The Copilot Studio Podcast

Vesa Juvonen, Principal Product Manager at Microsoft, discusses the relevance and evolution of SharePoint, as well as the introduction of Copilot. He highlights the importance of SharePoint as a fundamental location for files and the need for user-friendly interfaces and adaptive cards. Vesa also explains the difference between Microsoft Graph connectors and Copilot plugins, and how SPFX fits into the extensibility of Copilot.   He emphasizes the value of Copilot in meeting recaps and idea generation, and discusses the challenges of adoption and showcasing the business value of these technologies. In this conversation, we discuss the potential of Microsoft Copilot and the value of AI in increasing productivity.   We also explore the extensibility opportunities of Microsoft 365 and the benefits of Viva Connections. The conversation highlights the importance of storytelling and scenario-based communication to drive adoption and showcases the community-driven approach of Microsoft in sharing knowledge and amplifying others.   Takeaways

• SharePoint remains relevant as a fundamental location for files and offers user-friendly interfaces and adaptive cards.
• Microsoft Graph connectors feed information to Copilot, while plugins provide real-time data enrichment.
• SPFX enables easy deployment of extensibility options in Copilot.
• Meeting recaps and idea generation are valuable use cases for Copilot.
• The challenge lies in showcasing the business value and driving adoption of these technologies. Microsoft Copilot is a powerful tool that enhances productivity and provides relevant data and insights for day-to-day business operations.
• The value of AI extends beyond Copilot, and organizations should explore other opportunities to leverage AI for efficiency and productivity.
• Microsoft 365 offers a robust extensibility platform that partners and customers can bet on to enhance the platform and create customized solutions.
• Viva Connections provides a centralized and mobile-friendly employee experience platform, enabling easy access to relevant applications and tasks.
• Storytelling and scenario-based communication are crucial for driving adoption and showcasing the value of Microsoft's offerings.
• The Microsoft community plays a vital role in sharing knowledge, amplifying others, and building a strong ecosystem of ideas and inspiration.

  Time Stamps   00:00 - Introduction and Setup 09:26 - Understanding Copilot Extensibility and UX 24:21 - Challenges in Showcasing Business Value and Driving Adoption 32:24 - Exploring Extensibility Opportunities of Microsoft 365 41:55 - The Value of Viva Connections 49:30 - The Community-Driven Approach of Microsoft

Connect with Vesa:

• Connect with Vesa on LinkedIn: 
• Follow Vesa on X

Welcome to the Copilot Studio Podcast, where today's episode promises an illuminating conversation with Karuana Gatimu, a visionary leader from Microsoft focusing on collaborative apps and platforms, particularly Microsoft 365 and Copilot.

Join me Daniel Anderson (Microsoft MVP), as I delve into Karuana's insights on the significance of user enablement, the evolution of technology adoption, and the transformative impact of artificial intelligence in today's business landscape.

From her role in hosting "Mondays at Microsoft" to her proactive approach to community engagement and her strategic viewpoints on copilot governance, Karuana shares her journey and strategies to foster an inclusive and tech-empowered community.

This episode will explore how these technologies are not just reshaping businesses but also how individuals at all levels can adapt to leverage these tools for growth and productivity. Whether you're an executive, a marketer, or an IT professional, tune in to gain valuable perspectives on making the most out of technological advancements in your role.

Time Stamps:

00:00 20 years of user enablement and change.

04:02 Customer success kit emphasizes user enablement teamwork.

08:50 Understanding diverse copilot experiences for specific roles.

10:48 Understanding key Copilot functions critical for individual use.

13:07 Community of practice critical for ongoing learning.

18:49 Too many unorganized information needs improvement.

21:59 10 years teaching Microsoft 365 governance, career progression.

26:21 Advocating for employees' needs and vision.

30:20 Utilizing AI for efficient, confident decision-making.

32:03 Understanding user needs, not just technology.

