, and realistic expectations of non-deterministic systems.
 
👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/813

🎙️ What you’ll learn   

• How to distinguish between Copilot experiences, products, and build tools across Microsoft platforms 
• Why diagrams and visual models help reduce AI and Copilot confusion for teams and leaders 
• How to define a minimum viable agent to prevent scope creep 
• Why treating agents like junior co-workers improves outcomes 
• How feedback loops and incremental task expansion make agents useful in production 

 ✅ Highlights 

• “It took me a lot of time to kind of process the information.” 
• “I always like visuals and kind of diagrams.” 
• “There are so many different versions of the different copilots.” 
• “These are completely separate products.” 
• “I started looking at them as roles and job functions.” 
• “Treat your agent like a co-worker.” 
• “In two minutes, you can build an agent, and it’s useless.” 
• “Start with a very simple instruction at the beginning.” 
• “It will never be 100%. That’s the nature of generative AI.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Diagram to download: https://danikahil.com/microsoft-copilots-and-ai-agents-ecosystem-diagram/ 
• Youtube video of my walkthrough of the diagram: https://youtu.be/nZ8g11YthYI 
• Microsoft Power Platform: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platform
• Azure AI Foundry: https://azure.microsoft.com/products/ai-foundry
• Windows Copilot: https://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-11?wincampaign=Copilot

✅Keywords   
copilot, ai agents, power platform, microsoft 365, copilot studio, agent builder, azure foundry, power apps, automation, generative ai, minimum viable agent, ai adoption 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

In this episode of AI Unfiltered, Kristen Perdue explains why AI adoption fails when leaders treat it like standard software instead of a fundamental shift in how organisations operate. The conversation focuses on executive mindset, cultural alignment, and communication gaps that quietly derail AI initiatives. Kristen shares how to prioritise the right use cases, close AI literacy gaps, and re‑engineer processes so AI drives growth rather than amplifying broken workflows. 

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/812  

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• Why AI adoption is a leadership and culture challenge, not an IT rollout 
• How executive misalignment undermines AI strategy and execution 
• How to prioritise AI use cases based on real operational bottlenecks 
• Why overconfidence in AI skills creates risk across organisations 
• When process re‑engineering must happen before automation 

✅ Highlights 

• “AI is a different way of doing business. It’s not really a tool.” 
• “It doesn’t work like software. It is a completely new way of doing business.” 
• “Most approached it going, well, should I roll out AI?” 
• “We started throwing darts at a dart board anywhere it landed.” 
• “AI multiplies good and it multiplies bad.” 
• “Only 21% of the companies deploying AI even touched re‑engineering their processes.” 
• “That lack of communication is the reason initiatives fail.” 
• “People are confident, but they score 40 out of 100.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Generative AI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_artificial_intelligence 
• Process re‑engineering: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_process_reengineering 
• McKinsey study on AI and process re‑engineering: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-how-organizations-are-rewiring-to-capture-value 
• Section AI literacy report: https://www.sectionai.com/ai/the-ai-proficiency-report 

✅Keywords 
ai adoption, executive alignment, ai strategy, generative ai, ai literacy, change management, process re-engineering, business transformation, leadership mindset, ai governance, organisational culture, applied ai 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 What you’ll learn     

• How to shift AI conversations from tools to real user problems 
• Why small, repeatable habits matter more than broad AI training 
• How to design an adoption journey that builds trust and confidence 
• Ways AI can improve both productivity and quality of work 
• How to help people move from experimentation to daily AI use 

✅ Highlights     

• “I discovered ChatGPT and it helped me get back to work in just an hour a day.” 
• “It’s just another tool in the toolbox, so what do you want it to deliver to you?” 
• “We talk too much about the tool instead of a daily problem a user can relate to.” 
• “People are already in a mindset that the current tool they’re using is better.” 
• “It’s about building the habit, not just doing a one-off training.” 
• “Make it small, because we tend to tell everything about the product all at once.” 
• “If you can continue it another 30 days, then it’s going to be a habit.” 
• “I wouldn’t know what to do without it because it’s saving me so many hours a week.” 

🧰 Mentioned     

• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com  
• Microsoft Copilot:https://copilot.microsoft.com 
• M365 Copilot: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-copilot  
• Copilot Chat: https://copilot.cloud.microsoft  
• Copilot Studio: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio  
• Gamma.app: https://gamma.app  
• Microsoft Teams: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams 
• Tech Community: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com 
• Ignite: https://ignite.microsoft.com 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords      
ai adoption, copilot, chatgpt, user adoption, habit building, productivity, ai literacy, change management, microsoft 365, prompts, workplace ai, digital transformation 

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

In this episode, Mark Smith speaks with Caleb Mattingly about how startups and enterprises should approach AI governance, compliance, and risk as AI adoption accelerates. The conversation focuses on ISO 42001, common misconceptions about AI security, and why compliance is less about badges and more about trust, data quality, and long term viability. You will hear practical perspectives on when compliance becomes essential, how it functions as a sales enabler, and why human oversight still matters more than autonomous agents in high risk environments. 

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/810   

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• How ISO 42001 differs from traditional security standards like ISO 27001 
• Why AI compliance is primarily about data quality, bias, and risk anticipation 
• When compliance becomes a sales lever rather than a legal checkbox 
• Why most organisations are not ready for autonomous compliance agents 
• How startups should time compliance investments without killing runway 

✅ Highlights 

• “ISO 42001 does not prove that your AI system is secure at all.” 
• “Most of it is not security related, it’s about data quality and bias.” 
• “AI is only as good as the data that you give it.” 
• “Compliance acts as a sales lever before it acts as a security guarantee.” 
• “AI can make a lot of mistakes very quickly.” 
• “Most companies are not ready for AI agents with admin access.” 
• “SOC 2 in two weeks is not a thing.” 
• “Compliance and security are not one to one.” 
• “Enterprises care about whether you handle their data securely.” 
• “It takes a minimum of five months to get SOC 2 done properly.” 

