• Resistance is quiet, not dramatic: Most AI resistance doesn't look like rebellion. It looks like employees defaulting to old habits, experimenting privately but never sharing results, and meetings that fall flat despite leadership investment. If there's no momentum, that's your signal.
• Clarity, not pressure, is the cure: When leaders respond to slow AI adoption by adding deadlines, mandates, or more training, they're treating a clarity problem like a compliance problem. When people don't know where AI is expected, where it's optional, or where human judgment must stay, hesitation is the natural result.
• Resistance can be a positive force: Not all resistance is bad. Some of it is protecting quality, protecting the team, or protecting the business. Leaders need to distinguish between someone challenging the tool and someone protecting their identity, and that requires conversation, not metrics.
• Make uncertainty a topic, not a taboo: Creating a safe space for employees to voice what feels unclear, uncomfortable, or uncertain about AI is one of the most powerful things a leader can do. When resistance gets spoken out loud, it becomes data. When it stays quiet, it becomes culture, and culture is much harder to fix.
• Psychological safety drives AI readiness: AI adoption isn't just a technical event; it's a psychological transformation. Organizations that allow iteration, visible learning, and safe experimentation will see people move out of self-protection mode and into genuine engagement. Readiness scales. Build it intentionally.

• Innovation flows bottom-up, but risk stays at the top: Junior team members are experimenting freely with AI, automating workflows, sharing prompts, and building agents — but they don't carry the legal, financial, or brand accountability that leaders do. This tension creates friction that, if unaddressed, leads to fear and chaos.
• Make bottom-up innovation visible: Leaders need to actively ask their teams: What are you experimenting with? What worked? What failed? What surprised you? If front-line experimentation stays quiet, those innovators will find an organization that values their curiosity — and may even become a competitor.
• Define guardrails without crushing momentum: Clearly identify where AI is allowed (or even expected), where human judgment is required, and where review or approval is mandatory. Setting guardrails upfront removes fear from experimentation and actually highlights accountability rather than eliminating it.
• Stay curious and don't be defensive: Strong leaders aren't the most AI-fluent people in the room — they're the most curious. If someone on your team knows more about AI than you do, lean in and learn from them. Learning in public, inviting insight upward, and aligning experimentation downward are the hallmarks of modern leadership.
• You don't need to out-AI your team: Leaders don't own the clicks — they own the conditions. Your job is to create the safest, clearest environment for AI innovation to succeed, not to be the superhero who has all the answers. Empowering others to do bigger and better things is where your real leadership is revealed.

• The problem with metrics: Leaders feel stuck because usage metrics are shallow, yet they don’t know what to replace them with. The real work is reframing AI enablement as a leadership and thinking challenge.
• Why adoption matters: AI adoption matters because organizations that become meaningfully AI‑powered will outperform those that don’t. Employees need clarity, direction, and leadership to use these new capabilities well, and success depends on leaders defining what "good" looks like and modeling the behavior.
• Framework for AI impact: Leaders should evaluate AI's impact through three lenses: better decision quality, stronger judgment and confidence, and reduced unnecessary friction, rather than traditional metrics. When leadership focuses on these signals and stays present through the adoption phase, true performance improvements and bottom‑line gains naturally follow, suggests Shawn.
• Defining true value: What does it mean to "get AI adoption right"? Real‑world signals, like better decisions, stronger judgment, and reduced friction, notes Shawn. True value comes later, but only if leaders embrace the discomfort of leading with AI for the first time and listen actively to what’s happening on the ground.
• Shawn's take: In closing, Shawn explains why leaders should stop relying on old metrics and instead ask better questions that fit the new reality of AI. After all, AI success reveals itself through signals referenced throughout this episode, none of which show up on dashboards, but all of which indicate real adoption.

• Overview: Shawn's mini-series "AI Success Starts with Leadership Success" is designed for leaders at all levels who have been tasked with or adopted AI but aren’t yet seeing transformative results, and is intended to help those wondering why AI hasn’t delivered the expected impact.
• Applying AI at a leadership level: Leaders expected AI to boost productivity and ROI, but core leadership practices, like decision-making and defining quality, remained unchanged, making AI feel optional and risky. In his organization, Shawn notes that "we introduced AI into organizations and then asked people to use it in the exact same leadership system."
• Enabling true change: In short, AI adoption isn’t an IT rollout or a training issue; it’s a leadership and cultural challenge. Confusion from mixed messages kills adoption faster than bad technology, so real change must start with leadership behavior, not tools or licenses.
• Promoting adoption: Shawn shares three "leadership moves" that make or break adoption:
  • Leaders must define where AI is expected, optional, and off-limits. Without these clear boundaries, teams get lost in endless rabbit holes, stalling meaningful adoption.
  • Embrace the modeling of AI use publicly. Even leaders using AI imperfectly in the open creates psychological safety.
  • Redefine success. Teams must know what they can do and what they can't do by modeling that publicly.
• Attend: If leaders don’t define clear expectations for AI use, success will feel out of reach. Shawn invites listeners to join the AI Agent and Copilot Summit taking place March 17–19, 2026, in San Diego, CA, featuring masterclasses, keynotes from industry leaders, and real-world user insights on AI adoption challenges.
• Final thoughts: In closing, Shawn suggests that if AI isn’t delivering, “don’t audit the tools, audit leadership behavior.”

• Core event themes: Shawn recounts three key themes throughout the event:
  • Microsoft is tightly integrating AI, Copilot, and ERP, moving AI from promise to mainstream in AI business solutions with agents embedded natively
  • Successful AI adoption requires equal focus on context, data, and infrastructure
  • The need for migration and modernization, as legacy systems hinder AI and automation capabilities
• Overall takeaway: Generally speaking, Shawn notes that his key takeaway from Summit 2025 is that AI agents are evolving from simple assistants to proactive decision-makers that execute tasks, negotiate, and complete processes. This shift, combined with built-in copilots and data readiness, aims to reduce cognitive load and boost productivity.
• Gratitude: On a personal note, Shawn expresses his gratitude for receiving the 2025 AI Copilot All- Star Award. He challenges organizations to assess readiness for AI adoption, starting with small Copilot Studio pilots in the next quarter to build change management and data preparedness.
• Continued learning: To continue exploring the opportunities, impacts, and outcomes of AI and agents, register for the AI Agent and Copilot Summit, running March 17–19 in San Diego, CA, for masterclasses, deep dives, and keynotes focused on AI-driven business transformation.

• Agents becoming assistants: AI agents are evolving from mere automation tools into intelligent systems that can handle complex tasks, make decisions based on organizational context, and execute workflows with minimal prompting. Shawn describes how they can act like virtual assistants that negotiate and perform work on your behalf, ensuring governance and validation along the way.
• 3 steps to executing: Microsoft is moving toward a future where AI agents fully execute tasks, replacing traditional systems like ERPs with conversational interfaces. This vision relies on three key innovations, notes Shawn: orchestration of multiple agents, MCP for real system and data access, and cross-system action-taking, enabling agents to act across emails, ERPs, and contracts as true teammates.
• Use case: Shawn shares a use case. AI agents can automate vendor negotiations by detecting issues like price variances or late deliveries, validating contract terms, and drafting communications with supporting evidence. This reduces manual effort and enables agents to handle follow-ups, though it raises concerns about accuracy and the human element in negotiations.
• Human influence: Further, AI agents can eliminate repetitive tasks like vendor follow-ups and reminders, saving time and improving consistency, but governance is essential. Humans must set limits and approve actions. The benefits include faster execution, reduced workload, and resilience to delays or emotional friction in communication.
• AI Agent & Copilot Summit NA 2026: To learn about these concepts further and hear new use cases, Shawn encourages listeners to attend the AI Agent and Copilot Summit, taking place March 17-19, 2025 in San Diego, CA. The event will offer deep-dive sessions and master classes on leveraging AI agents to save time and boost business efficiency.
• Looking ahead: Over the next 12–18 months, ERPs are expected to evolve into orchestration platforms where Copilot makes decisions, MCP provides context, and agents execute tasks, transforming ERPs from software into virtual team members.

• AI fantasy football: As referenced in a previous episode, Shawn replicated his fantasy football team in a second, AI-influenced league to compare outcomes using computer use agents. In week one, they followed AI’s suggested roster changes, and both the AI-managed team and his own team won their respective matchups.
• Prompts: Throughout the season, Shawn came to realize that early AI suggestions relied heavily on pre-season stats and projected points, which aren’t always reliable for winning. He later refined their prompt to include deeper factors like player synergy and team analysis for better decision-making.
• Computer use agents: He shares his results for week 2 and explains that from week three onward, Shawn used computer use agents to automate changes, noting this feels like a “stepping stone” toward future tech that could handle routine tasks autonomously.
• Final results: In the end, both teams struggled: Shawn's team fell to 2–6, while the AI-managed team performed even worse at 1–7. “AI is not going to predict the future. Games still need to be played," he noted.
• AI Agent & Copilot Summit NA: In closing, Shawn highlights the AI Agent & Copilot Summit, taking place March 17-19 in San Diego, CA, and highlights the featured Keynote Speaker, Donna Sarkar. Register here to define the opportunities, impact, and outcomes of AI business solutions.

• AI in the workplace: Copilot is really helping make sure we don't just drop the glass balls but the plastic ones as well. The benefits of this tool in the workplace include managing task lists and meetings, determining next steps and agendas, and nudging people with reminders and updates. Copilot is also incredibly consistent; everyone gets the same version of the truth without any bias which creates a lot of fairness.
• Scalability and transparency: Can Copilot be a middle manager? It can handle dozens of projects simultaneously with accuracy, which would enable an organization to scale. It can ensure transparency because it creates a clear trail of who committed to what, holding individuals accountable to their responsibilities.
• The human element: Because AI can't manage personalities or coach with empathy, the human element still needs to be considered. Copilot and other AI tools are just managing tasks — making people task and accountability machines — which could detract them from working toward a mission or a vision. It's a tool in the process and could alleviate some of the burden that a middle manager has, but it doesn't replace the human element. Managers need to build trust, mentor people, and navigate through conversations.
• Empowering managers with AI: Managers need to build trust, mentor people, and navigate through conversations. We definitely don't want AI running the show and truly need the human touch. AI should be applied to increase margin strength and top line revenue as well as create efficiences. While managers should spend less time on admin tasks, they should be empowered by AI rather than over-leveraging it for coaching, strategizing, and defining the culture, vision, and mission.

• Introducing computer use agents: Microsoft previously unveiled computer use agents in a demo. ChatGPT has pushed it out in its latest GPT-5 development. Quickly following, Microsoft has adopted it into Copilot Studio. With computer use agents, users are empowering the agent — the AI — to take over the mouse and keyboard; It can interact with the UI on your laptop or desktop. These agents can take your prompts from Copilot Studio to make decisions, grab elements, and learn and adapt.
• Using the agents: It's likely that you will need a computer dedicated to this because it's going to drive the computer. The idea here isn't to minimize productivity but to let the agent take care of tasks on your behalf using your computer that might not have natural or easily accessible APIs or ways to build and create connectivity between two systems.
• Game-changing potential: Most organizations have some type of legacy applications or processes that require manual intervention — and there's no sensible or affordable way around it. Computer use agents can really change the game here. Although it may be on the clunky side now, remember that it's still early on, and it's only going to get better. It'll be interesting to see how these agents will drive your computer with "AI eyes" and make decisions.

• Copilot + Excel: When Copilot was initially added to Excel, Microsoft required users to have data in a table for Copilot to work with the data. Lately, there have been improvements to this integration. At its core, Excel is a spreadsheet. And rather than using Copilot on the sidecar, like using Copilot chat to make the AI experience in Excel successful, someone came up with the idea to create a Copilot function.
• Copilot as a formula: There is a Copilot beta function for users to prompt Copilot in a cell and even nest in other functions, and reference other cells in the spreadsheet. The AI can also be used as a function in your spreadsheet to automatically drag and drop capabilities in the columns and rows.
• Organizational improvements: What does this mean for leaders, teams, and organizations? Your spreadsheets will get smarter. Teams need to be skilled up; this provides an opportunity to learn new ways of leveraging functions to build these autonomous spreadsheets. Copilot can build out everything else you need using one data point by having multiple formulas in your spreadsheet. Ultimately, organizations will be more powerful with data.
• Access: These features are still in beta, and they're still limited. If you're not subscribed to the insider track, then you won't have access. It also won't currently work on a personal account. It's not natively functioning in Excel; it requires a Copilot license.
• Disclaimer: Microsoft's main disclaimer on this integration is that it shouldn't be used for accuracy-critical tasks. You should validate it.
• Summit NA: The timing of the introduction of Copilot functions in Excel is ideal with Community Summit North America approaching. The event takes place on October 19th to 23rd in Orlando, Florida. With over 600 sessions, attendees will learn across a variety of tracks covering Microsoft business applications. Shawn will even be doing a session called "Excel Life Hacks - Tips and Tricks for EVERY user! 2025 Edition!" on Wednesday, October 22nd.
• Practical use cases: Shawn walks through examples of practical use cases for the Copilot functions in Excel and demonstrates how some functions can work. One great factor is that you don't have to figure out formulas, nest in multiple "if" statements, or use Power Query. It understands the language.

• Nonprofits: Microsoft is gaining traction in the nonprofit space. It provides dedicated solutions and a pricing model specifically for nonprofits."The heart of Microsoft's mission is to empower people all across this planet to do and achieve more," Ryan says.
• Incorporating tech: Microsoft Elevate, formerly called Tech for Social Impact, encompasses bringing nonprofits into the new digital age. A lot of the AI functionality is not only baked into many of the solutions, but it's also at the fingertips of users to help them do and achieve more. "It really is the heart of impact of how we're able to do more with less," he notes. How can technology take care of some of the day-to-day mundane tasks so we can continue doing what we love?
• Summit NA: Ryan will be speaking at Community Summit North America on Monday, October 20th. The session, "The Heart of Impact: How Nonprofits Thrive with Dynamics 365," will cover how nonprofits can streamline operations, deepen engagement, and amplify their impact with Microsoft Dynamics 365. His goal, while at Community Summit, is to connect with as many people as possible and help attendees find a starting point and opportunities to move forward.
• Inspiring leaders: During Ryan's session, he is going to show uses that will be relevant from the user perspective. He aims to inspire leaders, forward thinkers, and board members who have to determine how to do more with technology at a nonprofit. He notes, "I want you to leave inspired that there is a way through this that is very budget-friendly."

