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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 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

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This episode challenges goal-driven thinking in an AI-enabled world through a conversation with Radhika Dutt. The discussion explores why OKRs and vanity metrics often fail, especially when AI accelerates optimisation without understanding. The core insight is a shift from goal setting to puzzle setting. By framing problems clearly, staying in the discomfort, and learning through small experiments, teams can build products that create long-term value. Practical examples show how this mindset helped recover stalled growth, improve trust, and reduce churn while keeping humans central to AI-driven decisions.

👉 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

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

Amelia Hernandez Osorio explores practical ways organisations can build lasting Copilot habits, strengthen internal communities and drive effective AI adoption. Amelia shares her journey through web technologies, SharePoint, cloud transformation and Microsoft 365 adoption, offering guidance on behaviour change, team enablement and identifying meaningful Copilot use cases that improve daily work.

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

🎙️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

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

Craig Taylor shares practical, real‑world guidance on cybersecurity, AI risks, and behaviour change inside organisations. He explains why positive reinforcement outperforms punishment, how biases appear in AI systems, and why zero‑trust matters for companies of all sizes. The conversation offers pragmatic, people‑centred steps to strengthen cyber literacy, reduce insider risk, and navigate emerging threats such as deepfakes and social engineering.

👉 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

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

In this episode, Edine Olijve-Watkinson explores practical ways Microsoft 365 Copilot, Loop, Planner and emerging AI agents improve daily productivity, collaboration and decision making. It highlights real use cases, evolving tools and the shift toward AI supported workflows across organisations.

🎙️ 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

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

A focused conversation on why AI agents will define 2026, how governance must evolve, and the practical skills business and tech professionals need to stay relevant. The episode explores the shift from Power Platform governance to AI‑first governance, the rise of agent orchestration, and the critical importance of data security, testing, and prompt engineering. Listeners gain clear guidance on adapting their roles, scaling responsibly, and preparing for an agent‑driven future.

👉 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

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

This episode explores how AI can transform leadership by analysing real conversational behaviour, reducing bias and giving leaders immediate insight into their communication style. The discussion covers how leadership differs from management, why early‑career support is often missing, and how continuous feedback can shorten the development gap for new leaders. Listeners gain a practical view of how leadership intelligence works and what it means for team clarity, alignment and growth.

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/794

🎙️ 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

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

This episode with Michael Plettner explores how organisations move from AI curiosity to practical, business focused implementation. You will learn why user adoption and leadership support matter, how teams shift from generic Copilot use to targeted process improvement, and how the EU AI Act is pushing companies toward more mature and responsible AI practices.

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/793

🎙️What you’ll learn

• 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