 🧰 Mentioned 

• International Standards Organization: https://www.iso.org/ 
• ISO 42001: https://www.iso.org/standard/42001  
• ISO 27001: https://www.iso.org/standard/27001  
• SOC 2: https://www.aicpa-cima.com/topic/audit-assurance/audit-and-assurance-greater-than-soc-2 
• EU AI Act: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/oj/eng 

✅Keywords 
ai governance, iso 42001, ai compliance, startup compliance, data privacy, soc 2, iso certification, ai risk management, enterprise sales, ai regulation, security and privacy, responsible ai 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

This episode explores how AI coding agents are reshaping how software is built, through the practical experience of Vardhaman Deshpande. The core insight is that pro-code developers using natural language with modern AI models can now build features and agents faster than many low-code tools. The conversation examines velocity gains, trade-offs between pro-code and low-code, and what this shift means for professionals building AI-powered solutions.
 
🎙️  Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/809

👉 What you’ll learn     

• When pro-code plus AI is faster than low-code tools 
• How natural language is becoming a new interface for software development 
• Where Copilot Studio fits, and where it may slow teams down 
• How AI agents accelerate feature delivery and testing 
• What skills matter as AI-driven development matures 

✅ Highlights     

• “My workflow is actually faster than doing something in a low-code, no-code environment.” 
• “Pro-code plus AI coding agents might actually be faster to build than low-code.” 
• “Recent models are amazing at translating natural language to code.” 
• “Earlier something that took weeks I can probably do in a couple of days now.” 
• “The velocity of creating features for products is going to explode.” 
• “Why do you need that middleware?” 
• “Prompting rather than configuring is the transition we’re starting to see.” 
• “How much of pro-code versus low-code is realistic remains to be seen.” 
• “Things which were prohibitively time-consuming have become possible now.” 

🧰 Mentioned     

• Microsoft Foundry: https://azure.microsoft.com/products/ai-foundry/  
• Azure AI Services: https://ai.azure.com/explore/aiservices 
• Copilot Studio: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio/  
• GitHub Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot  
• Power Virtual Agents: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot/blog/copilot-studio/microsoft-power-virtual-agents-now-part-of-microsoft-copilot-studio/ 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords      
ai agents, pro-code, low-code, github copilot, copilot studio, microsoft foundry, azure ai, natural language coding, software velocity, ai development, microsoft ecosystem, automation 

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙️ What you’ll learn   

• How to identify the right problems before introducing AI 
• Where small businesses can gain real efficiency with AI 
• Why overusing AI can damage trust and customer experience 
• How to reduce risk when using free and built-in AI tools 
• Practical ways to start small and fail fast with AI initiatives 

✅ Highlights 

• “You can't be in a state of curiosity and judgment at the same time.” 
• “AI shouldn’t be your decision-making platform.” 
• “We still have people making those buying decisions.” 
• “Most folks are using it, but at a preference level.” 
• “What tools do you own, and are you using them?” 
• “Content is great, but it can get you into trouble.” 
• “People are doing business with a small business because they feel connected.” 
• “Most AI projects are not successful.” 
• “Start with the thing nobody really wants to do.” 
• “Small businesses can be more nimble.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Microsoft Power Platform: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platform  
• Dynamics: https://www.microsoft.com/dynamics-365  
• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com  
• HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com  
• Google Workspace: https://workspace.google.com  
• Gemini: https://gemini.google.com 

✅Keywords   
ai adoption, small business ai, automation, efficiency, digital transformation, crm, power platform, entrepreneurship, ai risk, ai culture, process improvement, human centred ai 

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• How agentic AI is shifting from demos to real work execution 
• Why many businesses are still years behind practical AI adoption 
• How to identify one business problem where AI can move the needle 
• What organisational memory is and why agents depend on it 
• How to use AI to learn skills rather than replace thinking 

 ✅ Highlights  

• “There’s not going to be a slowdown. I think this is just a new normal.” 
• “I think business are more lost than ever.” 
• “We live in a bubble, but businesses are still two years back.” 
• “2026 is really the year where we’re going to see business start knocking off things using agentic AI.” 
• “Every business today have to be driving a bus on the highway and changing the wheels.” 
• “AI is going to disrupt your business. That is a fact.” 
• “Context is the key to having reliable agents.” 
• “An agent without memory is nothing.” 
• “Innovation has to come from the bottom up.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Agentic AI: https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/agentic-ai  
• OpenClaw: https://openclaw.ai/  
• Snowflake: https://www.snowflake.com/  
• Knowledge graph technology: https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/knowledge-graph  
• Artificial general intelligence (AGI): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_general_intelligence 

✅Keywords 
agentic ai, ai adoption, organisational memory, business strategy, ai agents, knowledge graph, crm systems, enterprise ai, ai learning, automation, digital transformation, ai disruption 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/806 

👉 What you’ll learn     

• How to use SharePoint and metadata to create a canonical source of truth for AI 
• Why good governance and information architecture are prerequisites for effective AI 
• Practical ways to reduce AI hallucinations through grounding and authoritative records 
• How role-based AI assistants differ from narrow task-based agents 
• Why AI adoption should be treated as core business infrastructure, not optional add-ons 

✅ Highlights     

• “If you haven’t got good governance and good information architecture, you cannot have good AI.” 
• “I came up with this concept using SharePoint to create the brain of the business.” 
• “It’s the authoritative record, and in it, it is fully human legible.” 
• “We’re really doing is creating virtual employees or virtual staff.” 
• “I don’t like the word agent. I think it’s too tech.” 
• “AI is more like electricity.” 
• “People think they’re using Copilot, but they’re not talking about the same thing.” 
• “Most organisations don’t really know what their ethical position is.” 
• “The AI is completely impartial. It goes, yeah, but you said.” 
• “That knowledge bank enables people to be much more productive.” 