• Constant development: After trying the tools of ChatGPT 5, Shawn landed on a two-part opinion. First, it's impressive yet intimidating how fast AI is changing and evolving. The speed and pace of improvements will continue, leading to the development of stronger, faster, more powerful, and more intuitive types of AI models.
• Buzz and benefits: The other part of the excitement, Shawn suggests, is that there's sometimes buzz for the sake of buzz. Much of what users get out of these tools is based on what's being prompted. For instance, it self-routes. However, is that really to the benefit of the end user or is it to the benefit of the demand that's put on the engines that run the AI?
• Diving deeper: The evolution of AI is continuing, and those who are using it more deeply will see the benefits. If you're just using it for tasks like summarizing meetings or chats, drafting emails and responses, or creating agenda notes, you're not going to see much of a difference. This new iteration is faster with deeper reasoning prompts and inquiries. Shawn challenges users to try going deeper with AI use and adoption to experience the benefits of this release and future updates.
• Iterative accuracy: Shawn uses a process called "iterative accuracy." He asks small questions, then builds on them. When he's satisfied with the results, he's able to compile multiple thoughts, components, or ideas into a single prompt to get closer to his ideal output. Now, with ChatGPT 5, users don't have to be as much of a prompt engineer.
• Why leaders should care: If your end users aren't seeing the value, then you should understand that and encourage that user adoption to go bigger. "What that tells me is that folks probably aren't trying to stress or test the model hard enough to improve what they're doing on the daily," Shawn notes. "If they're not using it, in the end, for the organization stuff, they're probably not using it for the out of organization stuff that really is why you want to use AI."

• AI uses: Like everyone, Nick has had ChatGPT open often. As a user of Microsoft business applications, he also has Microsoft Copilot up and running. As a freelancer, he utilizes AI tools for day-to-day tasks, including aligning and rebranding projects. "These tools are my thought partners as I began to work through that and building notebooks and working with designers on branding," he shares.
• Development in Power Pages: Nick has been hands-on with Power Platform. He's been working on customized web templates and other related projects in Power Pages, for instance. "For those who have done development in Power Pages, once you get to the development side, there's a lot of liquid...to build out some specialized functionality and user interfaces," he notes. He has used Copilot to identify elements that need to be reviewed or adjusted as he works on these projects, especially for code generation.
• Increased efficiency: While he has found AI tools to need supervision, overall, he finds that AI helps increase efficiency. "It's exciting because it can work so fast," he says. "I think that's the huge opportunity for all of us working in this space; it's not like AI is going to take your job, AI is going to help you do your job so much better and going to give you the ability to actually execute some of your ideas."
• A new way of thinking: Some advice Nick shares is that you must have the right mindset. "You need to have that curiosity, that growth mindset," he emphasizes. With the rapid development of AI, curious minds have the opportunity to reimagine manual processes, automating them and optimizing with tools like Power Apps. It will take it from a manual process to an automated process and now to an AI process.

• AI as a time-saver: One major benefit of using AI, Shawn notes, has been saving time. More and more people are using AI as a "fancy search engine" to get quicker results or automate grunt work. While both of these purposes save time, Shawn has been using AI more as a teammate to accomplish outcome-based goals rather than just ticking items off a to-do list.
• Delegating tasks: After some reflection, Shawn has found it more beneficial to use Copilot and AI assistants, more so like a co-creator or a colleague, to delegate tasks and parts of processes. For instance, users can provide instructions and prompt Copilot to draft a framework for a workshop. Rather than starting from a blank slate, Copilot could enable users to start with talking points or an agenda. Then, you could collaborate with Copilot to fine-tune and better craft that workshop.
• Project management: When juggling project timelines, AI can be used as a teammate to run through different scenarios: What if a task is late by three days? What are the biggest risks based on specific factors? "That's the kind of thought partner that I need in this AI journey — not someone to execute necessarily more on that later, but someone to help me think better and bigger and broader, and help me be more accountable to the process."
• Outsourcing to AI: Shawn has been using Copilot to add to what he's already doing, not replace it. "I'm not outsourcing the decision; I'm outsourcing the friction in the process." Business leaders should care about this fundamental mindset shift, as it's about reshaping how we're doing things. It helps lead to faster, clearer decisions, a better thinking process, and more creativity.

• Overview: Alexandersen is a product manager on the Business Central engineering team in Denmark, with 28 years of ERP experience and nearly a decade at Microsoft. He currently leads the finance area of Business Central and the Payables Agent, drawing on a background in both consulting and engineering.
• AI impressions: Generative AI is still a very new field, and many, including Alexandersen, are working to fully grasp its capabilities, boundaries, and best use cases. While there's tremendous potential, especially with tools like Copilot, it's essential to understand that these systems are not human but statistical machines, which helps in using them more effectively. In high-stakes areas like finance, trust, transparency, and reliability are critical for adoption, and Alexandersen is passionate about ensuring ethical AI use while remaining cautiously optimistic about its future.
• Payables Agent: The Payables Agent supports finance professionals by processing invoices in various formats, whether received via email, stored on SharePoint, or accessed through e-invoicing networks. It uses OCR to extract human-readable data from PDFs, enabling Business Central to understand it. "Now, we can start to really understand what to do with this invoice."
• Backed with LLMs: Large language models (LLMs) are unlocking new capabilities in invoice processing by enabling systems to interpret the content of an invoice much like a human would. Alexandersen explains that LLMs can now determine whether an invoice is for services, subscriptions, or products, and how it should be coded. "That’s what we can now do with LLMs."  The first public preview of the Payables Agent is expected to launch in July with a limited scope to gather early feedback.
• Future developments: A major focus for future developments for the Payables Agent includes building "three-way purchase" order matching into the agent experience and exploring how customers expect that to function, with an open invitation for feedback, explains Alexandersen. Additionally, there's strong interest in modernizing the invoice approvals process, and eventually incorporating paid invoices and employee expense receipts into the system to create a more comprehensive financial workflow.
• Human influence: The Payables Agent is designed to guide, not act. "The agent won’t post anything. It’s always the user who posts,” but it will suggest values and explain its reasoning based on historical data and LLM insights. The team is also exploring how to incorporate confidence levels to help users quickly assess the reliability of suggestions, and is planning for future capabilities like multi-agent handoffs for tasks such as inventory validation and approvals.
• Feedback shaping future development: Alexandrsen explains that the team is embracing early releases of production-quality features to foster valuable user feedback and co-development. As he puts it, "that friction is good, that friction helps us all learn which next steps to take,” highlighting a shift toward open experimentation, including potential sandbox environments where customers can try out experimental features and provide input to shape future development.

• Resistance to AI use: Many people don't know where AI fits into their day-to-day or how to get started. So, even with tools available, there's a lack of clarity and support around using AI. Additionally, people need context. Shawn shares insights from his own journey of using Copilot, discovering areas that he has been resistent to using AI and how to overcome that.
• AI overload: Being able to do so much now with AI that we weren't able to do before can be overwhelming. Shawn uses an example of a company that had a few AI tools for writing. The tools weren't being used because it created confusion, as the people didn't understand the purpose of the tools, which created inconsistent results. "We need to take out some of that chaos and really simplify it because, in the end, the idea is that this introduction into Copilot should simplify things, not complicate them." The tools must be aligned with real-world use cases to empower users.
• Fear toward AI: Being replaced by AI or the technology making work harder, not smarter, are common and valid fears. Leaders need to reassure and empower their organizations through real conversations and training. Remember, it's not just new tech but a new way of thinking and a cultural shift for your team, so it's important to address the emotional side of this shift as well.
• Executive vs. employee perspectives on AI: Business leaders and executives tend to love AI; employees, not so much. Leaders are seeing dashboards, metrics, and big picture strategies at a higher level. Employees see the complications and the multiple threads and processes. Leaders must enable employees to explore with AI and find purpose on their own, not just implement AI as policy.
• Community Summit: Shawn will be hosting sessions about Copilot at Community Summit North America, taking place in Orlando, FL on October 19-23.

• Overview: Agent orchestration is a new capability that enables multiple specialized AI agents (think mini Copilots) to collaborate as a team to complete end-to-end tasks. Instead of one Copilot juggling everything, each agent handles a specific role (scheduling, data retrieval, summarization), working autonomously toward high-level goals.
• How it works: With agent orchestration, individual agents can complete tasks like gathering data, building charts, or creating presentations to fully prepare you for something like a quarterly business review. Simply provide the high-level goal, and the agents coordinate autonomously to deliver results.
• Product inventory: Shawn shares a use case for agent orchestration for companies that are selling goods. Agents can manage out-of-stock products by assigning each task to a dedicated AI agent. These agents work together as a coordinated team to resolve the issue without human intervention, ensuring continuity even when team members are unavailable.
• Preparing for a meeting: For meetings, agent orchestration can streamline prep by assigning AI agents to handle repetitive tasks like gathering data, building slides, and scripting talking points.
• Sales in Business Central: In Business Central, Agent orchestration enhances the sales process by enabling multiple AI agents to handle tasks like quoting, inventory checks, and order conversions in parallel, rather than relying on a single agent to perform them sequentially.
• Business impact: For businesses, agent orchestration is a strategic advantage that frees teams from repetitive tasks. By delegating responsibilities to coordinated AI agents that don't forget steps, miss deadlines, or need time off, businesses can scale more efficiently and consistently. Shawn discusses the impact of agent orchestration and what productivity looks like in the future.
• Learn more: To learn more about how Agents & Copilots are defining the future of Microsoft Business Applcations, consider attending Community Summit North America this October, be sure to check out Shawn's Copilot Life Hacks session, a 60-minute walkthrough of practical, everyday ways to use Copilot to boost efficiency and become a better version of yourself.

• Introducing Copilot tuning: Copilot tuning is a brand-new feature that Microsoft announced at Microsoft Build. It's set to release in June 2025. It offers the optimistic promise that you can take the expertise of your best and brightest team member and replicate it into Copilot and agents. The voice and vision of your organization can be emulated through AI.
• Copilot tuning defined: Copilot is the UI for AI. Copilot Studio enables users to build agents, which are custom Copilots. As part of Copilot Studio, Copilot tuning enables users to teach their own models how their business thinks and operates. This tuning will automatically be applied to agents. Users can even teach it how to reason over challenges and processes.
• Differences: Previously, users who wanted a customized Copilot had to tell it exactly what to do, step-by-step. This required building flows, triggers, and conditions as well as programming logic. This takes up much time. Copilot tuning teaches the behavior and flips the model. Rather than spelling out what Copilot should do in every situation, it teaches it how to think using real examples from within your business.
• Learning and outcomes: There are various ways the models learn. Learning from your organization's examples simply involves uploading documents — FAQs, training guides, contracts, and manuals, for instance. Anything with your organization's voice and expertise, the Copilot model learns from them. It's learning then applying that knowledge to "tuning recipes," which are pre-built templates that allow it to guide you through fields like answering questions, summarizing complex documents, and more in your organization's tone.
• Examples of Copilot tuning:
  • With Copilot tuning, after teaching the model your policies, the agent can respond in a manner that a staff member has previously responded. It will feel more like there's a human touch.
  • It can be used to review contracts, apply redline guidance, complete compliance checks, and assist with drafting and summarizing the contracts in line with company expectations.
  • Copilot tuning can be applied to the process of creating Word documents or PowerPoint presentations using your brand templates. No more mismatch fonts and no rogue formatting — just clean, on-brand outputs.
• A fundamental mindset shift: Oftentimes, people choose people and pass on AI because it's not human enough or it feels too generic. With Copilot tuning, you're embedding your company's DNA into it so it will feel and sound more like you. For leaders, it's important to embrace this technology because when AI speaks the language and reflects the standards of your team members, it helps reinforce the culture of your organization. Copilot tuning is not just a feature drop; it's a fundamental mindset shift.

• Communication: When there's tariff news, it must be communicated and disseminated internally across your organization. Using Copilot Chat, users can ask Copilot to summarize the latest U.S. trade rep's announcements. Rather than combing through the information, Copilot can be prompted to summarize and draft an internal email breaking down the tariff news.
• Empowering teams: Providing the information to the teams in your business empowers them to answer more direct questions. They would be equipped to answer customer questions about the impact of tariffs on your business.
• Context of announcements: Many world trade policies come out in the form of lengthy PDF files. To consume this information, you can upload the policy into your internal graph and use Copilot to summarize key sections that mention your industry. Further, you can ask Copilot to identify associated compliance responsibilities. Another tip is to ask Copilot to highlight changes between the previous and new iterations.
• Financial impact: Business leaders have to decide how to manage the financial impact, such as whether the cost will be completely passed on to the customer. "There's an attrition balance to compete against because customers may choose to go to a different supplier of whatever you're selling." You need to know the margin impact of the tariff rules and the price impact on your customer base to make the decisions. Copilot in Excel can model these costs.
• Internal reports: Business leaders must consider how they will report on the impact of these trade policy announcements. As there are different layers of reporting requirements, reports must be developed at the right level of summary for various roles, teams, and departments. Copilot can be applied to combine updates from different teams, like logistics, finance, and compliance. It can create PowerPoint presentations and different versions of reports as needed.