35:17 Microsoft Viva Copilot Academy enhances team experience.

41:04 Challenges of identity and belonging in society.

43:47 Empowering Microsoft community to join and thrive.

45:52 Grateful for the conversation and insightful stories.

Connect with Karuana on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karuanagatimu

Microsoft Adoption Site: https://adoption.microsoft.com

In this episode of the Copilot Studio Podcast we dive into the latest advancements in AI-powered collaboration and process automation with Jeff Teper of Microsoft. Discover how companies are transforming their workflows and the pressures of innovating in a tech-driven market.

- Jeff Teper shares insights on how Copilot, including Microsoft Teams bots built with Copilot Studio, can and are revolutionizing team workflows and chat channels.

- Learn about the powerful features of SharePoint premium and the importance of tailored SharePoint architecture for different organizational needs.

- Explore the significant productivity boosts reported from GitHub Copilot in code writing and Copilot for M365 in various business processes.

- Hear about the rapid adoption of Microsoft Teams during the pandemic and the enthusiastic reception of the new AI feature, Copilot.

- Gain perspective on the importance of security in AI innovation and the role customer and partner feedback play in shaping Microsoft's success.

Timestamps:

00:00 SharePoint's evolution and importance in collaboration. 05:53 SharePoint usage growing, OneDrive now part. 07:11 Rapid growth in website creation, new SharePoint features. 11:34 Leveraging Microsoft 365 for content apps integration. 15:26 Promote knowledge sharing by simplifying template choices. 19:19 SharePoint advanced management for large data volumes. 23:07 Individual and organizational focus on growth metrics. 26:54 Advises caution on industry's ongoing technological changes. 29:27 Quick shift to distributed collaboration, major adaptation. 31:07 Create adoption guides; leverage AI without jargon. 37:05 Ask Copilot questions to expand knowledge and confidence. 38:37 AI-driven workflow automation and customer service bots. 41:12 AI transforms collaboration and business processes powerfully. 44:44 Shifted to cloud, faced tech challenges, improved. 49:04 Balancing family and work pressure for success.

Tom Arbuthnot, a Microsoft MVP and founder of Empowering Cloud, discusses the use of AI copilot in Microsoft Teams and other applications.

He emphasizes the importance of training and understanding different use cases for copilot to be effective. Tom also highlights the need for users to consciously change their habits and expectations when using AI tools. He shares his personal experiences with copilot, including using it to catch up with his team and summarize meetings. Tom also discusses the benefits of AI in content generation and the challenges of teaching AI style and tone.

The conversation covers topics such as the potential use of AI in generating content, the challenges of keeping up with the pace of change in Microsoft 365, the importance of user adoption and change management, and the measurement of the impact of change.

Tom emphasizes the need for organizations to focus on the value and relevance of new features and to invest in user adoption to maximize the benefits of Microsoft 365.

Time Stamps

00:00 Introduction and Background 02:18 Different Experiences with Copilot in Microsoft Teams 06:08 Importance of Scenario-Based Adoption for Copilot 08:03 The Habit Change of Using AI Tools 09:27 Personal Benefits of Copilot and AI in Content Generation 11:19 The Challenges of Teaching AI Style and Expectations 13:09 The Role of Prompt Engineering in AI 22:44 Focusing on Key Changes and Measuring Impact 25:38 Maturity of Organizations and Readiness for New Features 28:19 Continuous Change and the Importance of Change Management 32:36 Measuring the Impact of Change and Adoption 34:35 Conclusion

 

Connect with Tom on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomarbuthnot

Andy Huneycutt, an enterprise collaboration specialist, discusses the benefits and use cases of Copilot, a generative AI tool by Microsoft.

He explains that Copilot is a semantic search engine tied to a large language model that can assist with content generation, summarization, and research. Andy shares examples of how Copilot can be used in Microsoft Teams meetings, email threads, and document creation. He emphasizes the importance of user education and data privacy and security when implementing Copilot in businesses.