🧰 Mentioned     

• Copilot Chat: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/copilot/overview 
• Copilot Studio: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio/ 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 
• Microsoft Ignite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s315Ms2nWr4&list=PLlrxD0HtieHi5KXOFyeMkZbq226jkxRzh  

✅ Keywords      
ai governance, microsoft copilot, sharepoint, information architecture, metadata, business productivity, ai agents, canonical data, digital workplace, executive decision making, ethics in ai, knowledge management 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/805

🎙️ What you’ll learn  

• How to build an AI-ready culture without waiting for perfect certainty 
• Where AI agents deliver value beyond chatbots in day-to-day work 
• How human-in-the-loop design reduces risk while increasing speed 
• Ways regulated industries can innovate responsibly with AI 
• Why slow AI adoption can be more dangerous than thoughtful experimentation 

✅ Highlights 

• “We have more AI agents than we do employees.” 
• “Ethics means understanding where we are in the curve of possibilities.” 
• “We are not going to turn back the clock.” 
• “Companies that do not figure this out will not be around.” 
• “There is no such thing as total comfort with AI.” 
• “You need a safe place where people can share what they are learning.” 
• “AI is an extension of culture, but also something new.” 
• “Every minute that we wait diminishes value.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Microsoft Teams: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams 
• AI agents: https://cloud.google.com/discover/what-are-ai-agents 
• Sam’s powerful 9/11 story and what catalyzed his civic journey [06:18]: https://tobijohnson.com/167-keeping-civic-engagement-alive-despite-funding-cuts-with-sam-fankuchen/ 
• Nonprofit Leadership Podcast: https://nonprofitleadershippodcast.org/can-ai-enhance-rather-than-replace-empathy/

✅Keywords 
artificial intelligence, ai agents, ai culture, responsible ai, human in the loop, regulated industries, ai adoption, business transformation, ethics, productivity, collaboration, ai strategy 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

Danny Burlage joins The MVP Show to explore why AI adoption in organisations is stalling and what actually moves it forward. The conversation moves beyond personal productivity to focus on AI as infrastructure, process transformation, and organisational capability. Danny shares what he sees in European enterprises, why Copilot adoption has lagged, and how companies can move from isolated pilots to real business impact by redesigning end to end processes and building AI literacy at scale.

🎙 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/804

👉 What you’ll learn     

• Why personal productivity gains rarely convince executives to invest in AI 
• How to reframe Copilot and AI as organisational infrastructure, not a tool 
• What separates AI proof of concepts that fail from those that reach production 
• How gamified training can accelerate AI and Copilot adoption 
• Where real AI value emerges through cross functional, end to end processes 

✅ Highlights     

• “We see adoption of end user or bring your own AI going through the roof” 
• “The whole Copilot experience when they hit the market was not that great” 
• “At this moment, if I compare ChatGPT towards a Copilot, Copilot is better” 
• “Nobody’s interested in saving half an hour per employee per day” 
• “They’re all interested in how can we improve organisational wide processes” 
• “AI has been seen as a nice bit of new tech rather than infrastructure” 
• “Most software developers are becoming prompt engineers on steroids” 
• “That’s where the actual proof of the pudding is” 
• “We’re slowly getting there but we’re not there yet” 

🧰 Mentioned     

• Microsoft Copilot: https://www.copilot.com/ 
• Microsoft Teams: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams  
• SharePoint: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/sharepoint/collaboration 
• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/ 
• Azure AI Foundry: https://azure.microsoft.com/products/ai-foundry/ 
• Facilitator app in Microsoft Teams: https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoftteams/facilitator-teams 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords      
ai adoption, microsoft copilot, enterprise ai, ai literacy, digital transformation, agentic ai, process automation, copilot training, ai governance, business processes, generative ai, productivity

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

This episode explores how organisations can move from AI curiosity to real value using Microsoft Copilot and agents, drawing on practical insights from Yves Habersaat. The conversation focuses on adoption that starts where people already work, keeps early use cases simple, and scales only when the need is clear. It also covers real-world agent scenarios, model choice, and why low-code tools are often enough to deliver results quickly. 

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/803

🎙️ What you’ll learn     

• How to introduce Copilot in tools teams already use every day 
• Why Teams is often the fastest way to see AI value 
• When simple agents are enough and when custom builds make sense 
• How to approach agent design without overengineering 
• Why understanding the use case matters more than the tool choice 

🔴 Highlights     

• “A lot of customers want to try concretely what is AI.” 
• “They want to use AI in the day-to-day basis.” 
• “Teams is a really good entry point.” 
• “You can have concrete results without spending a lot of time.” 
• “Keep it simple at the beginning.” 
• “After, you add more complexity and more logic.” 
• “Copilot Studio has evolved a lot.” 
• “You need to understand the use case first.” 

🧰 Mentioned     

• Microsoft Copilot - https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 
• Agent SDK (Microsoft 365 Agents SDK) -  https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/agents-sdk/ 
• Azure AI Foundry -  https://ai.azure.com/ 
• Azure -  https://azure.microsoft.com/ 
• ChatGPT -  https://chat.openai.com/ 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords      
microsoft copilot, ai agents, copilot studio, microsoft teams, azure ai, agent sdk, ai adoption, prompting, enterprise ai, ai workflows, low code ai, applied ai 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/802   

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• How to identify AI opportunities by examining business processes, not tools 
• Why most AI pilots stall before delivering real value 
• How incentives and operating models determine AI ROI 
• When ROI metrics help and when they get in the way 
• How productivity gains can unlock business model innovation 

✅ Highlights 

• “Let’s not talk about use cases. Let’s talk about your processes.” 
• “If you don’t have to mow your lawn, why would you do it?” 
• “You’re just going to shift the bottleneck to another place.” 
• “There’s a very high level of maturity in the potential.” 
• “There’s generally a very low level of maturity in the willingness.” 
• “People are talking a lot about the drill.” 
• “Generative AI is transformation.” 
• “It’s a change in the way that you’re working.” 
• “AI gives people permission to innovate.” 

 🧰 Mentioned  

• Start your own value-creating GenAI Journey with our "rapid" diagnostic here: 
  Survey Page | AnteSyn Advisors - https://www.antesynadvisors.com/blank-3  
• "How to Flourish" with guest Daniel Coyle - EconTalk Podcast Archive - Econlib - https://www.econtalk.org/  
• Generative AI - https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/generative-ai 
• MIT study on AI ROI -  https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/28/1126693/finding-return-on-ai-investments-across-industries/  
• Proofs of concept (POCs) -  https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/proof-of-concept-definition 
• Design thinking viability and feasibility concepts https://www.uxdesigninstitute.com/blog/desirability-viability-and-feasibility/ 

✅Keywords 
generative ai, ai roi, operating model, business processes, productivity, innovation, incentives, ai pilots, digital transformation, leadership, applied ai, enterprise ai 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• Map AI adoption into segments and tailor support levels to each group. 
• Respond to “no thanks” with clear expectations and a path to re-engage.  
• Build champions by focusing on domain expertise, not technical depth.  
• Scale internal wins by giving champions access to enterprise tools and visibility.  
• Decide when to use personal AI tools versus enterprise copilots for data separation.  