• Overview: Imagine facing daily challenges with technology due to cognitive disabilities like dyslexia, ADHD, or brain injuries. Now, with the help of AI technologies, overwhelming tasks can be simplified, which is not only helpful but "empowering and motivating to individuals with those disabilities."
• Use case: For individuals with ADHD, for example, Copilot can transform a messy list into a clean, formatted table, simplify long documents into structured summaries with clear headings, and guide users step-by-step through setting up master records. As a result, Copilot is enhancing productivity through accessibility.
• Idea generation: Shawn references the "blank canvas syndrome," which refers to the overwhelming feeling of starting a blank email or PowerPoint - something that can be even more challenging for individuals with learning disabilities, speech delays, or language barriers. However, Copilot can assist by helping find the right words and tone, making the process empowering for everyone, especially those with disabilities.
• Communication assistance: Copilot assists individuals who struggle with communicating in a non-native language by drafting polished emails and summarizing fast-moving chats, which is especially helpful for those who are visually impaired or have difficulty keeping up. Additionally, Copilot in Word can rewrite document sections to ensure clarity and inclusivity.
• Promoting agility: When discussing accessibility, it's important to go beyond alternate text and closed captions to ensure full ability and navigability. Copilot enhances accessibility by auto-tagging headlines and lists in Word for better screen reader flow, ensuring proper alt text and recommending better slide layouts in PowerPoint, flagging missing accessibility features in SharePoint, and reducing fine motor demands for users with mobility challenges.
• Encouraging neurodivergent users: Assisting neurodivergent users involves breaking big tasks into smaller steps, which can be a major barrier for individuals with autism, ADHD, and other cognitive differences, explains Shawn. Copilot can create organized to-do lists from brainstorming sessions, generate next steps after meetings, and suggest bullet points in Word and Outlook to improve clarity.
• Final thoughts: In closing, Shawn shares a few final thoughts:
  • Accessibility is for all users
  • Accessibility is not charity; it's innovation that benefits the entire world
  • When we build with accessibility in mind, it builds a better future for all

• The economics of attention: Teixeira spent about 10 years at the Harvard Business School as a professor. One phase of this he classifies as a continuation of his research as a PhD student which focused on the "economics of attention." He wrote academic papers, consulted companies, and worked with students on projects involving the idea of trying to measure attention and figuring out how to monetize it. "I was able to show real data that the price of attention was growing much faster than inflation," he notes.
• Causing industry disruptions: "You need to compete for attention with all of the other businesses, not only your competitors," Teixeira says. "That's what makes it complicated and expensive." Organizations have to consider how they'll disrupt the field they're in to stay ahead of others in that space. A major driver in many industries is disruptive technologies. While these technologies serve as an underlying enabler to propel industries, organizations are recognizing niche categories that need to be filled, where people want to give attention.
• Consumer POV: Businesses that will be successful are recognizing where pain points are and providing a solution to dazzle customers. From his time at Harvard, Teixeira has learned that the startup entrepreneurs have "looked at the potential from the point of view of consumers and they tried to identify where consumers are the most unsatisfied." Instead of building a whole business around the key pain points, they've only built a sliver of the business to solve that problem. Then, other solutions will grow from that.
• Educating on business: With origins in academics, Teixeira's first goal was to educate. "I felt that many of our students felt like entrepreneurship was too far removed, that they had to have a brilliant idea before they started working on it." However, that's far removed from the actual truth. He explained to his students how many businesses came about and the evolution many organizations experienced before becoming successful.
• Entrepreneurship: It's about identifying where to start and mapping out the activities that your prospect customer does. "Once you map out all these activities in the customer's value chain, you identify where they're most unsatisfied, that one activity you can steal from them."
• Demystifying disruption: Decoupling.co demystifies disruption as a startup entrepreneur. "It's not supposed to be this gigantic idea that you have that will change the world," he says. "You have to start small." He emphasizes three key points:
  • Disruption can be engineered through a methodical process.
  • The disruptor is not the startup. It's not the technology. It's the customer.
  • The way you come up with a business is really thinking about the customer value chain and thinking about decoupling an activity and building a business model that allows you to grow out.

• Early in the AI revolution: During the Keynote Fireside Chat, James explained how sa.global was involved in the "AI revolution" very early on, which has presented challenges that has made them aware not just about the technology but about the organizational challenges and paradigm shift that would happen as a result of AI. "Sometimes you learn more from your misadventures than you do from your successes," he notes from this experience. "We've been able to take what we learned before and figure out how to repurpose that in this new context."
• A different level of conversation: Organizations have to be able to speak the language of the customer now, as these conversations include executive buying committees focusing on strategic initiatives when it comes to implementing AI. "It's challenging to have that conversation because you need to be standing on the toolbox, you need to be an industry expert," James says.
• Approach to AI: He considers Microsoft's AI perspective, as the company has a broader and shallower approach to its AI mindset. While this approach can deliver significant productivity improvements, "it can't deliver the transformational AI to try to go deep...It needs to be narrow," he suggests.
• Contextual layer: sa.global is working on a contextual layer using GraphRAG technology. The specific taxonomy or processes will be embedded into the contextual layer to ground the agent so it can become more capable, reliable, and scalable.
• Driving transformational value: "Ultimately, for us as an organization, we want to build the best vertical industry platform possible and the best way to do that is to collaborate closely with our clients," James says. Having a sort of communal model can serve almost as a vertically-centric open-source knowledge that drives transformational value.
• AI Agent & Copilot Summit: sa.global and some of its clients attended the event. "It's so inspiring to see some of the stuff that other folks have been doing," James shares. "The people that you're talking to and the people that are presenting, they're presenting real...You're not being pitched at here." James acknowledges how presenters aren't presenting a marketing spin at the AI Agent & Copilot Summit but honest presentations on what works great versus what didn't work.

• The ability to publish custom agents from Copilot Studio directly into Microsoft 365 Copilot chat is a significant enhancement, allowing agents to seamlessly integrate into the full Copilot experience. Further, this enhancement enables support agents to recognize complex issues, hand them off to humans, and log cases automatically in Teams.
• The new Microsoft Graph connections allow users to add enterprise data to custom agents, making them more contextually aware and useful. This feature, currently in public preview, enables agents to connect to sources like Stack Overflow, GitHub, and Salesforce knowledge, enhancing their value and functionality within your organization.
• Copilot Studio now allows for the import and export of agent components across multiple environments. This feature is particularly useful for those who frequently copy and paste triggers or topics across different agents or environments.
• Analytics updates now provide deeper visibility into which actions are being triggered, their frequency, and success rates, allowing IT teams to ensure they work as intended and at the desired speed.
• Microsoft's new protection blocks automatically detect and prevent cyber threats without requiring any manual intervention, representing a major step forward in cybersecurity.
• The Microsoft 365 Agents SDK now supports JavaScript, allowing developers who use JavaScript to integrate their custom agents with Copilot. This addition joins the existing support for C++, enabling developers to use both languages within Copilot Studio.
• Finally, the embedded 365 Agent builder updates now allow agents to be grounded using specific public websites, ensuring they direct searches to relevant content.

• AI Agent & Copilot Summit: Hogenhout notes how engaged and positive attendees are at the event. "There's all this optimism of what can be done with AI, and I think that's probably a combination of a lot of good technical knowledge...and also stores of people who are using [AI] themselves."
• A philosophical perspective: Looking five years ahead, Hogenhout challenges what AI will mean for businesses and human beings. With AI having endless possibilities, organizations must consider what it means not only in terms of productivity but also how it will impact their business model.
• Upskilling: One workforce implementation of AI is automation, leading to organizations having to reassess what skills are necessary. This applies to the executive level as well. For instance, Hogenhout acknowledges how AI can now answer questions, but asking the right questions is a skill that managers will need to be trained on. Critical thinking, in general, will be more important in the context of business.
• The human dilemma: Using message and email replies as an example, Hogenhout suggests that there could be "a second level of scociet where we all have our AI-augmented selves that communicate with each other and the real us sit somewhere underneath...We have to decide whether that is something we want only in the business context." As AI advances, we'll have to be intentional about making the right choices.

• Copilot Studio vs Azure AI Foundry: For many users, a challenge lies in their tendency to compare different technologies directly. However, Microsoft views its tools as complementary building blocks that, when combined, offer enhanced capabilities and customizability. "What you'll find is that when you combine the things together, you get the powerhouse capabilities that you get out of Azure AI Foundry, in conjunction with the orchestration and the commodity components that get you time to market the value out of Copilot Studio," explains Robinson.
• Practical use cases: During another session at AI Agent & Copilot Summit, Robinson demonstrated practical applications of various features, including (for the first time) the new Copilot Studio publishing to M365 Copilot as a Copilot agent Copilot Agent and the generative orchestration feature, which launched into general availability on the March 17th. This was the first public showcase of these features.
• Best practices: Further, Robinson shared best practices and lessons learned from working on some of the largest global implementations. This session highlighted key insights to avoid common pitfalls and ensure successful outcomes, which emphasized the importance of staying updated with the latest practices.
• Community efforts: Participating in Microsoft's corporate events enables engagement through one-on-one discussions with attendees, hearing of their unique scenarios, and being able to offer tailored advice. The most rewarding aspect is seeing the impact of his assistance, as evidenced by feedback and videos from people he's helped. "When it comes to the community work, it's mainly just to get that word out there and help people build better things," Robinson noted.
• Connect further: As a principal program manager at Microsoft, Robinson initially started recording videos to share insights and solutions more broadly, which led to the creation of his YouTube channel, The Copilot Studio Dude. He explains that this platform allows him to gather valuable feedback that helps drive the direction of the Copilot Studio product, enhancing its development and user experience.

• Overview: Today, in the realm of development (code, product, or application development), the journey with Copilot Studio is akin to building a Power App with the assistance of Copilot, which can be empowering for many end-users.
• End-user empowerment: While low-code and no-code tools like Power Apps empower end-users to build simple applications, creating more complex apps with multiple pages, diverse user interfaces, and connected services requires expertise. This can lead to challenges such as lack of control, regulations, and awareness within the organization, which raises questions about the impact of such "empowerment."
• Human vs. programming language: At last month's AI Agent and Copilot Summit, it was suggested that in the future, the most common development language will be the spoken or human language. Instead of traditional programming languages, people will be able to describe their requirements in natural language, and AI will build the applications for them.
• Role of developers: Copilot and AI are empowering both citizen developers and professional developers, raising concerns about job security among developers. Though AI is not yet fully replacing developer roles, it enables everyone, from senior developers to beginners, to create applications.
• Troubleshooting: While AI might be able to make changes to code, there are concerns about its awareness of the effects on the rest of the application. Troubleshooting typically relies on human expertise to make small adjustments without disrupting the entire code unit.
• Looking ahead: Developers' responsibilities will fundamentally change, making them higher value contributors by focusing on refining, defining, maintaining, and troubleshooting code. As AI evolves, developers will play a crucial role in adapting to these changes.
• AI's future role: Focusing on AI offers significant opportunities for both business and individual career growth, but the question remains whether AI will dominate or empower development teams.

• AI Agent & Copilot Summit: Smith presented the keynote at the AI Agent & Copilot Summit this past March in San Diego, California. With his expertise on AI agents, Smith shared where we are today, strategically, with agents and where we are going to be in the future.
• Customer journey: Businesses and customers have been going through a journey to discover how they can leverage AI technology and maximize its full potential. Smith's keynote touched on that journey as well as how organizations are developing agentic solutions to unlock fully autonomous agents.
• The big disruption: The keynote acknowledged the business transformation of AI and "the big disruption that's coming for all our businesses." Essentially, it will impact how we live and work. It's important to contextualize the technology within the scope of your specific business.
• Consider the outcomes: "Fundamentally, it's all about outcomes...If there's no outcomes or you're not tracking the goals and objectives, you're really just kicking the tires on cool tech," he noted. Providing tangible use cases and capabilities makes it more action-oriented; it becomes more autonomous when these capabilities are running automatically in the background.
• Creating the muscle: By building use case early on, businesses will quickly "develop the muscle and start getting real creative around ways to transform their business." The concept of creating the muscle can lead to building out the muscle network with consistency. There's no perfect time to get started, so it's best to pick up the tools and just start educating yourself.

• Improving personal productivity: Copilot helps by summarizing missed meetings and action items, allowing efficient catch-up without bogging down colleagues, which can be helpful when returning from being out of the office. Copilot can also provide specific details from past meetings, such as budget discussions, ensuring transparency and accuracy, explains Kristoffer. These use cases have helped improve his productivity.
• Copilot for Finance use case: Kristoffer explains that he tested Copilot for Finance in Excel and found it effective for reconciliation tasks between two Excel sheets. It performed well and hopes its analytical capabilities continue to expand, making it easier to manage data without relying solely on Excel.
• Influence of AI on finance tools: Implementing Copilot in Business Central or Copilot for Finance in Excel, for example, raises questions about the future necessity of reconciliation tools, as AI could eliminate human errors. Initially, AI results may be met with skepticism, but over time, trust will build, reducing the need for manual verification. Shawn asks Kristoffer for his thoughts.
• Data acceptance requires human influence: Implementing NAV faced skepticism about data accuracy initially, and adopting Copilot will similarly take time for trust to build, Kristoffer notes. Despite Copilot's ability to provide reasoning and receipts, the human element of emotion and experience will always play a role in data acceptance.

• Customer perspective: There's incredible demand across customers and users. Goode reports, "We know from our surveys that roughly three out of every four information workers are already starting to use AI inside the business and so this is something that's already happening." Finding inspiration, Goode looks at how AI-native startups are scaling "much faster than their SaaS brethren," which is telling of the customer demand behind this technology.
• Making the transition: As demand rises, organizations are feeling compelled to transform processes with AI. It's most important, Goode emphasizes, for customers to be intentional about where they deploy AI. "Where customers are intentional, they tend to see greater impact, so that's a key starting place." Picking a specific area, like customer service or sales or finance, and determining what AI can do to rewire that function is key.
• The big picture: Zooming out, Goode names Copilots and agents as the vision. "Our vision is that every individual, every employee will have access to a Copilot to help make them more productive," he says. Similarly, there will also be agents that are focused on automating key business processes. Bringing these together can "unlock a lot of magic."
• Data layer: Good data leads to good AI and good outcomes. Investing in a data platform is critical. "You want to pick assets across the data warehouse and the security and compliance tools," Goode notes. "You also want to pull in that unstructured data from productivity...that's where you can really unlock a lot of magic, and so this investment in the data layer is critical to delivering good AI results."
• Recommendations for business leaders: Goode lists three key tips for business leaders to make the most out of the opportunities that come from AI and agents:
  • First, it's important to be intentional and apply Copilot and agents to parts of your business where you'll be able to focus your effort and see good results.
  • Second, customers need to start with an enterprise agent platform and think about a platform that enables them to build customer agents and manage their overall agent estate.
  • Third, get your data in order.