Andy also discusses the ongoing pilot program and the role of champions in promoting Copilot adoption.

Takeaways

🔥 Copilot is a powerful generative AI tool that can assist with content generation, summarization, and research.

🔥 It can be used in various Microsoft applications, such as Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

🔥 Users should approach Copilot conversationally and be prepared to vet and refine the generated content.

🔥 Businesses should focus on data privacy and security, user education, and measuring the return on investment when implementing Copilot

I had the great opportunity to talk with Corporate Vice President, Modern Work @ Microsoft, Jared Spataro on this epsidode and we had a wide ranging chat around Modern work, thought leadership and the great re shuffle.

We also touched on the Metaverse and how that could change again the way we interact with each other moving forward.

Jared joined Microsoft more than15 years ago now and he still wakes up every day excited by Microsoft's mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

He counts himself fortunate to have the opportunity to lead the Modern Work team. This includes efforts to research, predict and shape what the future of work will look like across industries, along with delivering new products and features across Microsoft 365 that enable everyone to thrive in the new era.

Here are the topics that we covered and I no will resonate with you:

• We are witnessing the evolution of hybrid and modern work - Companies are adding job titles focused on remote or hybrid work experiences as the shift to work from home becomes a lasting phenomenon
• Increase in job titles related to the future of work
• 304% spike in job titles that contain the phrase “hybrid work”
• Are we now seeing a whole new career path?
• The changing landscape of work and careers as we continue transitioning into the world of hybrid work
• Technology needs to be used in the right way to be the ultimate key to enable more innovative
• Technology alone is not the answer. It needs to be implemented in the right way
• How does Microsoft see this and how is Microsoft empowering all types of workers

Jared also shares his perspective on the key trends driving business transformation across industries: hybrid work, building hyper-connected businesses, increasing digital capabilities and end-to-end security.

It was great chat with one of the try thought leaders in this space.

Hope you enjoy.

On this weeks episode I had with me Alexander Eggers. 

Some key topics we covered that I know will bring you value were:

• Best practises on Team architecture - One of the most common problems with Microsoft team introductions is the wild growth: Too many people create too many teams and channels
• When to create a new Channel vs a new Team
• Private Channel or New Team
• Group Chat or Team
• 5 biggest mistakes in Microsoft Teams adoption
• Why getting buy in from the top is so important

Alexander's vision is that he can make people work better through technology.

He loves standing on the stage and this gives so much energy to him. His passion is interacting with people and sharing knowledge. 

In his role as head of an IT company with almost 50 employees, he knows procedures and processes. This helps him with the adoption of Office365 and in particular of Microsoft teams.   Alexendar has developed adoption workshops for the SMB market and can look back on many successful projects since 2017, the birth of MS Teams.

Alexander is also a speaker at various events. These include Microsoft events, cloud forums or Virtual Summits.

Since 2020 he has held the Microsoft MVP for Office Apps and Services. 

Connect with Alexander:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/teams-pro/
• https://www.youtube.com/c/Teamsf%C3%BCralle/
• https://twitter.com/eggers_alex

Joining me on today's episode is Peter Rising....

Peter, has over 25 years’ experience in IT. He has worked for several IT solutions providers and private organisations in a variety of technical roles focusing on Microsoft technologies.

Since 2014, Peter has specialised in the Microsoft 365 platform, more recently shifting his focus to Microsoft 365 Security and Compliance.

He holds a number of Microsoft certifications, including MCSE: Productivity; MCSA: Office 365; Microsoft 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert; Microsoft 365: Security Administrator Associate; and Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate.

Protecting and governing your organisation’s information is a challenging process and is more crucial than ever before.

Cybercriminals are more sophisticated and more determined to gain access to your organizations critical and sensitive information. 

Securing and protecting your data for regulatory compliance is a challenge every organisation and individuals for that matter needs to address.  