 🔴Highlights 

• “My entire role is about AI enablement.”  
• “There’s such a spectrum of where people are.”  
• “I think that there will be a place for some people to opt out.”  
• “It will become very difficult for people not to use it because they will fall behind.”  
• “We don’t all need to be AI experts.”  
• “You’re already an expert in whatever your domain is.”  
• “Access is, a big one.”  
• “Showcasing those wins and successes, giving them platforms.”  
• “I use Pi on my phone a lot.”  
• “I don’t want answers tied to my corporate data.”  

🧰 Mentioned 

• Pi - https://pi.ai/ 
• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/ 
• Change management: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_management 
• MVP Summit:https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-US/Summit [mvp.microsoft.com] 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅Keywords 
ai enablement, ai adoption, change management, champions, resistance, opt out, productivity, enterprise access, copilot, chatgpt, professional services, agents 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

This episode tracks how Manbhawan Prasad and the Word team are evolving Copilot from simple prompt-based help to goal-based “agent mode” that can plan and edit documents directly. You will hear practical, enterprise-focused examples: using SharePoint knowledge as authoritative context, reducing blank-page inertia, mirroring customer language from emails and meeting transcripts, and using AI as an always-on reviewer for structure, clarity, and accuracy. 

👉️ Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/800

🎙️ What you’ll learn  

• Shift from instruction prompts to goal-based document creation with “agent mode” in Word. 
• Build a SharePoint “knowledge vault” so Copilot can draft with authoritative business context.  
• Use retrieval (RAG-style grounding) to write specs and proposals from internal files, emails, chats, decks, and meetings.  
• Improve proposals by mirroring a customer’s terminology pulled from email threads and meeting transcripts.  
• Apply Copilot as a reviewer to spot gaps, inconsistencies, and missed requirements across long documents. 

✅ Highlights 

• “Creation and comprehension, that's all.” 
• “We are going beyond that and we are making it unable to solve your goal.”  
• “We are calling agent mode inside Word.”  
• “Most of the customers' data is in either Microsoft files or SharePoint, et cetera.”  
• “Use those as RAG in RAG model to kind of generate or even answer accurately.”  
• “First of all, inertia is gone because it gives you a starting point right away in seconds.”  
• It also sometimes brings information which you and I may not have thought of.”  
• “Do you see any gaps in my communication?”  
• “It can directly edit the document and it can directly, you know, create a document.”  
• “The interface for every app will become natural language.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Microsoft Copilot: https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 
• Microsoft Word: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/word 
• SharePoint: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/sharepoint/collaboration 
• PowerPoint: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/powerpoint 
• Visio: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/visio 

✅Keywords 
copilot, microsoft word, agent mode, generative ai, sharepoint, rag, chatgpt, proposal, rfp, natural language, microsoft editor, visio 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/799   

🎙️ What you’ll learn  

• Why AI makes weak metrics and OKRs more dangerous, not more effective 
• How to shift from goal setting to puzzle setting in product and AI work 
• A practical framework for defining problems before jumping to solutions 
• How to measure learning and narrative, not just numbers 
• How puzzle solving supports sustainable innovation and growth 

✅ Highlights 

• “We measured success by the logos of companies on our website.” 
• “Are we all just doomed to learn from trial and error?” 
• “Everything that we humans can do in terms of optimizing numbers, AI can do it even better.” 
• “What is the puzzle is the question we should have been asking.” 
• “The more intimacy was gamified, the more it created a toxic dating environment.” 
• “You kind of need to stay with the discomfort.” 
• “Don’t just spit out numbers at me.” 
• “They hated magic and they did not trust technology.” 
• “This approach was more like putting your ears on the tracks.” 
• “It is the biggest illusion that OKRs work.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Radical Product Thinking
  https://www.radicalproduct.com/  
• OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)
  https://www.atlassian.com/agile/agile-at-scale/okr
• Puzzle setting and puzzle solving framework
  https://www.radicalproduct.com/toolkit/ 
• Design thinking
  https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/design-thinking  
• Toyota 5 Whys
  https://www.learnleansigma.com/guides/5-whys/  

✅Keywords 
artificial intelligence, ai innovation, okrs, product thinking, puzzle setting, metrics, innovation culture, design thinking, product strategy, ai metrics, business transformation, experimentation 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/798 

🎙️What you’ll learn      

• How to help teams build sustainable Copilot habits 
• How internal communities strengthen adoption 
• How to identify high value Copilot use cases 
• How to support behavioural change during AI transformation 
• How to structure training and sponsorship for successful rollout 

✅ Highlights   

• “Take a step at a time really to use Copilot.” 
• “How can I translate this into my daily work.” 
• “The idea is really to help people to stick with Copilot.” 
• “It is hard to stay on track of all the changes.” 
• “This internal community is amazingly important.” 
• “Find use cases that can be improved with Copilot.” 
• “You have the perfect unit when you work with teams.” 
• “Look for executive sponsor, but real executive sponsor.” 
• “Try to work not only down to top but also top to down.” 
• “Help people really embrace the tools in ways that make sense for them.” 