• Becoming an AI-first company: During the AI Agent & Copilot Summit, in Flombaum's presentation on "How Agents & Copilots are Redefining the Value of Dynamics 365," she defined what it means to be an AI-first company. Microsoft has taken this on, and during her session, she explained how clients can adopt this, too. "We talked about these concepts of keeping people at the center, augmented by Copilot, assisted by Copilot, in the work they do every day."
• AI adoption and transformation: Further, Flombaum discussed the importance of CEOs and CIOs having a plan for adopting AI, supported by AI-first applications in Dynamics 365 and partner efforts. Finally, she explored how AI is transforming CRM and ERP, changing user interactions, application appearances, and task performance.
• Breaking down silos across Biz Apps: Microsoft 365 and AI are breaking down silos between applications like ERP, CRM, and Outlook, notes Flombaum, by focusing on tasks and processes rather than separate systems. She explains how Copilot will serve as the entry point to solve problems and complete tasks, with humans becoming supervisors, reviewers, and approvers of the work done by AI agents.
• Streamlined tasks: ERP and CRM involve numerous processes like order management, demand planning, supplier communication, and inventory checks, which traditionally require navigating multiple apps. With advancements, these tasks will be streamlined, allowing for more efficient use of time at work.
• Influence of AI agents: When hiring a seller, companies focus on relationship, business development, and deal-making skills, not data entry, for example. If data entry tasks are eliminated by an AI agent, sellers can concentrate on their strengths while leaders use sales research agents to get the insights they need.

• Point of entry to AI: With AI being top of mind for CXOs, there is still an element of fear and anxiety around it because people aren't confident in what they know about AI. Technological development is outpacing the readiness of many companies. The Sikich AI Factory platform creates an entry point for customers to feel like they can get started with AI applications.
• Industry-specific and pre-configured applications: The AI applications on the platform are already pre-configured as well as sorted by industry and functional area. "They can get used to what that means to have AI running in a business context," Bamburg says. Sikich AI Factory is powered by UnifyCloud. It contains 200 different pre-configured AI applications, which include chatbots for both internal and external use cases.

• Hands-on experience: Customers can upload their own data or take a sampling of equipment to play around with the different AI applications. This provides an environment for customers to get comfortable using the technology in their own vertical industry.
• AI readiness: Sikich is an experienced data and AI partner that can help with assessing customers' data readiness for AI and data governance, for instance. It helps partners and customers resolve various concerns and gain experience with AI within their organizations.

• Advanced meeting summarization: While Microsoft Teams does provide meeting summarizations, you can take it a step further with Copilot Studio. Once a meeting ends, a transcript becomes available. Copilot Studio can be applied to pull the action items and summarize it in an email while putting a copy into a planner for that team.
• Expense approval automation: There are existing third parties that will automate expense approvals. Shawn highlights a video by Dwayne Robinson, who will be presenting at the AI Agent & Copilot Summit. The video demonstrated using a PDF of the imaging from floor plans of a cruise ship; if you can use an image in PDF format, perhaps Copilot Studio could process expense receipts for expense approval automation.
• IT help desk automation: Users could input their challenge, and the agent could look at your organization's history or existing help desk tickets, note the commonalities, and surface potential solutions there. This could serve as a self-help, initial stop functionality for whoever creates the ticket.
• Contract review assistance: Copilot could be used to review contracts, compare them to business policies, create contract templates, and identify discrepancies or areas to focus on.
• Supply chain and inventory management: The supply chain industry has experienced significant disruptions. AI could play a part in predicting inventory shortages and suggesting reorders ahead of shortages, for instance.
• Financial reporting: Finance professionals often have to provide financial summaries, type out paragraphs of financial notes, and compile reports. Copilot could jump in to simplify this process.
• HR onboarding: Copilot could aid in various elements of the onboarding process. More specifically, it could contribute to personalizing this process based on the individual applicants' skills, experiences, and more. It could identify skills gaps and how to revitalize those skills.
• Scheduling assistance: An agent could make scheduling easier, especially across organizations, by suggesting meeting times.
• Vendor relationship analysis: An agent could analyze and report on vendor performance, delivery, and other factors. This would help with strategic partnerships and ensure the success of vendor relationships.
• Smart document indexing: This would involve taking documents that need to be filed in specific places. Rather than someone doing the File > Save As process, Copilot could be prompted to file the document automatically. The more repeatable the task, the better example of how to apply Copilot.
• AI Agent & Copilot Summit: This event is taking place on March 17th to 19th in San Diego, CA. Join Shawn along with a number of speakers, presenting sessions on how to get the most out of your AI and Copilot usage.

• Overview: Copilot Studio is a tool used to build custom copilots or agents, which are designed to perform specific tasks. The author created a conversational chat agent for their personal blog site to answer questions, preferring hands-on learning over watching instructional videos.
• Building custom agents: Shawn explains that he started using Copilot Studio without any prior knowledge and was guided by the tool to build his own agent. Despite initial excitement and detailed prompts, the first attempt to create a conversational chat agent did not work, but Shawn remains optimistic about learning through hands-on experience.
• Agent components: After publishing the agent, Shawn reviewed its configuration components, which included six tabs: knowledge, topics, actions, activity, insights, and channels. Despite the agent not working initially, he was able to see its structure and details.
• Troubleshooting: Shawn notes that he expected more guidance from Copilot Studio's interface but found it lacking in self-help information. Upon investigating, he discovered that the "knowledge" section of the agent was empty, which explained why the agent didn't work. He plans to explore this further in future episodes.
• Knowledge and topics: He researched the six areas of Copilot Studio, explaining that "knowledge" is the data the agent uses, which can be static like a document or website. "Topics" are what the agent can discuss, such as predefined responses for common questions like resetting a password.
• Actions: Further, he found the "actions" component of Copilot Studio to be intriguing, as it allows the agent to execute tasks on his behalf, which expands the potential use cases. This newfound awareness of the agent's capabilities is exciting, as it can help save time, improve service, and make colleagues' lives easier.
• Activities, analytics, channels: "Activities" logs what the agent has been doing, while "analytics" measures its performance. "Channels" shows where the agent can be found, summarizing the six key areas: knowledge, topics, actions, activities, analytics, and channels.

• Overview: Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is a new, free functionality that integrates with your Windows laptop and some Microsoft Office applications. It is distinct from the existing Microsoft 365 Copilot, which costs $30 per user, per month and enhances applications like Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Teams.
• Data source: The free version of Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat only uses web data for training and does not access work or tenant data. However, users can upload files from SharePoint or OneDrive to use as part of the knowledge base in their prompts.
• Reduced learning curve: Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is impressive, notes Shawn, because it remains free while using GPT-4o as its engine and maintaining enterprise-level security. Additionally, it offers prompt reactions grounded on web data or uploaded files, image generation, and a collaboration tool called Pages, making it accessible and reducing the learning curve for users.
• Embedded agents: As explained, M365 Copilot Chat does not connect to work or tenant data, which may be a limitation for some organizations. However, it allows the use of out-of-the-box and custom agents, with the option to access work data through a pay-as-you-go model at a lower cost per message compared to other AI competitors.
• Document management: Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat includes an image generator and a feature called Pages, which allows team collaboration on documents similar to saving files to SharePoint. Since the free version doesn't connect to tenant data, Pages provides an alternative for collaborative document management.
• Free functionalities: Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat offers free functionalities, with the option to use pay-as-you-go for grounding on web or work data and creating autonomous agents.
• Necessary permissions: To use Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, your IT team must enable and manage it through the Copilot Control System, which handles Enterprise Data Protection and agent management. This system allows IT to control user permissions and the creation of metered agents.
• Final thoughts: In closing, Shawn explains how M365 Copilot Chat breaks down barriers to AI adoption by addressing cost and security concerns, making it more accessible and affordable.

• Overview: Brad is a Microsoft MVP for Business Central with product experience beginning in 1998, having worked in various roles for both customers and partners, giving him a unique perspective on successful implementations. Currently, he focuses on development and system architecture and believes that understanding both the technical and functional aspects of Business Central is crucial for successful architecture and implementation.
• Impressions of Copilot: Brad elaborates on his opinions of artificial intelligence and specifically, Copilot, which he deems to be a versatile tool that enhances efficiency by assisting with various tasks. It can summarize meetings, conversations, and emails, allowing users to focus on other important activities, and similarly, in email threads, Copilot can provide a summary, helping users catch up quickly on missed communications. Although it may not always be 100% accurate, it significantly reduces the time he spends on these tasks, making it a valuable asset in the workplace.
• Relativity: Copilot's ability to summarize emails and effectively reduce time begs the question of whether it's more effective to write concise emails with key points highlighted, rather than lengthy emails that may require summarization by Copilot. Brad suggests that using bullet points initially could improve clarity and communication.
• AI around us: We use AI more frequently than we realize. For example, Brad explains that he uses Copilot to generate images for posts and presentations, replacing his stock photography subscriptions.
• AI implications: Brad reflects on the implications of AI tools like Copilot, which can generate professional-quality content, such as headshots and stock photography, reducing the need for traditional services. Further, he highlights the efficiency gains in software development, where tools like GitHub Copilot can handle mundane tasks, allowing developers to focus on more complex work.
• AI Agent & Copilot Summit NA: In closing, Shawn encourages listeners to attend the AI Agent & Copilot Summit NA, running March 17-19 in San Diego, CA. Brad adds that sessions and education on Copilot Studio will be prominent at the event and notes it's an excellent place for learning about AI and creating your own agents for business use. The Summit will also provide insights into Microsoft's efforts to govern AI use ethically and efficiently within the business space.

• Overview: Shawn reflects on the rapid advancements of AI, specifically Microsoft Copilot, in 2024 and sets goals for 2025, emphasizing the need for Microsoft's Copilot to surpass the popularity of ChatGPT by leveraging and securing the AI model to create specialized agents.
• Prompt scheduling: Shawn is a fan of using Copilot for Microsoft 365 applications like Teams, Outlook, and Excel. He expresses a desire for the ability to schedule prompts and have them delivered automatically, rather than having to manually request the data each time, which he believes would be a game changer.
• Stronger interaction: Next, he wishes for a more user-friendly way to interact with Copilot, similar to how Cortana was used, to improve end-user adoption. Shawn believes personifying Copilot could make it more approachable. "I want to be able to talk to AI," he notes. "I don't think that's a big ask."
• Proactive Copilot: Further, Shawn hopes that in 2025, Copilot will be more proactive in managing his business obligations, such as emails and messages, by identifying and reminding him of tasks he might have missed. Ideally, this feature would reduce the reliance on manually requesting information and improve efficiency.
• Meeting efficiency: In 2025, Shawn hopes Copilot will be able to analyze meeting content and discussions to provide feedback on how to make meetings more efficient, such as identifying missing attendees or suggesting if the meeting could have been an email.
• Image generation: Futher, he hopes for significant improvements in Copilot's image generation capabilities, addressing issues like hallucinations and sloppiness. In 2025, Copilot should match the quality of other AI image generation tools and he suggests enhancing the feedback loop to improve the system.
• Improved accessibility: Shawn emphasizes the importance of improving accessibility in Microsoft's UI for 2025, particularly for visually impaired users. He believes integrating voice interaction and third-party speaker connectivity would greatly benefit individuals with disabilities and should be prioritized. Additionally, Shawn suggests that in 2025, Copilot could help with physical well-being by recognizing when users have been inactive for too long and suggesting activities, another means of AI being helpful.
• Enhancing user skills: Next, Shawn hopes that Copilot will provide simple, proactive help by suggesting templates and offering tips to improve users' skills in applications like Excel and PowerPoint.
• Learning paths to increase adoption: Finally, he expresses that Copilot could teach users how to use software through learning paths or gamification, making it more engaging and increasing user adoption. Ultimately, this approach would create a safer space for users and help them feel more comfortable with the technology.

• Copilot in Teams: Shawn explains that Copilot in Teams has significantly increased efficiency and saved him time by taking notes, delegating tasks, providing transcripts, and helping prepare for meetings. This has reduced the number and duration of meetings, allowing for better follow-ups and more productive use of time.
• Copilot in Outlook: Copilot's ability to provide email summaries in Outlook, which condenses email threads into key bullet points, has greatly improved efficiency. Combined with Copilot's ability to search an inbox, these tools enhanced productivity and streamline communication.
• Image generation: Microsoft's enhanced image generation with Copilot, using a tool called DALL-E 3, has been a game changer for creating visualizations for slide decks and KPIs. Despite some minor issues like hallucinations, the improvements have made it a valuable feature for users.
• Document capabilities: One of Shawn's top features of Copilot in 2024 is the ability to upload files and extract specific information or take actions based on the content. For example, uploading a 158-page PDF and quickly generating an Excel file with key details from each page saves significant time and enhances productivity.
• Advancements of AI Agents: The advancement of Copilot agents in 2024 has been a significant addition, and 2025 is expected to be the year of the agents. These agents handle repeatable tasks, enhancing user adoption and integrating AI into workflows and business processes. For more details, check out this episode of Copilot 101.
• AI and Copilot Summit NA 2025: In 2025, agents will significantly replace process flows, enhancing efficiency and saving time. Don't miss the AI Agent & Copilot Summit NA, running March 17-19 in San Diego, CA, featuring Microsoft's Ray Smith as the keynote speaker. Learn more and register here.

• Overview: Business Central's Copilot is included at no extra charge with both the $70 Essentials and $100 Premium licenses. It has been available for about two years, and while opinions on its usefulness vary, it can be used for tasks like bank reconciliation and is part of the Microsoft 365 subscription, connecting seamlessly with Business Central.
• Setting up new inventory: Copilot in Business Central can suggest sales order lines, item variants, and units of measure, making it a useful tool for tasks like setting up new inventory items and assisting with customer inquiries. Users have found it to be a valuable time-saver and a practical feature in real-world scenarios, notes Shawn.
• Marketing text: Copilot in Business Central can generate marketing text for inventory items, which can be customized in tone and length for platforms like Shopify, eBay, Amazon, or your own website. This feature is helpful for overcoming creative hurdles.
• Number series: Copilot in Business Central can generate number series for tasks like initial setup or year-end adjustments, saving time on these processes. Additionally, it can build analyze lists, which are pivot versions of system lists, helping users manage and group data more efficiently.
• Analyze data: You can use Copilot in Business Central with natural language commands to create and analyze lists, saving time on repeatable tasks. Additionally, Copilot for Finance, part of the Microsoft 365 subscription, helps with tasks like data reconciliation and collections directly in Outlook, enhancing efficiency.
• Agent for sales in BC: Shawn explains that the most important feature to highlight is the upcoming public preview of Microsoft's Copilot agent for Sales in Business Central, which will handle repetitive, lower-value tasks through AI. This agent will process emails and create queues for users, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness.
• More agents coming: With increasing end-user adoption, Microsoft plans to steadily introduce more agents into Business Central, enhancing its competitiveness against other ERP and accounting solutions. The upcoming public preview of the sales agent in Business Central is expected to significantly impact users, showcasing the rapid advancements in AI integration.
• Final thoughts: There is great potential for Copilot agents in Business Central, such as for reconciliation, month-end closing, and payment applications. The commitment from the Microsoft Business Central product team is strong, and feedback on where to see more Copilot integration is encouraged.