Where do you start? 

What are the fundamental? 

What simple steps can you take to secure identities and ensure compliance? 

And how do you ensure continued success with your cyber security posture in the ever-changing landscape of cloud and hybrid cloud?

These are the topics that we dive into in this episode and we also touch on Peter's little project "THe Microsoft 365 alphabet".

You can follow and engage with Peter here:

www.peterrising.co.uk https://www.youtube.com/c/CloudConversations/videos https://www.meetup.com/en-AU/m365sandcug/ https://practical365.com/author/peter-rising/

Joining me on today's episode is a truley experienced product person and seasoned Product Manager at Microsoft. A man that only needs to go by one name:

Chakkaradeep.

What I love about how "Chakka" goes about things is that he strives to build products that customers love.

It was a great chat and some topics that we discussed were:

• The rise of video in Power Point
• 3 things that make a great product leader
• Features vs Outcomes
• Design Thinking and haveing more productive meetings
• The importance of product metrics
• Balancing expectations and delivering iterative outcomes

Contact and keep up with Chakkaradeep here:

https://twitter.com/chakkaradeep

His Twitter profile also has a link to his newsletter: Product Management Insights.

Microsoft Teams is a big and sometimes overhealming beast. You can learn so much from how others use and apply the functionality in their day to day work. This is the reason I embarked on creating a community driven eBook. 

This episode is an audio reading of the eBook. I talk through the 21 tips, tricks and best practises that were shared with me theat formed the basis of the eBook.

Hope you enjoy and it brings you value.

If yo are not subscribed to my email list, go jump on it, I have exciting community things coming up and I don't want you to miss the content, announcements and value.

Subscribe here: https://www.sharepointfocus.com

What is Microsoft missing?, well joining me on today's episode is Ragnar Heil.

For the past since 22 years, Ragnar has specialized in Office Productivity, Search, Document & Content Management Software.

He has been involved in FAST Search / SharePoint / Office 365 / Yammer Projects in different roles (Developer, Infrastructure Architect, Project Manager, Tech Support, Consultant, Trainer, Team Lead, QA Manager, Regional Director, Partner Sales Lead, Alliance and Channel Manager) Since Nov 2017 he has also been supporting Enterprises to move, manage and protect content within enterprise collaboration platforms in the cloud and on-premises and is the founding member of "Working out loud" community in Germany.

It's fair to say that he has some knowledge to share. And this episode was epic.

Some of the key highlights included:

• Ragnar's elivator pitch for Microsoft Teams
• Experiences learnt from real hybrid work (aka working whiel travelling around Germany:))
• Common pitfalls and success stories from tenant to tenant migrations
• Learning in the flow of work
• What is Microsoft missing ?

Connect with Ragnar:

https://linktr.ee/ragnarh

Joining me on this episode is none other than Cameron Dwyer. Now Cam is better known in the Office Development circles where he is a Microsoft MVP in 2017.

Cameron is alos Chief Technology Officer at OnePlace Solution overseeing an award winning Microsoft 365 product portfolio.

He has more than 20 years’ experience as a developer solving complex challenges and running SaaS offerings at global scale. Combining strong business understanding and acumen with deep product knowledge and thought leadership around Microsoft 365.

Now what is great about this episode is that there is no developer speak at all. Cameron  recently had the desire/need to setup regular Brown Bag style sessions as a vehicle to share knowledge within his development team. It was driven by two signals that he was hearing over and over again during their team sprints:

• I need knowledge
• I need to impart knowledge

This lead to Cameron creating a solution to solve the problem with Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Lists and SharePoint with out a line of code being written.

It was a great example of what can be acheived with out of the box functionality and also by starting with the problem first.

You can follow Cameron via Twitter and his blog where he shares a great about of experience through his content:

• Blog: https://camerondwyer.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CameronDwyer

 

Joining me on this episode is Paul Keijzers. Paul is the co-owner of KbWorks which is a company based near Amsterdam Netherlands and also a Microsoft MVP.