🧰 Mentioned     

• Microsoft 365 - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365 
• Microsoft Teams - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/download-app 
• Copilot - https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 
• Copilot Studio - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio/ 
• Dynamics 365 Customer Service - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-365/products/customer-service 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords      
microsoft 365, copilot, adoption, teams, sharepoint, serviceNow, dynamics 365, training, community, cloud, automation, behaviour change

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/797   

🎙️ What you’ll learn  

• How to strengthen cyber hygiene using behaviour‑based training 
• How AI bias emerges and why validation and critical thinking matter 
• How to reduce insider‑risk through access control and observation 
• How zero‑trust improves resilience beyond the legacy walled‑garden model 
• How to help staff recognise social engineering and emotional manipulation 

✅ Highlights 

• “We're using it to produce videos, to produce scripts for the videos, ideas” 
• “AI lies to you with very convincing falsehoods” 
• “Rewarded behaviours are repeated” 
• “Leaderboards… got leaders within companies to actually participate” 
• “It's not rocket science. It's a lot of common sense” 
• “Accidents happen and not malicious, not intentional, but boy can they have tragic consequences” 
• “We have to try in some way” 
• “The world is flat… our front doors are logically open to the world” 
• “If you ever get an e‑mail that makes you want to take an immediate action, pause” 
• “Anyone that wants a little free awareness training… cyberhoot.com slash individuals” 

 🧰 Mentioned 

• Main Website: https://cyberhoot.com/ 
• Individual Registration (Free Personal Training for Life): https://cyberhoot.com/individuals/ 
• Businesses & MSP Registration Signup: https://nest.cyberhoot.com/autopilot-signup/? 
• Newsletter Registration: https://cyberhoot.com/newsletters/ 
• Blog Articles: https://cyberhoot.com/blog/ 
• Cybrary (Library of 1000+ Cybersecurity Terms in non-technical language): https://cyberhoot.com/cybrary/ 

🎯 Special Podcast Offer: 

• 20% off CyberHoot for 1 year using the podcast’s unique coupon code: "AI Unfiltered" 

✅Keywords 
cybersecurity, ai bias, zero trust, social engineering, cyber literacy, behaviour change, phishing, deepfakes, access control, insider risk, data protection, training 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙️ Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/796

👉 What you’ll learn      

• How Microsoft 365 Copilot supports personal efficiency
• How AI agents extend productivity across meetings and workflows
• How Loop, Copilot pages and notebooks support flexible collaboration
• How metadata and information architecture improve Copilot performance
• How professionals can upskill across Copilot Studio, agents and Azure AI Foundry
 
✅ Highlights      

• “My area of specialty is Microsoft 365 and then especially the collaboration and the productivity side of things.” 
• “We see a lot of shifts towards agents.” 
• “Using Microsoft 365 Copilot for personal efficiency, just as your little personal intern.” 
• “The facilitator agent… joins your meeting and keeps track and then takes your meeting notes for you.” 
• “The knowledge agent is also very good at adding metadata columns to your SharePoint sites.”
• “I completely started to learn where Loop stores something, how you can retain it, how you can save it.” 
• “I use Loop in your daily work, and not just Loop, but also Copilot pages and Copilot notebooks.” 
• “You can make some really nice infographics with it.” 
• “Everything you create gets created in your company’s style.” 
• “I definitely want to learn how to use agents more in my workflow.” 
• “I also want to dive deeper into Azure AI Foundry.” 
• “It was completely new to me… I never really touched Azure in any way.”

🧰 Mentioned       

• Microsoft 365 - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365   
• SharePoint - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/sharepoint/collaboration 
• Microsoft Copilot - https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 
• Microsoft Copilot Studio - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio/ 
• Azure AI Foundry - https://ai.azure.com/ 
• Microsoft Loop - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-loop
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords     
microsoft 365, copilot, agents, loop, planner, sharepoint, metadata, productivity, azure ai foundry, collaboration, meetings, workflows 

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/795

🎙️ What you’ll learn   

• How AI agents are reshaping governance expectations across organisations 
• Practical steps to evolve your skills for an AI‑centred workflow 
• How to balance innovation with safe, secure agent deployment 
• Why data security and red‑team style testing matter more than ever 
• How to identify when to use Copilot Studio versus Foundry 

✅ Highlights  

• “2026 feels like when people actually start doubling down and taking it seriously.” 
• “AI will not take your job. AI will just change your job.” 
• “How do I become an agent boss?”  
• “Governance does not have to slow innovation.”  
• “You can’t ignore this big thing called AI because you’re going to lose competitive advantage.” 
• “Testing an agent is completely different.”  
• “Prompt engineering is a big one.”  
• “There are now more moving parts… you can’t just get away with building an app anymore.”  
• “My mindset needs to shift from doing things manually to validating what AI gives me.”  
• “Next year is going to be doubling down a lot of that… it’s here, let’s embrace it.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Microsoft Power Platform: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform 
• Copilot Studio: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio/ [microsoft.com] 
• Foundry: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/ai-foundry/ 
• Microsoft Entra: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/fundamentals/what-is-entra 
• Microsoft Purview: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/purview 

✅Keywords   
ai agents, governance, power platform, copilot studio, foundry, data security, prompt engineering, red teaming, power automate, power fx, entra, microsoft purview 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙️ What you’ll learn  

• How AI analyses everyday conversations to reveal leadership patterns 
• How to identify gaps between perceived and actual leadership behaviour 
• How real‑time feedback improves clarity, alignment and team dynamics 
• How to shorten the long development gap for early‑career leaders 
• How psycholinguistics and trend data support better leadership decisions 

✅ Highlights 

• “We explore real‑world AI applications, share practical insights, and discuss how businesses are implementing responsible, ethical, and trustworthy AI.” 
• “Parafoil analyses how you lead in the work.” 
• “By measuring pronouns and prepositions you can work out all sorts of things.” 
• “It gives you an analysis of how each conversation’s gone after the fact.” 
• “You don’t have to recount what happened to a chatbot.” 
• “A problem never gets better with time.” 
• “Leadership can only really be learned through the doing of the do.” 
• “Most managers consider themselves to be accidental.” 
• “How do we help people earlier in their career and not have a ten year delta” 
• “His communication style really shifted over the course of the next two to three weeks.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Parafoil - https://parafoil.co/  
• Microsoft AI - https://microsoft.ai/  
• Google – www.google.com  

✅Keywords 
ai, leadership, management, psycholinguistics, feedback, teams, communication, alignment, leadership development, leadership intelligence, product, coaching 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

• How to evaluate AI opportunities based on real business value 
• How to move from Copilot centric thinking to case driven AI strategy 
• How leadership buy in affects adoption and trust 
• How to align AI projects with the EU AI Act 
• How agents and agent communication can streamline work 

✅ Highlights 

• “User adoption is not training.” 
• “There is often a lack of trust in the business.” 
• “Get off the AI hype and talk about what is really good for the business.” 
• “Sometimes an expectation from customers where they think they understood which tool is the best.” 
• “If someone is not convinced then it is not working.” 
• “We have some railguards to protect how we want to use AI for better good.” 
• “Now we have a more mature thinking about AI.” 
• “Agents are the future from my point of view.” 
• “They can really solve some steps in your daily work.” 
• “The technology in this area is on light speed.” 