• Overview: Copilot for Finance is a specialized agent by Microsoft that leverages ERP data to provide specific insights and suggestions, similar to how Copilot for Sales uses CRM data. This tool aims to enhance business reporting and data utilization.
• Reduce lower-level tasks: In the modern era, finance associates need real-time information to make timely decisions, as relying on outdated data can deter actionable impact. Copilot for Finance aims to reduce friction in lower-level tasks, allowing finance professionals to focus on higher-value activities and streamline repeatable processes.
• Streamline repeatable tasks: Repeatable tasks in finance, such as issuing statements or reconciling account codes, can be streamlined using Copilot for Finance, which is currently in preview and works with Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations and Business Central. This tool can integrate with Excel to push and edit ERP data, though it is still in its early stages.
• Copilot for Finance capabilities: Reconciling transactions from your cash account and bank statements is a repeatable task that can be streamlined using Copilot for Finance, for example. This tool can automate the reconciliation process in Excel, even if the data sets are not directly connected to the ERP system.
• Outlook integrations: Further, Copilot for Finance can integrate with Outlook to assist with accounts receivable tasks such as reissuing invoices and tracking collections, eliminating the need to switch to Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations or Business Central. This is free and can be authenticated with existing credentials.
• Looking ahead: The next iteration of Copilot for Finance will integrate with Teams, enabling similar accounts receivable management and collaboration features currently available in Outlook. Copilot for Finance intends to bring real-time insights and reduce the time needed for data analysis.

• Overview: Copilot for Sales is an exciting tool that enhances sales efficiency through its "AI UI," integrating with Microsoft 365 applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. It offers significant touchpoints with Microsoft 365, making it a valuable addition for those looking to streamline their sales processes.
• Addressing industry challenges: The biggest challenge for sales professionals is maintaining all the necessary information in the backend system, such as Dynamics 365 for Sales, which includes data on contacts, leads, opportunities, communications, and market metrics. This can be taxing, especially as sales associates are expected to sell more, manage more deals, and handle more existing customers than ever before. The growing demands on sales team members make the administrative burden of record-keeping even more significant.
• Costs: Copilot for Sales is a tool designed to automate and reduce friction in the sales cycle, but it comes with an additional cost. Unlike Copilot in Sales, which is included in Dynamics 365 for Sales, Copilot for Sales requires an extra subscription fee of $20 per month on top of the $30 per month for Microsoft 365, totaling $50 per user per month.
• How Copilot for Sales helps sellers: Copilot for Sales helps manage rising requirements and tasks by making recommendations and actions based on CRM data, unlike Microsoft 365 Copilot, which isn't grounded in CRM data. It assists in various tasks like meetings, document preparation, and email communication, directly enhancing sales efficiency.
• Leverage data: Using Microsoft 365 Copilot without CRM data can lead to disconnected information, as it only uses email context for responses. Copilot for Sales, however, leverages CRM data to generate responses based on opportunities and system information, making it easier to handle repetitive tasks and saving time by suggesting or generating conversations based on CRM data.

• Overview: Copilot agents, part of Microsoft's AI digital assistant, are enhancing various Microsoft products with advanced AI capabilities. However, users may find that the specific functionalities they desire, such as leveraging information from SharePoint or Outlook, might not always align with what Microsoft has integrated into its in-product Copilots.
• Building agents: Copilot Studio is a toolkit that allows you to build custom Copilot agents for your organization, automating routines and enhancing productivity. These agents can help manage tasks like email inboxes, reducing lead time and increasing response efficiency, ultimately boosting overall success.
• Better automation and insights: Copilot agents can be customized with specific data to provide more precise responses and can be controlled using parameters to manage risk. They should be seen as colleagues whose level of autonomy depends on the task and their experience, allowing for a balance between automation and human oversight.
• Example: A great example of using Copilot agents is automating the process of handling customer emails requesting quotes. By building an agent to process these emails, pull necessary information from various sources, and either send the quote automatically or queue it for review, businesses can significantly reduce lead time and improve efficiency. This approach can be applied to many operational tasks, including employee onboarding.
• Agents in Biz Apps: Microsoft is actively promoting its Copilot agents, including a new sales order agent for Business Central, which monitors emails and creates response queues while updating ERP systems. Users can try Copilot Studio for free with a developer's license to build custom agents using various data sources.

• Overview: Copilot Studio, formerly known as Power Virtual Agents, allows you to create custom Copilots and AI Agents for business processes, enabling AI use in areas not specifically covered by Microsoft. You can start using Copilot Studio for free, though sharing custom Copilots with others requires a paid plan.
• Use cases: Copilots which are built in Copilot Studio can analyze customer emails, check order history, and other analytics to make decisions within set guidelines, boosting organizational productivity by automating responses and actions. Its drag-and-drop UI, similar to Power Apps and PowerPoint, makes it easy to build these autonomous agents.
• Reduced manual effort: Copilot Studio allows you to set triggers for emails and other events, leveraging AI to gather information like order history and account managers, and automate responses and actions. This process reduces manual effort and enhances productivity by using familiar flows and decision trees, similar to Power Automate, to handle complex tasks and make intelligent decisions.
• Accessible AI use: Copilot Studio offers a powerful and secure AI tool within the Microsoft ecosystem, allowing users to build custom Copilot Agents using both public and private data. The availability of pre-built Agents and familiar triggers makes it accessible and reduces the intimidation of creating your own AI solutions.
• Final thoughts: The excitement around Copilot Studio Agents is palpable as they can automate actions on emails and other tasks, reducing lead time and overhead. These AI Agents, whether manual or autonomous, can enhance productivity by working alongside human interactions or independently, with Microsoft also publishing their own agents for various applications.

• M365 Copilot and Copilot Pro: One type of copilot is Microsoft 365 Copilot, a subscription service for Word, Excel, and other applications, as discussed in a previous episode. Further, there's Copilot Pro, a premium experience for Windows Copilot, offering faster responses and image generation for $20, which is useful for enterprise demands.
• CRM: Microsoft's Copilot for CRM includes Copilot for Sales, which offers intelligent insights and assistance for sales teams, and Copilot for Service, which aids in customer service operations.
• Power Platform: Power Platform Copilot includes Copilot for Fabric and Power Platform Copilot for creating apps, workflows, and analyzing data. Additionally, Microsoft Security Cpilot provides AI-driven security insights and recommendations to tackle cyber attacks and hacking.
• Industry-specific Copilots: Copilot for Finance assists in financial analysis and helps analysts and professionals with AI-driven insights and recommendations. Similarly, Copilot for Education supports educators and students with AI-driven insights. Furthermore, Copilot for Marketing enhances marketing efforts with AI assistance.
• Healthcare: Shawn discusses Copilot for Healthcare, which provides insights and assistance for professionals in the healthcare industry. There are many other Copilots across the Microsoft ecosystem, including Microsoft Forms, Stream, Microsoft Lists, SharePoint, Outlook, To Do, Azure DevOps, and Yammer, highlighting the importance of understanding their benefits for end users and businesses.
• Copilot Studio: Copilot Studio allows users to create their own Copilots tailored to specific needs, such as querying HR policies stored in a repository like OneDrive. This empowers users to build custom solutions that interact with their data directly.

• Overview: Microsoft 365 Copilot costs $30 per month per user and offers evolving functionalities in Teams, PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and Outlook. While the Copilot for Excel has limitations, such as requiring data to be in tables, there is excitement about future improvements.
• PowerPoint: Shawn notes that he finds PowerPoint particularly useful for creating summary presentations based on lengthy Word documents, as Copilot does a great job at providing a solid starting point. Additionally, the ability to incorporate relevant pictures and look at PDF documents makes it a valuable tool for his speaking engagements and daily responsibilities.
• Outlook and Word: The new ability to use PDFs and the addition of speaker notes in slide decks make Microsoft 365 Copilot a valuable tool, regardless of its $30 monthly fee. Beyond Excel and PowerPoint, Copilot also offers significant benefits in Outlook and Word, such as creating and summarizing documents, and revising text to improve tone and professionalism.
• Valuable ROI: Shawn explains that he often uses Copilot to refine document dialog, making points clearer and more succinct as needed. While $30 a month may seem high initially, the ROI is quickly realized by saving just an hour or two a week, allowing for more valuable business activities.
• Time savings: Using Copilot in Outlook to summarize emails, identify action items, and suggest follow-ups is a valuable feature that justifies the monthly fee, as it saves significant time each week. While learning to use the tool initially felt time-consuming, the time saved in the long run makes it worthwhile.

• Getting started with Copilot: Microsoft Copilot is integrated into nearly every Microsoft product, with around 177 different Copilots available. It serves as an AI companion to help users navigate and utilize these tools effectively. Shawn explains that he found it overwhelming at first but decided to start with the simplest version, Copilot on Windows, which is accessible from the taskbar and integrates seamlessly into the desktop environment.
• Copilot on Windows: Shawn started using Copilot for Windows on Windows 11, which is free and saved him $20 a month compared to using ChatGPT. He used it for quick grabs of information, like finding images for PowerPoint presentations, making the introduction of Copilot easier to grasp.
• Further applications: In addition to Copilot on Windows, Shawn explains that he used Copilot for web queries, like asking about stats or updates for Microsoft Business Central, and found it provided reasonable answers with references. This easy entry point led him to commit to using Copilot on a daily basis, not just in Windows but also in other Microsoft 365 products like PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, and Word.
• Setting expectations of Copilot: When getting started with Copilot, it's important to set the right expectations and understand that it's designed to enhance your capabilities, not replace you. In the bigger picture, Copilot can handle larger tasks like processing customer orders by recognizing emails, checking inventory, creating orders, and fulfilling them, all automatically through integration with systems like OneDrive or Business Central.
• Continuous training of Copilot: Starting with AI can be overwhelming, so it's important to understand that it's a journey that takes time. Think of Copilot as a junior colleague whose work you need to validate and guide, recognizing that the more information and experience it gains, the more accurate and helpful it will become. Shawn adds that it's important to "own" the process, which will build your confidence in using Copilot across different platforms, recognizing that it's an evolving journey for both you and Copilot.
• Real-world example: In closing, Shawn shares his experience as a Tesla owner, highlighting the journey of learning to trust the car's self-driving AI capabilities over time. He draws a parallel to using Copilot, emphasizing that building trust and confidence in AI capabilities is a gradual process that ultimately leads to greater efficiency and the ability to focus on more valuable tasks.

• Overview: In the "Copilot 101 Podcast," Shawn will discuss the benefits and areas of improvement relating to Microsoft Copilot, share personal experiences on adoption, and introduce the basics of Copilot, including where to find and how to use it. This first episode will provide an overview and insights into Shawn's journey with Copilot.
• Understanding Copilot: Copilot is Microsoft's initiative to integrate artificial intelligence into their applications and desktop environments, making AI accessible at various levels. Essentially, it serves as a "brand name" for Microsoft's capability to embed AI into their products.
• Difference from Chat GPT: One key difference between Chat GPT and Copilot is that while Chat GPT costs $20 a month, Copilot is available for free with Windows 11. The Copilot interface is very similar to Chat GPT and performs the same tasks, allowing users to save money.
• Copilot as a digital assistant: Copilot is Microsoft's digital AI assistant designed to help users save time and effort by providing a starting point for tasks and automating routine activities. It integrates artificial intelligence into applications, similar to how digital assistants like Google Home or Amazon's Alexa function in a home setting.
• Need for human influence: Understanding Copilot involves recognizing both its capabilities and limitations. While it serves as a digital assistant to help with various tasks, it is not a human replacement and requires user validation and expertise to ensure it performs correctly.
• Improve reliability with usage: Copilot builds context from your work environment, such as SharePoint, OneDrive, calendars, and documents, but it is not a replacement for humans and is continually evolving. Recognizing its imperfections and ongoing development is crucial, as its effectiveness improves with usage.

• Copilot as a team member: Microsoft Copilot is now being introduced as a new "team member," enhancing its role from a personal assistant to an active, collaborative contributor within a team. Aaron explains that users retain control over Copilot's tasks and contributions across various collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams, Loop, and Planner.
• Key roles: Copilot as a team member has three key roles: a meeting facilitator managing agendas and notes in Microsoft Teams, a group collaborator surfacing important information and tracking action items across channels, and a project manager ensuring smooth project execution by assigning tasks and tracking due dates.
• Copilot in Azure: Aaron discusses the new capabilities of Microsoft Copilot in Azure, noting that its still in preview. However, these capabilities include the added autonomy for enabling or disabling Copilot within a tenant. He also covers selective access for user groups, balancing flexibility with security.
• SQL database management: SQL Database Query Editor will now include a Copilot feature, allowing users to convert natural language into SQL queries. Natural language query capabilities in Azure SQL databases allow users to start queries in their own language, making SQL operations more efficient. This feature is part of Copilot's assistance tools, which draw from various sources like public documentation and Query Store to enhance SQL database management.

• Asynchronous orchestration feature: A new enhancement to Copilot Studio is the asynchronous orchestration feature, which allows generative AI to manage complex, multi-step, long-running tasks efficiently, maintaining the necessary state and context throughout the process.
• Context-aware capabilities: The new context-aware capabilities of Copilot Studio, which learn from previous interactions to personalize future conversations, emphasize the importance of monitoring and improving AI with transparency and guardrails to ensure it adheres to business and regulatory standards securely.
• Custom copilots: Aaron explains that with Copilot Studio, users can create custom copilots using natural language, which simplifies the process of developing AI solutions. The redesigned experience offers a foundation or framework to assist users, while they maintain final control over the output.
• Copilot connectors in Copilot Studio: Aaron highlights the new Copilot connectors feature in Copilot Studio, which aids in creating custom copilots tailored to specific industries and functions, such as legal compliance and HR assistance. He also mentions the availability of persona templates which are in public preview for developers.