His main focus is Microsoft Teams and SharePoint and loves to collaborate on these topics and make weekly videos for endusers.

In this episode we had a great discussion about SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Teams only devices, Viva.

Oh and a little / big announcement from Paul for 2022.

Here are some of the highlights:

• Microsoft Teams only devices (think Chromebook)
• Where do you start your day? Outlook, Teams or the Intranet ?
• Old school user adoption examples for the Intranet
• Microsoft Teams - What are companies struggling with ?
• Microsoft Teams archiving - make sure you have a plan
• Pauls' take on Microosft Viva and Microsoft Loop
• What is the key selling point of Microsoft Viva ?

Connect with Paul:

• KB Works: https://kbworks.nl
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkeijzers
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kbworks

 

In this episode, I chat with Microsoft MVP Matt Wade. An engineer-turned-IT nerd and Microsoft MVP.

His career began in the nuclear power design field and ended up in SharePoint adoption, pretty much by mistake. He’s best known for his SharePoint and Microsoft 365 infographics—especially the Periodic Table of Office 365—and advocating Microsoft Teams as the foundation of our modern workplace. He lives in Upstate New York.

There is so much value in this episode as we dicuss a wide range of topics, a few of the highlights were:

• Microsoft Teams best practises and etiquet
• Running better meetings in Microsoft Teams (sometimes this is not a technology thing)
• Microsoft Loop and how this could be potentially the next big thing
• Who benefits from Microsoft Loop
• Just because you can do something in Microsoft Teams should you really?
• Pain points that people have with collaboration today
• The biggest challenges organistions face when implementing Microsoft Teams
• Microsoft Viva...just re branded to capture a different audience.

I highly recommend connecting with Matt as he continues to produce some really good and engaging content. You can find links to all his socials here https://linktr.ee/thatmattwade

Joining me on this episode is Norm Young. Norm has spent 20 plus years as a data professional who has recently made the shift to the collaboration space using Microsoft 365 and the Power Platform.

Norm is also a Microsoft MVP for Office Apps and Services. Blogger, speaker, community contributor, and Microsoft 365 evangelist.

Some highlights that will bring you some value from this episode are:

• We discuss the advatanges and value of moving from excel to Microsoft Lists
• The introduction of offline availability of Microsoft Lists via Project Nucleus
• Customization options with Microsoft Lists that help drive business value and adoption
• Real world use cases

Connect with Norm:

Blog: https://normyoung.ca LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/norm-young Twitter: https://twitter.com/stormin_30

If you are interested in learning more about customizing Microsoft Lists: 

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-sharepoint-blog/customizing-lists-best-practices-guest-blog-and-video/ba-p/2858509

In this episode I am joined by Darrell Webster and we talk all about Microsoft Loop. This big new app announcement from Microsoft. Specifically we talk about 

• What is Microisoft Loop - Our crack at an elevator pitch
• The concept of the portability of the components
• Microsoft Loop Features
  • what is available today
  • what’s coming
• What gaps does Microsoft Loop fill
• Who we think will get the most out of it.
• Is this an MS Teams vs Loop situation?
• Or is it an AND situation ?

A little bit about Darrell: Darrell is a productivity and collaboration specialist focused on user adoption and change management. He relishes the opportunity to help individuals, teams and organisations to unlock the value in Microsoft 365. He is active in the Microsoft Technical Community and firmly believes that 'the community is the expert.'

Darrell helps to co-ordinate an online publication, Live show and podcast syndicate called 'REgarding 365' where thought leaders share their stories, opinions and guidance regarding Microsoft 365. His community efforts have been recognised with the Microsoft MVP award since 2013.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrellwebster Website: https://modernworkplacechange.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/modernworkplacechange

Komal Thakkar is an Executive Management Consultant and Managing Director of Productivity First. Komal is a Certified GTD Coach and former Chair of the APSIG committee for PSA (The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia).