🧰 Mentioned      

• Microsoft 365: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365 
• Microsoft Teams: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/download-app 
• SharePoint: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/sharepoint/collaboration 
• Power Platform: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords       
ai, copilot, user adoption, business processes, microsoft 365, teams, sharepoint, power platform, dynamics, eu ai act, agents, change management 

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

John Rood shares how organisations can unlock real value from AI by balancing innovation, governance, and compliance. Learn why robust frameworks, practical training, and a bottom-up approach are key to sustainable AI adoption and risk management. 

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/792 

🎙️ What you’ll learn  

• How to implement effective AI governance without stifling innovation 
• Practical steps for building an AI management system 
• The role of ISO 42001 and the EU AI Act in compliance 
• Strategies to drive AI adoption and avoid shadow AI 
• How to design ongoing AI literacy programmes for all staff 

 ✅ Highlights 

• “A poorly designed policy, I think, does stifle innovation. I think a well-conceived policy manages that trade-off.” 
• “Shadow AI happens because organisations go buy an AI product and then lock it down.” 
• “Our first recommendation… is that you’ve got to have someone to champion AI initiatives.” 
• “Most organisations will start either from ISO 42001, or… the NIST AI risk management framework.” 
• “The idea is we’re not just trying to put together a set of policies… What we’re trying to create is a living process.” 
• “A great AI management system defines who has to get trained in what, and then make sure that actually happens on a regular basis.” 
• “If your customers knew how you treat their data, they might not be your customers anymore.” 
• “The top-down programmes tend to go poorly, whereas the… bottom-up programmes tend to do much better.” 
• “When we are able to empower more people… we start to build the organisation’s muscle.” 
• “The first step… is always regulatory.” 
• “EU AI Act is written… to be extraordinarily broad.” 
• “At the top of the pyramid, there’s a certain set of fairly robust training or literacy requirements that should be for whoever’s actually making the AI.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• ISO 42001: https://www.iso.org/standard/42001  
• EU AI Act: https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/the-act/  
• NIST AI risk management framework: https://www.nist.gov/itl/ai-risk-management-framework  
• GDPR: https://gdpr.eu/ 

✅Keywords 
ai governance, iso 42001, eu ai act, compliance, shadow ai, risk management, ai management system, ai literacy, bottom-up adoption, regulatory, data privacy, nist framework 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙️ FULL SHOW NOTES
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/791

👉 What you’ll learn       

• How to identify early adopters who accelerate Copilot uptake 
• How to design training that builds confidence and practical skills 
• How to prepare IT and support teams for Copilot readiness 
• How to use questioning techniques to uncover high value use cases 
• How to support teams with tools like Loop, Teams and Clipchamp 

✅ Highlights      

• “You want to find the people that are curious about it.” 
• “Success to me is that they’re using it, looking at those reports.” 
• “We want to come up with a policy for usage and have some of those guardrails in place.” 
• “They wanted to have everything in place before they did it.” 
• “Find the people that are curious about anything that is cutting edge.” 
• “Those are usually the people that are going to want to dig in and learn.” 
• “I am getting more questions about agents recently.” 
• “The facilitator agent is also great about keeping you on track.” 
• “There is some confusion about OneNote and Loop.” 
• “I would love to see more crossover and uniformity.” 
• “Create was one of those aha moments.” 
• “Clipchamp has a lot of the AI capabilities built into it.” 

🧰 Mentioned       

• Microsoft 365 - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365 
• Copilot - https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 
• LinkedIn Learning - https://www.linkedin.com/learning/ 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords     
copilot, adoption, microsoft 365, loop, onenote, teams, clipchamp, training, ai skills, power platform, productivity, change management 

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/790

🎙️ What you’ll learn   

• Apply actionable tools to overcome imposter syndrome 
• Build and retain high-performing technology teams 
• Use AI to boost confidence and productivity 
• Strengthen consulting skills for business impact 
• Foster cultures of trust, feedback, and continuous improvement 

✅ Highlights 

• “AI can help you with a blank canvas and turn a blank canvas into a starter for 10th, and get you moving, get you motivating, break that blank page sort of fear and anxiety that gets built up.”  
• “Brag list is something I do myself and I also encourage others to do.” 
• “You develop this network where you don’t have to be the font of all knowledge.” 
• “Having that sensible conversation, I think we are losing that.” 
• “You’re not just a developer. You are a consultant.” 
• “If you don’t feel, if you feel like you’re just being managed, again, that just becomes you being a number again.”  
• “Build the right culture, you have that mentality from everyone.” 
• “If you have them all, it’s not going to make you motivated. It’s just going to bring you to break even, if you like.”  
• “You’ve got to look at some of these other variables and they are, they’re so important, you know, and yes, they take time.”  
• “Let’s rebuild your vision. Let’s realign to your vision.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Microsoft Power Platform: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform  
• Azure: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us  
• Dynamics: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us  
• Business Central: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-365/products/business-central  
• Copilot: https://copilot.microsoft.com/  

✅Keywords   
ai, imposter syndrome, consulting skills, tech teams, power platform, business central, azure, dynamics, copilot, culture, feedback, continuous improvement 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/789  

🎙️ What you’ll learn  

• Identify actionable ways to use AI for analysing customer stories 
• Build trust and engagement through authentic storytelling 
• Apply agility and intent to stay ahead in tech-driven markets 
• Develop internal AI skills and centres of excellence 
• Move beyond traditional advertising to foster genuine community connection 