• Data and AI: Data and AI are fundamentally linked, with AI relying on data to inform models and produce intelligent outputs, while also offering new capabilities to assist data professionals in fields like data engineering and analysis, as demonstrated by tools like Copilot.
• Copilot and Fabric: Copilot is now generally available inside Microsoft Fabric, starting with Power BI. It's enabled by default for eligible tenants, including various Fabric experiences like Data Factory and real-time intelligence, with a broader rollout expected in the coming weeks.
• Power BI experience: The Power BI experience with Copilot now includes a "Copilot Power Data Overview" button as part of the Explore experience, providing summaries of semantic knowledge to aid in natural language processing and interpretation. Additionally, Copilot's capabilities have expanded to answer data-driven questions using natural language, allowing for the creation of visualizations and reports. This feature is currently in preview.
• Real-time intelligence: The Real-time Intelligence feature, currently in preview, allows users to explore real-time data with ease, starting with Power BI and KQL query language, translating natural language queries into executable QL queries. Additionally, the new AI skills of Copilot, also in preview, provide a conversational Q&A experience, enabling users to ask questions about data from selected sources without needing any configuration.

• Copilot in SharePoint: At Microsoft Build 2024, Microsoft introduced the integration of SharePoint and Copilot, declaring that every SharePoint site is now equipped with a Copilot. This addition enhances the ability to manage and locate the vast amount of content added daily across all SharePoint sites.
• Creating custom Copilots: A new feature in SharePoint allows users to create a custom Copilot tailored to their content preferences. By clicking the "Create a Copilot" button in SharePoint, users can name and describe their Copilot, select data sources for AI grounding, and add behaviors and instructions to personalize the experience, which can then be shared within the company or team.
• Share Copilots amongst your team: Once a custom Copilot is created in SharePoint, it can be shared with team members via a link in Microsoft Teams. Interaction is simple: mention the Copilot's name and ask a question or provide a prompt, with the assurance that SharePoint user permissions are respected.
• Availability: The capabilities for creating custom Copilots in SharePoint are currently in private preview. If you're interested, sign up to potentially access the preview later this year. Once available, proper permissions will be required to create a custom Copilot. It's important to note that custom Copilot creation will adhere to existing SharePoint user permissions, ensuring secure access and no risk of oversharing information.
• Security considerations: To ensure the security and proper use of the new SharePoint Copilot feature, it's crucial to review and update Microsoft 365 security policies and SharePoint permissions. This will prevent the oversharing of sensitive or proprietary information and ensure strong governance and data policy compliance.

• BDO's Dynamics practice: Tom explains that BDO's business applications practice is dedicated to implementing a wide range of Microsoft solutions including Finance & Operations, Customer Engagement, Business Central, and Copilot, with a specialized focus on Azure, AI, business intelligence, and security infrastructure to ensure client success. "Being able to deliver across that entire stack is certainly a differentiator for us and a lot of other partners as well."
• Engaging with BDO: Collaboration among partners, clients, and Microsoft is key to BDO's success, especially as the industry shifts towards cloud-based solutions, and this collaborative approach has been a cornerstone of their business for over 30 years, enabling them to deliver successful solutions globally.
• Rising trends: Copilot is garnering significant attention for its integration with Office 365, Dynamics, and web applications, prompting a need for education among partners and clients on its optimal use. Leveraging AI, including Copilot, to deliver the best solutions, with Power Platform is also a considerable trend for its app development capabilities without altering Dynamics code, and global deployment strategies for Microsoft solutions.
• Customers staying up to speed: In the rapidly evolving Microsoft ecosystem, staying ahead with continuous training and readiness is crucial for partners. A solid implementation methodology and a comprehensive understanding of the Microsoft stack or strong partnerships are key to providing clients with successful solutions and architecture across Microsoft's offerings.
• Collaboration in the ecosystem: Collaboration is essential in today's Microsoft ecosystem, where partners, clients, and Microsoft teams work closely to navigate the complexities of the industry. The information and connections provided by Microsoft are invaluable for partners to operate effectively and avoid "driving blind" in the dynamic tech environment.
• Connect with Tom: Register for the Biz Apps Partner Summit, happening July 24-25 in Bellevue, Washington to meet Tom Patterson and learn how to dazzle customers, get insights into Microsoft’s FY 2025 priorities, and scale your Microsoft Business Applications practice.

• GitHub history: GitHub, a platform launched in 2008, was acquired by Microsoft in 2018. Fast forward to 2022, GitHub Copilot was introduced, one of Microsoft's initial offerings to aid developers. This tool was designed to enhance software development by providing AI-assisted coding and to empower developers to build and deploy applications using their natural language.
• Use case: Aaron shares an example of how GitHub Copilot works as illustrated by Microsoft. A developer receives an alert about a database error and begins to investigate the issue. To understand the problem fully, they may need to sift through various tools. Once enough context is acquired, the developer can use tools for error monitoring to further diagnose the cause. Finally, they can apply the fix and deploy it using Azure. He notes that this process involves a significant amount of time spent "context switching."
• How GitHub Copilot extensions aid developers: GitHub Copilot extensions are transforming the way developers work by allowing them to stay within the GitHub environment while addressing issues. With the use of natural language, developers can pinpoint the source of a problem without leaving GitHub.
• GitHub Copilot for Azure: This extension further enhances the capabilities of GitHub Copilot and demonstrates how the tool can accelerate development through natural language. Developers can utilize GitHub Copilot for Azure directly within Copilot chat to get answers to Azure-related questions. Finally, GitHub Copilot for Azure assists developers throughout the deployment process.
• Availability: GitHub Copilot for Azure is currently in a preview phase and not yet generally available. It is being offered directly by Microsoft, and those interested can sign up here. GitHub Copilot for Azure aims to reduce the time developers spend context-switching between applications, allowing them to address issues more efficiently using natural language.

• Copilot at Build: Aaron will be leading a new series called "Copilot at Build" based on the Copilot-specific announcements delivered at Microsoft Build 2024.
• Azure AI Studio: Azure AI Studio is now generally available and this is part of Microsoft's Copilot platform. Azure AI Studio extends Copilot's capabilities and AI functionalities and includes various Azure AI services like Azure AI Search, Open AI, and Azure Machine Learning, which aid developers through a prompted flow for a guided experience.
• Extensive model catalog: Azure AI Studio's model catalog includes over 1,600 models from various providers, including Microsoft and Open AI. Developers can experiment with different AI models. Developers can experiment with various models, find prompts through iterative testing, customize these models, and do this in a secure way with their own datasets to get tailored results.
• Enhanced creativity: Azure AI Studio was celebrated at Microsoft Build for providing professional developers with a comprehensive suite of tools that enhance creativity beyond traditional coding. Developers can now use natural language to engage with AI as a copilot in their development process, allowing them to tap into their creativity more effectively.
• Shifting directions: These announcements, which are a small sample of those delivered at the event, represent a shift from the conventional view of developers as solely code-focused, towards recognizing their potential for creative problem-solving through innovative AI-assisted tools.

• Microsoft has recently unveiled a new category of Windows PCs designed for AI, called Copilot+ PCs, which signifies a significant step in integrating Copilot technology directly into the hardware of computers.
• These PCs are equipped with powerful silicon capable of performing 40+ TOPS (trillion operations per second), offer all-day battery life, and provide access to sophisticated AI models.
• Additionally, Microsoft is enhancing existing functionalities and introducing new apps, such as Image Creator, which is getting an upgrade with Cocreator. Cocreator allows users to combine ink strokes with text prompts to generate images in real time.
• Microsoft's expanded partnership with Adobe brings Adobe's flagship applications such as Photoshop, Lightroom, and Express to Copilot+ PCs. This collaboration is part of an ongoing effort to optimize these apps for AI.
• Aaron concludes by posing a few questions to the audience: Do these announcements change your perception or decision-making process when you're looking for a new laptop?

01:45 — Srini Raghavan, Vice President of the Microsoft Teams Ecosystem, attended ServiceNow's Knowledge 2024 event and shared scenarios of how Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Teams, and Now Assist work together to enhance employee productivity across various teams.

03:04 — Aaron reviews the scenarios that highlight how Copilot and Now Assist knowledge bases are being leveraged and extended.

05:54 — These real-world scenarios bring together not only a partnership between Microsoft and ServiceNow but an integration of multiple technologies that spans across multiple teams. Furthermore, Copilot is continuing to expand across the different Microsoft business applications and creating new means of productivity for end users.

02:13 — The goal of this integration is to assist security professionals with logging security detections and turning those into actionable insights. There are a few key ways Copilot for Security is assisting Azure WAF:

• Provides contextual analysis
• Investigates security threats
• Delivers explanations in natural language

04:12 — Azure Firewall is intended to intercept and block malicious traffic using an intrusion detection and prevention system (IDPS). However, when analysts need to perform deeper investigations into the threats that Azure firewall catches using this feature, they've got to do all this manually.

05:00 — There are three unique areas that Copilot in Azure Firewall can assist:

• Investigation starts with selecting a specific Azure Firewall to examine the intercepted threat
• Providing additional context around the threat
• Correlating threats across different environments

07:02 — In closing, Aaron notes that Copilot is removing "guesswork" that's involved with manually identifying threats, which is helping security professionals "turn that output into action."

02:00 — Copilot in Forms can provide assistance with many things, including:

• Saving time and effort
• Generating "draft" surveys
• Refining the survey or form once it's been drafted
• Improving accuracy and quality

04:05 — Aaron concludes that it's important to be precise and accurate when using Copilot in Forms, as it can help enhance survey insights and suggest design op

00:55 — Did you know that Microsoft Copilot is now integrated into the new Microsoft Planner? The recently announced Copilot in Planner brings together Copilot, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Planner to provide AI-powered assistance to users.

01:27 — Though it's still in Preview mode, Copilot in Planner will assist users with:

• Planning productive and successful projects
• Generate task goals
• Develop entire project plans
• Identify next project steps
• Project tracking

... and it can all be done using natural language.

03:13 — Currently, Microsoft Copilot is only available for those with the Project Plan 3 or Project Plan 5 licenses. Final pricing for Copilot in Plann

01:52 — Users can ask GitHub Copilot how to solve a problem, ask it to explain code, enhance code, or fix bugs. Recently, Microsoft has been looking to tackle "growing problems," with the help of GitHub Copilot, around Infrastructure as Code (IAC), which is "the managing and provisioning of infrastructure through code instead of through manual processes."

03:26 — Some of the issues Microsoft aims to address with IAC are the managing of code layers, consistency in coding, and learning curves.

05:06 — How can GitHub Copilot mitigate these problems? There are a few ways:

• Code generation with accuracy
• Streamline the development process
• Consistency across environments
• Accelerate onboarding and learning
• Assist with efficiency

07:23 — Aaron explains that this is an important step for developers, as it helps them with the flow of their work, which is becoming increasingly complex.

01:58 — This is a "working partnership from both sides," that will provide better integrations and smoother workflows for the legal practice community. Litera aims to make Microsoft Copilot a "day-to-day tool" by the end of 2024.

03:23 — Aaron expresses that it's important to see other industries being positively impacted by Microsoft Copilot, but he cautions users to be mindful when validating Copilot's output, which is critical in a legal context.

04:52 — "Make sure the facts are really the facts when AI or Copilot are generating things and ensure that accuracy is always in place. Again, it's meant to be an assistant and a Copilot."

02:17 — TAL, an Australian life insurance company, is one of the first to deploy Microsoft Copilot for D365, and also signed up for Copilot for Security through the Early Access Program (EAP). Company executives note that this is a means of safely experimenting with the capabilities of AI, and helps bolster cybersecurity posture.

05:31 — Not only is AI a means of strengthening security defense, but it's also equipping professionals with new AI skills. Aaron notes the importance of balancing artificial intelligence benefits with a framework for responsible use. In conclusion, he notes that Microsoft Copilot for Security is the "new kid on the block, and it's playing catch up in recognition of what it can do."

01:42 — Microsoft recently conducted a study with security professionals, measuring the speed, accuracy, and sentiment — with and without Copilot. As it relates to speed:

• Security professionals using Copilot completed their tasks 22% faster
• With Copilot, security professionals are 14% faster at analyzing scripts
• Security professionals are 19% faster at analyzing incident reports with Copilot
• 39% faster at summarizing an incident when using Copilot

Addiitonally, the study found:

• With Copilot, security professionals saw a 7% increase in accuracy
• 12% more accurate at script analysis
• Copilot generated incident summaries with 49% more incident facts

03:24 — In the sentiment category:

• 97% of security professionals said they wanted to use Microsoft Copilot the next time they did the same task
• 93% reported that Microsoft Copilot for Security helped improve quality of work
• 85% reported that Copilot reduced effort on a task
• 92% reported that Copiloto made them more productive

04:26 — These stats — while impressive on their own — highlight the importance of security professionals needing assistance as they're "wading through all that security information." In this case, specifically, it's clear that Microsoft Copilot for Security is already making an impact and is a valuable asset to security professionals.

01:59 — One partnership that Microsoft recently announced is with Cognizant. The organization purchased 25,000 Microsoft Copilot seats, including:

• 500 seats for Sales
• 500 seats for Service

Furthermore, Cognizant will deploy Microsoft 365 Copilot to one million customers across 11 industries.

03:11 — In the media industry, Cognizant is working with a company to develop generative AI-based solutions for translating the localization of video content. In the manufacturing industry, Cognizant is looking to improve remote engineering diagnostics. In education, they're working with a service provider to redesign and execute operating models to create and deliver personalized digital content. These are just a few of the industry-specific applications of generative AI that Cognizant is leading.

04:33 — Another recent partnership that was formed is between Microsoft and Coca-Cola which aims to accelerate cloud and generative AI initiatives.

05:38 — Aaron notes the two clear messages from these partnerships:

• Innovation is a must for AI
• Consider the purpose and people in AI solutions

01:44 — As artificial intelligence and Copilot continue to expand, Microsoft will continue forging strategic partnerships. Specifically, Microsoft recently formed a partnership with G42 that aims to accelerate AI innovation in the UAE and beyond. Microsoft is investing $1.5 billion in G42 for a minority stake in the company. Last year, G42 was one of the first partners to commit to implementing Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty offering to the UAE-based organizations.

02:59 — Microsoft's commercial partnerships will be backed by the US and UAE governments through a "first-of-its-kind binding agreement." The intent of this partnership is to apply best practices to ensure the secure trust, development, and deployment of AI.

04:24 — Furthermore, this partnership will also support the development of a skilled and diverse AI workforce, as Microsoft is investing about $1 billion for developers. Overall, Aaron notes how this initiative demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to furthering AI usage, adoption, and education around the world.

