Microsoft Innovation Podcast

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

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

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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

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM

🎙 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/811
 
This episode explores how organisations can move from AI curiosity to real, everyday value through the practical adoption work of Carina de Vries. Drawing on hands-on experience, it reframes AI from a tool conversation to a problem-first mindset. The focus is on building trust, improving quality, and creating small habits that stick. Listeners will learn why one-off training fails, how behaviour change really happens, and how to design an AI adoption journey that fits daily work rather than disrupting it. 
👉 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

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM 
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

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM
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