✅ Highlights 

• “We explore real-world AI applications, share practical insights, and discuss how businesses are implementing responsible, ethical, and trustworthy AI.” 
• “We help them find the signal in the noise… AI allows us to find those unique patterns.” 
• “Giving them the voice itself is important.” 
• “Stories are more primitive… there’s a natural imprinting on us that does that.” 
• “Telling a human, bringing a story to the table is going to naturally connect with humans.” 
• “Tech is one of those things we need to ride like a surfboard.” 
• “Companies should consider… planet, society, economy.” 
• “Trust is a heck of a sales tool. If you can find a way to help people trust you and your brand, genuinely trust it, it’s gold.” 
• “First thing for companies to do to tell a better story of their customers is look internal with these technologies to make their team better.” 
• “People are tired of ads. Your ads don’t work.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Machine learning - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/paths/create-machine-learn-models/  
• Generative AI - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/playbook/technology-guidance/generative-ai/  
• Center of excellence model - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/guidance/coe/overview  

✅Keywords 
ai, storytelling, business, technology, trust, agility, customer engagement, centre of excellence, community, human connection, brand, creative tool 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙️ Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/788

👉 What you’ll learn     

• Assess Copilot readiness and secure sensitive data before deployment 
• Apply Zero Trust principles and simplify data labelling for real-world use 
• Use Copilot to streamline meetings, notes, and executive summaries 
• Identify and address over-shared information risks in M365 
• Build a culture of continuous learning and knowledge sharing in tech teams 

✅ Highlights     

• “We call it a M365 Copilot readiness assessment, where we go and look at your data.” 
• “Zero Trust is a great one. It spikes up every sort of year.” 
• “Data labelling is really key. Keep it simple so users don’t overthink.” 
• “Copilot is so powerful at finding information that’s been lost somewhere.” 
• “Mandatory labelling: before you can hit save, you have to enforce it there.” 
• “Meeting recordings and Teams notes - Copilot can summarise, give action items, and minutes.” 
• “The value of having this licence is we’ve saved 2 man hours of this consultant.” 
• “Security Copilot is really good at certain use cases. Some predefined ones work exactly as they say on the tin.” 
• “Continuous professional development - can’t just rely on what you knew last month or last year.” 
• “The best person in the team isn’t the person who’s got the most information. It’s the person who’s best at sharing.” 
• “Microsoft’s changing those things, they’re now disabling basic authentication, great.” 
• “It’s constantly changing and there’s a bit of that sort of almost gamification of it.” 

 🧰 Mentioned     

• Microsoft 365 - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365 
• Microsoft Copilot - https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 
• Purview - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/microsoft-purview 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords      
copilot, zero trust, data labelling, security, microsoft 365, purview, compliance, teams, sharepoint online, professional development, knowledge sharing, australian government 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

• Frame AI investments with a clear business value model tied to strategic objectives 
• Identify and quantify use cases using benchmarks and customer scenarios 
• Move beyond time savings to decisions on how freed time is used 
• Rethink processes for AI, not just automate existing steps 
• Apply autonomous agents to transform CRM/ERP into intelligent platforms 

 ✅ Highlights  

• “It feels like when the internet was introduced… a big disruptive thing.” 
• “Our focus is business applications, Power Platform, and recently M365 Copilot.” 
• “We help customers quantify: if I’m spending $1, how much am I getting in return?” 
• “We use our own technology—customer zero—to benchmark and quantify value.” 
• “What do you actually do with this time… that’s the most interesting.” 
• “Think about your processes, but rethink them.” 
• “AI is becoming the backbone of our modern business applications.” 
• “We’ve brought modern work and business applications together in a team called ABS.” 
• “Pre‑built autonomous agents in sales, service, finance, supply chain, and customer insights.” 
• “Traditional CRM and ERP are transformed into intelligent platforms.” 

 🧰 Mentioned 

• Business Value Assessment (BVA) tool - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/guidance/coe/business-value-toolkit 
• Power Platform - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform 
• M365 Copilot - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot 
• Agents / autonomous agents - https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2024/10/21/new-autonomous-agents-scale-your-team-like-never-before/ 
• Customer zero - https://www.microsoft.com/insidetrack/blog/inside-microsoft-being-customer-zero-in-an-ai-powered-world/ 
• Contact center productivity - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-365/products/contact-center 

✅Keywords 
ai, power platform, business value assessment, m365 copilot, autonomous agents, crm, erp, productivity, one microsoft, finance, contact center, low‑code 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/786     

🎙️ What you’ll learn  

• How AI accelerates fact driven hiring 
• How CEOs can attract top talent through direct outreach 
• How to design effective screener questions with AI 
• How assessments surface high potential candidates 
• How AI enabled systems cut time to offer 

✅ Highlights 

• "It starts with having a great team." 
• "AI came along and we were able to take that entire process and accelerate the timeframe." 
• "A lot of hiring can be done almost completely on automatic using AI." 
• "AI is way less biased than the human." 
• "Ask some really well worded multiple choice questions that AI created for us." 
• "It eliminated 90 percent of those applicants right off the bat because they've self selected." 
• "Assessments do a phenomenal job of bringing the people with the right integrity and behavioural makeup to the surface." 
• "I almost never hire anybody with direct experience." 
• "We built the system from an AI lens." 
• "We onboard folks and get them up and running almost instantly." 
• "Hiring is mostly going to be automated in the next five years." 
• "The people who really embrace that are going to be the architects driving results." 