03:08 — Aaron notes that "purpose-built" SLMs are versatile and can be used in many scenarios, are easily fine-tuned, and still rely on quality data.

03:51 — Multimodal AI models come into play with image touch-ups, for example, and help bolster creativity.

05:32 — Aaron suspects that in 2024, there will be more usage and applicable use cases for SLMs, due to the fact their versatile, easy to maintain, and are purpose-built. SLMs fuel Copilot for specific Dynamics 365 applications. In fact, Microsoft has released a small language model, Phi-2, which is now available inside of Azure AI Studio, and it's "only a matter of time before we see this impacting Microsoft Copilot."

01:13 — According to the company, "this hub is intended to drive pioneering work to advance state-of the-art language models and their supporting infrastructures and to create world-class tooling for foundation models, collaborating closely with our AI teams across Microsoft, and with our partners, including Open AI.

01:33 — In March 2024, CEO Satya Nadella announced the newly formed AI organization at Microsoft, called Microsoft AI, which is now being led by Mustafa Suleyman. The intent of this organization is to advance Copilot and other AI products and research.

02:15 — Aaron notes the importance of this annoucement, as it emphasizes Microsoft's investment in AI and Copilot by "bringing this level of talent to the organization." Additionally, the inclusion of a physical space devoted to AI developments and solutions will enable more companies to get hands-on experience and exposure to these products.

03:48 — The annoucement did not disclose exactly when Microsoft AI London will open.

04:56 — As Copilot expands from the digital space to the physical, Aaron notes that he's pleased to see the inclusion of human input in these developments.

01:40 — The AI PC will include a system that comes with a neural processing unit (NPU), which will also have access to Copilot. This will speed up the process of machine learning (ML), notes Aaron, in addition to AI PCs being able to "run more elements of Copilot locally."

03:22 — With Copilot, the NPU adds a compute capability that would decrease any system lags and potentially improve performance and privacy. Additionally, Microsoft announced earlier this year that it will be adding a Copilot key to PCs, making it easy to launch and run the application from a user's device.

04:05 — What does this mean for users? Aaron shares a few takeaways:

• Copilot has stepped beyond the digital realm and into the physical
• AI functionality can now be processed more quickly, reducing the "lag" in AI output
• He predicts the Copilot key will eventually replace the standard Windows key on PCs

01:45 — Currently, there is speculation that Microsoft and OpenAI are looking to create AI data centers, called Stargate, to launch in 2028. Setting all speculations aside, Aaron notes that it makes sense for Microsoft to invest its resources in something that is AI-powered from the ground up

02:49 — In many AI-powered solutions, Microsoft Copilot is used behind the scenes in LLMs, which require a substantial amount of compute power. More specifically, AI Data Centers require a great amount of energy to power them.

04:56 — In closing, Aaron poses two questions:

• Will we see Microsoft Copilot power Stargate?
• How are you really using Microsoft Copilot to reimagine how you work?

01:50 — Additionally, this stored data is used to ground Copilot's response. Users should know that the stored data is encrypted, and is not used to train Copilot or other LLMs. Furthermore, users can view and manage the store data if they're an admin within Microsoft 365 in the administration portal.

03:38 — Aaron shares a few details relating to this annoucement:

• Microsoft has updated its Product Terms relating to data residency across multiple countries
• Microsoft updated its Advanced Data Residency (ADR) add-on
• Multi-geo capabilities are updated
• The EU data boundary has been updated to allow European users to keep their data within the EU

05:08 — Finally, as a result of this annoucement, Aaron encourages users to have proper data governance policies in place, and review them periodically. Though the power of Copilot is present, "this is a reminder to keep all your data state protected, and co

01:59 — Users can use natural language to query through the Copilot panel. Additionally, Copilot can create outlines and tables for sales enablement documents, or create an outline for a sales pitch.

03:09 — Aaron notes that he views this integration as Microsoft's efforts to continue Copilot's proliferation through all Microsoft applications. Currently, there are many Copilots available for various applications.

04:16 — A few more details on Copilot and OneDrive:

• Copilot can look at different file types
• In OneDrive, Copilot is supported in multiple languages

• In a Dataverse environment
• In an admin-deployed scenario
• In a user-deployed scenario

Copilot for Finance is available for download on AppSource.

01:52 — Copilot for Finance is only used in Outlook and Excel. In Outlook, Copilot for Finance supports the collections process. In Excel, Copilot for Finance streamlines data reconciliation and "intelligent prompts" for reviewing financial data structures.

03:51 — Copilot for Finance is built on a service that is hosted in Azure and offers direct integrations to Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations and the Power Platform.

04:42 — Currently, Copilot for Finance is only available in the U.S and is still in preview mode.

01:26 — Azure AI Studio is intended to help create, deploy, and manage individual AI foundation models. Additionally, the platform supports responsible AI by identifying and removing harmful content from users in AI in your applications.

AI MaaS is a part of the Copilot stack, sitting at the "AI infrastructure" layer

02:18 — Aaron notes the two key benefits of AI MaaS:

• It benefits hosted fine-tuning, which helps improve prediction accuracy and reduce costs
• Removes the requirement for dedicated virtual machines (VMs) with high-end GPU

03:38 — AI Models-as-a-Service sits within the "AI infrastructure" layer of the Copilot stack. This layer includes responsible AI and the benefits of Azure security, both of which are the "bedrock" of a strong AI model foundation.

04:11 — With this development, users can extend Copilot even further, while still working within a structured framework.

01:44 — To get started, open up PowerPoint, and select the Copilot button at the top of the ribbon. He asks Copilot to create a presentation that includes five slides, focused on the benefits of Copilot for Dynamics 365 Field Service. He shows the output, which includes the five slides, relevant images for each, bullet points, and contextual notes in the "Notes" pane.

03:00 — Aaron encourages users to enhance the visual aspect of the slide deck by using Designer after using Copilot to generate a PowerPoint presentation. In essence, the use of Microsoft Copilot inside of PowerPoint greatly helps to cut back on time, while boosting creativity.

01:42 — More specifically, Microsoft has made available a presentation that goes into more depth on the ways Tip Time can be integrated and experienced with a current Dynamics 365 or Salesforce CRM. This tool is intended to focus on five core areas within a CRM:

• Productivity
• Interactions
• Flow of Work
• Administration
• Monitoring
•  

02:38 — Lastly, Aaron explains how Tip Time caters to various seller personalities. Outside of Sales roles, Tip Time can also benefit admin-level roles and supervisors. In closing, Aaron notes that "this is a nice, guided way to really assist somebody with learning more about how it's going to help t

03:23 — Aaron references the Copilot mobile app advertisement that ran during the Super Bowl, which added to the "big explosion we've seen around Copilot, conversational AI, and so forth." He asks Dewain how this is impacting the conversations he is having with customers.

04:47 — There are many different Copilots that are available, which can cause confusion for users. However, the introduction of Microsoft Copilot has been a major leap in the tech space, as this is a prime example of how a computer can "understand truly what you're saying, and respond back to you with something that makes sense." The advertisements that Aaron referenced are "really trying to bring consumer awareness of this innovation across the board." The Copilot Studio team, Dewain explains, is focused on working on innovative ways to build conversational AI-type experiences and bring them to traditional places.

"In the end, it's about bringing that experience to you and adding value, and making it quicker and more efficient to do things without necessarily having to rely on a human to be able to do it all."

10:52 — Dewain explains the difference across the various types of Copilot, noting the three kinds:

• Copilots embedded into Microsoft Dynamics 365 products
• Purpose-build Copilot products
• Custom Copilots, which can be created in Copilot Studio

16:31 — Aaron notes how Copilot Studio is "redefining accessibility enablement" for users to create custom Copilots, regardless of their background in app development. He asks Dewain for his perspective on how Copilot Studio is redefining these areas.

18:43 — Dewain goes through the history of Microsoft and its development teams that would typically build custom solutions or products for users, and notes the drastic shift — now, low-code users can "jump in and get going" with various products and apps, bringing forth the extensibility of these products.

23:41 — Continuing on, Dewain emphasizes that "I think we're gonna see an explosion of people really being able to start really at the low end and grow." Aaron agrees that Copilot studio and related technologies enable a better collaborative experience across business and technical teams.

30:02 — With all the incoming innovation around Microsoft Copilot and Copilot Studio, Aaron asks Dewain to share what's on the horizon for Copilot Studio. Dewain notes that a focus for the team is becoming multimodal, and "an explosion in the ability to interface with conversational agends where and when and how you want." He notes a few other developments, including:

• Accessibility
• Channel and speech enablement
• More context in conversations with Copilot

"If you think you've seen a lot of innovation, you have not seen anything yet. Because what's happening, people are just starting to understand this stuff, and figuring out what it can and can't do. And we're starting to really get to a point where it's going to drastically change."

01:21 — The "general Copilot area" is where users can ask questions, generate images, and more. If you scroll down the web page, users can interact deeper and more specifically with Copilot. Furthermore, there is a list of the available Copilots that are embedded across various Dynamics 365 applications, which can all be viewed when users are not logged in.

02:25 — Aaron points out a feature he recently discovered — the Notebooks area, which allows users to add more notes to generate a broader output.

04:21 — Lastly, Aaron logs into Copilot, which offers two versions — Work and Web — and highlights the differences, nuances, and limitations between the two interfaces.

01:42 — At the center, there are four key capabilities. First is the ESG Data State, which helps centralize ESG data. Second is Microsoft Azure Emissions Insight, which enables organizations to report and analyze emissions and resource levels. Third is Environmental Metrics and Analytics, which generates reports measuring various factors including water, carbon, and waste levels. The final capability, Social and Governance Metrics and Reports, provides insights, dashboards, and metrics to support your needs across various sustainability directives.

03:13 — To achieve all this, Microsoft has rolled out a Copilot within Sustainability Manager to "ease the burden of trying to surface all that complex data" that has three core capabilities:

• Query data with Copilot
• Generate preparation reports with Copilot
• Create calculation models

04:44 — Aaron notes the importance of using Microsoft Copilot as a way to track, measure, and perform against specific ESG and sustainability goals, and shares a few questions to consider prior to implementing Copilot into an ESG framework.

01:28 — Aaron references the rise of Copilot over the last several months and asks Justin to elaborate on how the conversations he's having with customers have shifted. Two years ago, Copilot wasn't being broadly discussed. In mid-2022 when large language models and generative AI burst onto the scene, conversations with customers began to shift. Fast forward to 2024, customers are now bringing up generative AI — and more specifically, Microsoft Copilot — "with their own expectations."

06:15 — Justin notes a challenge that many CRM users face today — user adoption. Release Waves that have been made available over the years work to address these challenges, and Copilot has proven to be another valuable tool in increasing user adoption. Two major themes that Copilot addresses in the CE/CRM space are:

• Providing sales-specific coaching tips to the seller
• Helping sellers adapt to the technology and creating a seamless user experience across apps

10:47 — Within the context of Dynamics 365 Sales, the benefits of Microsoft Copilot are two-fold. The technology aids users in gaining insights into a customer's buying intent and can also provide the seller with recommended next steps, relevant content, and new opportunities. These enhanced recommendations "meet sellers where they are" in their sales journey — rather than giving them a library of content to sift through, Copilot surfaces relevant content at the right time.

15:43 — What new skills has AI prompted users to have? With its intuitive and easy-to-use interface, Copilot technology can be implemented swiftly and easily. Where users struggle, explains Justin, is rolling out the technology in a way that's effective. For end-users, Justin stresses the importance of learning the basics, such as prompting. Similarly, decision-makers must carefully consider the application of this technology before investing in and implementing it and developing a comprehensive strategy around it.

21:40 — In closing, Justin shares a customer success story around Copilot from Netlogic. The company's business development team implemented Copilot to generate meeting summaries and draft notes back to customers, saving each seller 30 minutes a week.

'They're not doing the burdensome, arduous task, like we were talking about in the beginning, but they're doing what makes them great at selling. And that, of course, has an impact on the bottom line as well."

01:54 — Aaron quickly summarizes Copilot's output, which suggests that AI is meant to "mimic" human intelligence and that AI has more limitations compared to human intelligence.

02:36 — Finally, Aaron shares that he likes this feature because it enables Copilot to write about a "subtopic" within the main topic of a document.

"From there, I can then ask Copilot to reword, rephrase, or ask another question about the response that it had already output... I like that because then you can continually learn, refine, create new content, all based on the central theme of what's in the Word document originally."

02:06 — Microsoft Security Copilot "allows security teams to condense all of that data from all these alerts and crucial insights, really navigate through that, and then identify cybersecurity threats proactively. That really helps them strengthen their security posture in future threats."

03:36 — Additionally, Microsoft has revamped its Microsoft Defender Cloud, calling it Microsoft Defender XDR. Microsoft Security Copilot and Microsoft Defender XDR are two distinct products. Defender XDR is a cloud-native extended detection and response solution, using AI and automation to "check things and then respond to those threats in real-time." Microsoft Security Copilot is a generative AI tool to help security analysts investigate and respond to security incidents more efficiently.

"So the other one is to detect all of these things. The other one is how to respond."

04:48 — Artificial intelligence can be used as a preventative tool, but AI itself must be secure in and of itself.

"In 2024, I think we'll continue to see more purpose-built AI solutions to really help not only democratize AI, but really take advantage of the capabilities of AI, like in this case for security."

01:00 — Michelle is currently going on her eighth year at Microsoft. Prior to her role here, she worked for two large Microsoft partners, where she helped a team "build out the Service piece of Dynamics." When Microsoft purchased Field One, Michelle was in the first training around this platform.

04:37 — With the infusion of Microsoft Copilot across the entire Microsoft Business Applications ecosystem, Aaron asks Michelle how this is changing the conversations she's having with customers. On the Field Service side of things, Michelle notes how users are always looking for ways to automate their processes. Now embedded with Copilot capabilities, it's possible for users to interact directly with the AI technology to pull knowledge-base articles or talk to Microsoft Copilot directly.

08:24 — Michelle explains how simple it is to enable Microsoft Copilot in Dynamics 365 Field Service, and how some customers are benefitting from its capabilities, noting the example of the recent feature that integrates (and generates) Dynamics 365 Field Service Work Orders to Outlook. In this context, Microsoft Copilot goes beyond automation and helps users enhance their level of productivity.

