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This episode explores practical ways to drive Copilot adoption across an organisation. Heather Severino shares clear guidance on identifying early champions, building cross functional readiness, reducing resistance, and designing effective training. She explains how tools such as Loop, Teams, Clipchamp and Copilot features support collaboration, productivity and engagement. The conversation provides a grounded look at how to help teams build confidence with AI and create sustained, secure and well supported usage.

🎙️ FULL SHOW NOTES
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/674

👉 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

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Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

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Discover practical strategies with Dan Barber for overcoming imposter syndrome, building resilient tech teams, and leveraging AI as an ally. Learn how consulting skills, clear goals, and supportive cultures drive success in technology and AI-driven environments.

👉 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

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Explore how Andy Sitison uses AI-powered storytelling to uncover hidden patterns, build trust, and drive meaningful engagement. Learn why human connection, agility, and intent are essential for businesses navigating rapid technological change. Gain practical insights from Andy on leveraging AI as a creative tool and fostering a culture of trust and adaptability.

👉 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

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

Discover how organisations are building practical AI capability with Microsoft Copilot, Zero Trust, and robust data security. Learn actionable strategies for readiness, compliance, and continuous professional development in a rapidly evolving tech landscape featuring insights from Sam Brazier-Hollins.

🎙️ 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

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

A practical discussion with Mary Pantelopoulou on quantifying and realising business value from AI and low code, using the Business Value Assessment to tie Power Platform, M365 Copilot, and autonomous agents to top‑line growth, cost reduction, risk mitigation, and redesigned processes that free people to focus on higher‑value work.

👉️ Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/787

🎙️ What you’ll learn

• 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

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

This episode explores how AI is transforming hiring, reducing bias, and helping businesses reliably identify A players. Fletcher Wimbush shares practical steps for using AI to streamline job analysis, screening, assessments, and onboarding, giving small and mid sized businesses access to talent strategies once reserved for large enterprises.

👉 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

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

This episode explores practical ways to lift the quality of hybrid work through better tools, clearer communication, and smarter use of AI. Neil Fluester shares insights from years in unified communications, including how Copilot is evolving from a task engine to an enhancement engine, why peripheral design matters for productivity, and how thoughtful setups, from webcams to lighting to teleprompters, shape human connection in meetings.

🎙️ 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

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

This episode explores how professionals in the Power Platform and Dynamics space can future‑proof their careers. Sarah Jones and Franco Musso share practical guidance on contracting, freelancing, niching, personal brand development, and navigating rapid change driven by AI. Their insights focus on building career security, creating flexibility, and designing work that supports long‑term growth.

👉 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