🧰 Mentioned 

• The FACT Driven Hiring System eLearning Course - https://discovered.ai/hiring-academy/  
• Discovered - https://www.discovered.ai 
• Y Combinator -  https://www.ycombinator.com
• Hiring Expert GPT - https://chatgpt.com/g/g-ves0BxHrx-hiring-expert

✅Keywords 
ai hiring, recruitment, assessments, a players, smb hiring, job analysis, screening, onboarding, bias reduction, automation, talent strategy, ceo outreach 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙️ Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/785

👉 What you’ll learn    

• How to move from basic Copilot prompts to agentic, enhancement-focused workflows 
• How hardware design influences productivity and meeting presence 
• How speaker attribution, transcription and translation are reshaping collaboration 
• How to improve video quality with simple upgrades to lighting, cameras and placement 
• How home automation and monitoring can streamline daily routines 

✅ Highlights    

• “I use it as a bit of a do engine. Copilot, do this for me, Copilot, do that for me.” “I’m trying to cross the chasm to where we move from that just getting it to do stuff to enhance me.” 
• “The translation stuff is just blows my mind.” 
• “You can kind of opt in and train it and teach it your linguistic style and your tone.” 
• “It’s garbage in, garbage out.” 
• “You wouldn’t leave the house looking terrible, so why would you turn up to the meeting looking terrible?” 
• “Stop sucking on the way you look.” 
• “Any free power is free power at the end of the day.” 
• “Lithium iron phosphate is the new chemistry that everyone sort of loves because it’s super safe.” 
• “You can knock up a large amount of kilowatt storage now.” 

🧰 Mentioned      

• Microsoft Teams - https://teams.microsoft.com 
• Copilot - https://copilot.microsoft.com 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords     
copilot, teams, logitech, webcams, teleprompter, ai, video quality, home assistant, automation, translation, transcription, unified communications 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/784 

🎙️ What you’ll learn   

• How to transition from permanent roles to contracting and freelancing 
• How to design a flexible work model that supports income and lifestyle goals 
• How to build a personal brand that attracts clients 
• How to niche effectively to strengthen positioning 
• How AI and market shifts are reshaping job security and opportunity 

✅ Highlights 

• “You're expected to be with the same customer Monday to Friday, 9 to 5.” 
• “I designed my work year. I can dictate what my day looks like.” 
• “That freedom is quite special.” 
• “It's about the value that you put on walking the kids to school together.” 
• “It's whatever you choose it to be.” 
• “People in permanent jobs are scared to leave their permanent job that they feel is secure.” 
• “If you've got the chance now to get involved with the change, then do it.” 
• “There's a powerful but limited window now for people in the business that are interested in the tech.” 
• “You could be the absolute superstar in accounting AI.” 
• “Selling to an existing customer is said to be 7 times cheaper.” 
• “This gives 6 to 12 months runway for those people who might be thinking about it.” 
• “The phenomenon of AI is coming.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Microsoft Power Platform https://powerplatform.microsoft.com/ 
• Dynamics 365 https://dynamics.microsoft.com/ 
• Power Pages https://powerpages.microsoft.com/ 
• Scottish Summit https://scottishsummit.com/ 

✅Keywords   
power platform, dynamics 365, freelancing, contracting, ai, job security, personal brand, niching, career change, Microsoft, power pages, mentoring 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/783    

🎙️ What you’ll learn  

• How to identify AI use cases that align with real business strategy 
• How mindset training supports sustainable AI transformation 
• How to build cross departmental ecosystems that accelerate innovation 
• How to move proofs of concept into production with stronger data baselines 
• How to lead ethically during AI driven organisational change 

✅ Highlights 

• “What in the world are we doing with AI?” 
• “Everyone is stuck on really making it work.” 
• “We go in with a workshop called Mindset Before Machines.” 
• “People want to fix their pressing issues without going to the root cause.” 
• “We need to start thinking in constant innovation cycles.” 
• “You cannot delegate complexity anymore.” 
• “Technology is part of your DNA, not a side piece.” 
• “AI implementation is essentially a very human problem.” 
• “Values are grounding to us.” 
• “Ethical transformation calls for wisdom in leadership.” 
• “You have to understand the problem before you move to the next step.” 
• “It is the miracle drug, the snake oil in the pioneer days.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbarawittmann/ 
• Digital Wisdom Collective: https://www.digitalwisdomcollective.com/mindset-before-machines 
• Substack: https://digitalwisdomcollective.substack.com/  
• Company Website: https://www.digitalwisdomcollective.com/ 

✅Keywords 
ai adoption, leadership, organisational change, ecosystems, mindset, data quality, innovation, proofs of concept, ethical transformation, productivity, strategy, silos 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

🎙️ Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/782  

👉 What you’ll learn      

• How AI adoption is shaped by data security, quality and internal risk 
• How to evaluate AI ROI beyond individual productivity gains 
• How agentic AI supports secure, targeted use cases 
• How Zero Trust thinking guides safer AI rollout 
• How enterprise and SMB adoption patterns differ 

✅ Highlights     

• “Data security is top of everyone’s mind.” 
• “There hasn’t been a front page news article about data overexposure.” 
• “AI is a long journey and we are just getting started.” 
• “They’ll try to clamp down on Shadow AI.” 
• “No one wants to clean up their data.” 
• “Agents can give the good, real content front page.” 
• “Everyone wants to evaluate payback period.” 
• “Look at the end to end business process.” 
• “Small and mediums are going to lag in those spaces.” 
• “Some customers said we don’t see the use.” 

🧰 Mentioned      

• Microsoft Copilot: https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 
• Microsoft Purview: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/microsoft-purview 
• OpenAI: https://www.openai.com 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 
• Chris' book on GenAI in the enterprise - Elevate The Enterprise Using Microsoft 365 Copilot: A Guide for Power Users, CxOs, and IT Pros - https://www.amazon.com/Elevate-Enterprise-Using-Copilot-Microsoft/dp/B0D6PZ539W 

✅ Keywords    
ai adoption, data security, governance, copilot, purview, shadow ai, agentic ai, zero trust, productivity, smb, enterprise, risk management 

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

How frontier firms rethink processes with AI, not bolt it on. Samuel Boulanger shares practical ways to drive Copilot adoption: educate, empower champions, and start from scratch to redesign workflows. He shows how agents and workflow automation unlock meaningful ROI, and why applied, hands‑on skill beats theory. Clear guidance for tech pros: use it everywhere, iterate fast, and let the people closest to the work surface the highest‑impact use cases. 

🎙️ Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/781

👉 What you’ll learn    

• Identify and prioritise AI use cases by empowering teams closest to the work 
• Structure prompt‑a‑thons to accelerate applied skill and adoption 
• Redesign processes for agents and automation rather than “bolting on” AI 
• Build bottom‑up Copilot champions and top‑down executive support 
• Integrate Copilot across daily workflows to lift quality, speed, and ROI