13:11 — Michelle describes some of the new Copilot solutions now available in Field Service. Users can troubleshoot fixes by reviewing the available guides — which previously required the use of HoloLens — which has helped to reduce the time spent on fixes. Another capability is Remote Assist, which allows Field Service workers to communicate directly with supervisors, either via voice notes or chat. These annotations and notes can be added to an ongoing Work Order, so teams can truly see their ROI.

16:49 — As far as skills go, Michelle notes how easy it is to install Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365 Field Service. Similarly, Copilot can help generate and summarize Work Orders and associated costs which has helped reduce the overall time spent.

21:14 — Michelle continues to explore the impact that Copilot has on Field Service frontline workers and managers. Managers, she explains, appreciate the generated summaries of Work Orders to get a sense of when and how things happened in the field. Similarly, she notes how updates on incident types have given managers visibility into field operations and allow them to update the incident type accordingly, making better use of resources.

01:29 — This tool is meant to give companies an assessment of their generative AI technology stack, and provides a "Copilot readiness" analysis. Additionally, it provides what Lighthouse calls a "playbook" for implementing Copilot with data governance e-discovery alignment, and risk mitigation in mind.

01:50 — Furthermore, a goal of this assessment is to help limit the risks of data leakage or unauthorized data access.

"This is a great use case for AI being extended and applicable across all of your tech stack. This Lighthouse solution is just one example of the many bespoke or purpose-built AI, Copilot solutions we'll continue to see throughout this year," notes Aaron.

02:38 — In 2024, Aaron predicts that users will continue to see this explosion of these purpose-built Copilots rebranded under the different companies creating these solutions, including ISVs and Microsoft Partners. Further, he expects to see more industry-specific solutions within areas like healthcare, retail manufacturing, and much more.

03:59 — With the rise of AI, and Microsoft's growing focus on artificial intelligence and Microsoft Copilot, Aaron asks David how this has impacted the conversations he's having with customers today. Every conversation, explains David, is about how AI and Copilot, and how these technologies can be applied within the context of their business.

"AI gives them a way to actually utilize that [data] to make their business better, and help, in my case, frontline workers, be more efficient and have access to that information that previously was very difficult to mine and use in a productive way."

06:14 — Microsoft is "providing this AI toolset to anybody." Within Dynamics 365 Field Service, there are a number of Copilots. Three major things that are now available to the platform:

• The integration with Outlook
• Summarization of a work order
• Copilot in the Field Service mobile app

"So huge value for frontline workers. Then you add on some of the other things like Copilot for Sales and the ability to help that technician or that person in the field sell better or find upsell opportunities."

10:09 — Another AI capability available in Dynamics 365 Field Service is the "Resource Scheduling Optimization" function. He explains that this is a "great tool for learning and helping [find] those resources to get the job done, increase that first-time fix rate, do the work quicker."

14:07 — For end-users, David emphasizes the need for them to understand the applications of Copilot within the context of Field Service. Learning how to ask the right questions, in order to get the right output, is crucial. For citizen developers, David promotes the need to have a technical understanding of Copilot. Finally, for professional developers, being cognizant of the data that's being used and training AI models is paramount.

19:26 — David notes how "big box" retailers are using Copilot in Field Service and seeing great success, including GE and Armstrong, who are benefiting from these tools "so that they can actually, you know, make it, sell it and then service it."

Lastly, he notes "We're seeing that trend everywhere, in every aspect of what we do these days, and every conversation we have with custo

“They’re [partners] looking to turn around and help with their combined experience and expertise and help customers do the same, of really getting their arms around AI and Copilot.”

01:57 — In September 2020, Microsoft launched its Microsoft 365 Lighthouse program. In the last several years, the program has evolved to incorporate a larger focus on AI and Copilot.

“There are several benefits in the program, such as presenting AI-driven recommendations to help acquire and retain customers, help with SMB security baseline to meet best practices targeted for small and medium-sized business tenants, simplifying common tasks like resetting passwords, configuring multi-factor authentication, and much more.”

03:20 — Furthermore, AI has shifted the focus of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner program, too. As part of the program, Microsoft has included an AI Partner Playbook, which outlines the core AI approach that Microsoft is taking and how it will equip partners with the necessary tools. Aaron notes that something that struck him in the AI Partner Playbook is the fact that “77% of mature organizations are adopting an AI-first strategy.”

04:43 — If you are an end user of Microsoft Business Applications, Aaron suggests you “get with your Microsoft partner to ensure you have a definitive AI plan in place to really have that AI-first mentality.”

06:07 — On the flip side, if you are a Microsoft Partner, Aaron encourages you to subscribe to Dynamics Communities to learn about “what is top-of-mind for users.”

01:52 — AIM stands for "accelerate, innovate, and move," notes Alfredo. The program is focused on encouraging customers to move to the cloud in order to take advantage of the "new, AI-empowered business age."

"We provide guidance, we provide assessments, we provide funding offers, to help customers understand where they are, what they need to move, and what their options are in order to move into the cloud."

04:32 — Aaron asks Alfredo to describe the new Microsoft Copilot capabilities available inside of Microsoft Dynamics 365.

The new capabilities specific to Retail, Customer Engagement, and Supply Chain "are really about deeply understanding the jobs to be done in these types of functions and looking at how generative AI can accelerate them." For Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, new Copilot capabilities have been launched to help leaders launch personalized customer engagement campaigns. On the Supply Chain side, Microsoft announced a few innovations around demand planning. In Business Central, Microsoft Copilot is being applied to assist with product enrichment content.

10:15 — Aaron and Alfredo discuss the recent news around Copilot Pro, in which the 300-seat minimum has been removed.

"It's going to be, I think, a really exciting development to see how AI continues to be democratized and more broadly used," adds Alfredo.

11:29 — Aaron asks Alfredo to speak to the new AI skills required in today's AI-focused business world, from the perspective of a business user, an IT professional, and a decision-maker.

Alfredo notes the need to ask good questions when interacting with AI — known now as prompt engineering. Regardless of the role you're serving, it's important to understand the context of your business and being able to define the questions you are asking of AI.

17:36 — As the conversation comes to a close, Alfredo explains that Microsoft has been "delighted with the adoption and the pace of adoption that we've seen for Copilot since its launch." He shares a few customer stories of successful Copilot implementations, including Dominos UK, GJ Pepsi, and other major retailers.

01:38 — Mike explains how AIM is a relatively new program from Microsoft and focuses on getting users to the cloud. "For customers to be part of this real transformation with Copilot, step one is really getting to the cloud."

AIM is more than just a marketing program — it's about giving customers what they need to make it over the "hump" that is moving to the cloud.

04:25 — Aaron notes three new Copilot capabilities within Business Central and asks Mike to dive deeper into them:

• Complete bank account reconciliations
  • Available in public preview as of November 2023
• Easily integrate generative AI with AL solutions
  • Generally available as of December 2023
• Chat with Copilot
  • Available in public preview as of February 2024

Mike explains that bank reconciliations are a great example of a capability that, when Copilot is integrated, can be easily automated and become more efficient. As it relates to the "Chat with Copilot" capability, Mike explains that his feature is a way to use natural language to generate specific outputs from Copilot, which will enhance the system's overall performance. Finally, integrating generative AI with AI solutions means that OpenAI will help users write code that integrates with Business Central, bringing Microsoft's AI capabilities to customers, partners, and developers.

10:23 — When asked about the necessary skills for users to have in order to succeed in the Copilot and AI ecosystem, Mike notes that, for developers, it's important to have the skills of engineering prompts and grounding. For users, he explains that they should "try to unlearn what you think AI might be able to do and not do." In simple terms — interact with AI as if it's another human.

16:30 — Aaron notes how 2024 is the year of "Copilot in production," meaning this will be the year of more real-world applications of Copilot and companies applying it. He asks Mike what other companies are using Copilot to drive success.

17:54 — Companies large and small are using Copilot in production today. Mike notes how many customers are using Copilot for creative purposes, or analyzing problems.

01:05 — Microsoft Copilot Pro is a single AI experience that can run across all of a user’s devices. Additionally, Copilot Pro extends across all Microsoft Business Applications, embedding Copilot into existing workflows.

02:15 — With Copilot Pro, there’s an enhanced AI image creation with Image Creator and the ability to built your own Copilot GPT.

02:37 — The individual license for Copilot Pro is $20 per user, per month. For users that currently have a business subscription for any of the Microsoft Business Premium applications, they can add on Copilot Pro for $30 per user, per month.

03:12 — Aaron notes how Microsoft removed the 300-seat minimum.

“You don’t have to meet this threshold, in other words, to get Copilot added into your business applications… you can also purchase this through Microsoft Cloud solution providers, as well as these partners.”

03:48 — Individual users, SMBs, and smaller organizations can now take advantage of Copilot’s capabilities. Looking ahead, Aaron predicts a rise in examples of “Copilot in production.” Since the initial “splash” was made in 2023, 2024 will be the year of practical applications and real-world examples of Copilot’s capbilities.

“Customer service is helping out your customers and giving them support. Customer success is delighting your customers, making them happy with the service they’re getting.”

02:10 — Microsoft Copilot emerged on the scene in 2023 and has had quite an impact on the Microsoft Business Applications stack. Aaron asks Beth how Copilot fits within the context of Dynamics 365 Customer Service or any other customer-related app.

“Copilot for Dynamics 365 Customer Service is really enhancing two things, right? The agent productivity and then improving customer satisfaction or customer success,” explains Beth.

05:18 — Noting the impacts of Copilot for Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Beth adds that users receive real-time assistance, shortening the time of a customer service call. Agent-handled Tim (AHT) assists with agent actions, responds to questions quicker, or drafts a chat response, for example. Beth notes another feature that she enjoys — the ability for Copilot to generate summaries, or case summaries, specifically, based on customer conversations.

09:15 — Another benefit of Copilot for Dynamics 365 Customer Service is its ability to analyze sentiments. Throughout the transcript, Copilot will indicate various sentiments expressed by the customer, preventing (human) agents from having to listen through entire phone transcripts.

“This way, the customer doesn’t have to speak to the manager. The manager is already there,” notes Beth.

11:05 — With the rise of AI and AI-powered tools, there is a need for new AI skills. Aaron notes the three main roles affected:

• Business Users
• Managers
• IT Professionals

He asks Beth what about the top three skills she would recommend these professionals have.

12:33 — For business users, Beth recommends that they learn and “play with” the tools available to them to determine what works best for their needs. She notes that AI skills and AI learning have increased by 60% year over year. It’s critical that business users “know how to format it to make sure it’s representing you as a business user.”

15:00 — If users are using AI tools and simply “regurgitating what they say,” it may not be the best tool for them. Therefore, it’s important for decision-makers or managers to understand the tools they are using and how the analytics work to gauge whether or not the tool is effective in itself.

18:32 — For IT professionals, the AI skills they should have are “all over the board.” From developing to coding, IT professionals definitely have to know how to use the tools that are given to them, explains Beth. Similarly, she notes the importance for these personas to understand machine learning (ML).

21:56 — In closing, Beth notes the impact of Microsoft Copilot. Customer Service Copilot has been implemented across 10s of thousands of agents, 92 contact centers, 120 countries, and one billion customers in 46 different languages. These users save, on average, 2.5 minutes of their handling time. Additionally, they’ve increased their self-help by 32%, first-call resolution increased by 25%, and CSAT scores went up by 12%.

Copilot and AI will continue to increase agent productivity over time. These tools aren’t replacing human jobs — they are making them easier.

01:05 — Data and AI are so intertwined that we (sometimes) no longer know when data is human or AI-generated. AI needs data to “reason over,” but AI also creates new forms of data with generative AI. “That’s why Microsoft is blurring the lines with its applications.” On the one hand, users have data applications like Microsoft Fabric or Power BI. On the other hand, there are tools like Copilot and Azure AI Studio.

02:10 — With this in mind, how does this empower you, the user? With AI in the mix of these powerful data tools, the tools themselves become much more intuitive and simple to use. Overall, “this really helps folks spot trends and anomalies and really get to that decision-making process much faster.”

03:17 — Still, technical skills are needed when it comes to Azure services, explains Aaron. Aaron explains that for a manager or business leader, this creates an opportunity to foster collaboration between tech teams and business teams. “For me, I see this as a way to continue fueling the creativity and providing solutions, ultimately that help customers of your organization.”

04:26 — A key takeaway of this is that “we are closer now more than ever to closing the gap between business and tech teams.” However, don’t be naive. Aaron emphasizes the importance of strong security and governance policies to ensure AI and data and properly used and protected.

01:29 — When reviewing the information shared at Microsoft Ignite, Aaron was struck by a slide that Microsoft shared about extending Copilot. As someone who is not a pro developer, this caught his eye because “this means that anyone could create an extension and publish it for others to use. Additionally, this means that the democratization of the process for AI can really be open to anyone within the organization.” Similarly, with GitHug Copilot, Microsoft states that developers can code 55x faster.

02:30 — Aaron shares a few examples of how Azure Copilot can help answer cloud-related questions.

“What I like about [it is] that it really helps developers understand the resources within their ecosystem of technology to ensure that the application they’re creating has the necessary resources that they can tap into.”

Additionally, for customer service teams, Copilot integrates with CRM and ERP systems.

03:50 — The intent of Microsoft Copilot is not to take over all human action — people will continue to be at the front of this technology. In closing, Aaron emphasizes that now is the time to put AI governance in place to ensure people remain at the forefront.

• Operating systems
• Developer solutions
• Browser and search
• Data and AI tools
• Modern work
• Business Applications

01:35 — To add to this, on November 15, Microsoft announced the Microsoft Copilot Studio, which is described as a low-code tool to customize Copilot of Microsoft 365 and to build standalone Copilots. Microsoft Studio brings together a set of powerful conversational capabilities from custom GPTs and generative AI plugins.

02:00 — What does this mean for end users? “First, AI is everywhere, so now is the time to truly dive into the capabilities and how you can transform the way you work by using these AI solutions,” notes Aaron. Secondly, with Microsoft Copilot Studio, users can democratize AI within their companies. Essentially, users can now “build, test, and publish standalone Copilots.”

02:38 — As AI becomes more predominant in technology, it’s critical that governance measures are put in place to ensure AI is being used responsibly and securely. With Microsoft’s ongoing announcements and developments around Microsoft Copilot, it is up to the end users to fully train and equip themselves in how to use the tools.