Getting things done with Konal Thakker - Episode 3 of 3

Reflect and Engage- Keeping things all fresh and functional The idea with this whole method of workflow management is not to let your brain become lax, but rather to enable it to be free to experience more elegant, productive, and creative activity.

In episode 1 we took a look at GTD at a high level, then dove into the first step of Capturing.

The second episode we took a look at Clarifying and Organising everything that we captured and now we come to the final 2 stages of GTD and getting us to "stress free productivity" the Reflect and Engage steps.

Some topics that we convered here were:

• What do we look at and when ?
• What is the order, is there a best practise ?
• Updating your system - can you tell use how important this is and why ?
• The weekly review - what is it all about and what activities are we doing ?
• What is the right time and place for a weekly review ?
• We then also outline these three priority frameworks for deciding actions
• What is the Four-Criteria Model for choosing actions in the moment?
• The threefold model for evaluating daily work
• The six level model for reviewing your own work.

Connect with Komal:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/getting-things-done-coach

GTD-Q: https://www.productivityfirst.com.au/take-the-gtd-test/

Website: https://www.productivityfirst.com.au

Corey Boutwell is a WBFF Professional Fitness Athlete. He has a business degree majoring in management and project management.

He runs the Corey Boutwell podcast and for the past two years he has been achieving incredible results. Essentially he helps entrepreneurs and business owners who feel destined for success but are currently unfulfilled and doubting themselves, take responsibility for their emotions and raise their standard for not only themselves but their business, unlocking the best version of themselves.

In this episode we talk about the non technology side of improving your productivity. Sleep, diet and exercise. Corey has worked with many high performing busiess peope and entrepreneurs.

We had a great discussion and covered many topics

• Common traits in successful business people
• How focusing on sleep, diet and excercise can drasically help your productivity
• Reducing stress through a daily dose of stillness
• How sleep, diet and exercise go together to become a power trio
• Corey shares some great tips on how to get started with improving your poductivity through sleep, diet and exercise.
• When is the best time to eat for you ?
• How to wake up feeling refreshed

Really hope you enjoy this episode, it was a great discussion and Corey shared some great information and tips to give you some value.

Lisa Crosbie has a contagious enthusiasm for low code technology and making it possible for anyone to get started with Power Platform and Dynamics 365.

She has taken a career journey from being a Dynamics 365 customer and business user doing unspeakable things with Excel, to an evangelist for Microsoft Business Applications, educating customers and helping solve problems for people like she used to be. She loves getting people excited about this awesome technology, opening new possibilities, and learning and sharing with the global community every day.

Lisa is a Microsoft Business Applications MVP, blogger, trainer, speaker, YouTuber and host of The UP Podcast with her good friend Megan V. Walker. 

In this episode we cover a lot of ground with Lisa and cover the following topics that will brign you some value:

• Personal Productivity - Many think that Power Automate is a developer tool and need IT to create workflows But this is not the case…Information Workers have opportunities to use pre built templates and really save some time with common tasks.
• PowerApps, Power Automate, Dynamics all powerful in their own right - What is Lisa's personal fav and when you combine them all, what are the benefits ?
• Power Apps - Canvas or Model Driven apps what is the difference and what to use when ?
• Dataverse and Microsoft Teams - a lot is talked about Dataverse, Lisa exaplains what this is and how it relates to Microsoft Teams
• Microsoft Teams Webinars + Dynamics 365 use cases here around follloowing up after the event
• Microsoft Ignite is fast approaching - find out what Lisa is looking forward to.
• Lisa talks about what is exciting her in the PowerPlatform Space right now.

Connect with Lisa:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LisaMCrosbie

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-crosbie/

Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/LisaCrosbie

 

List Rasmussne is a Microsoft 365 consultant with a focus on SharePoint, Teams and Power Platform.

Lise is also the host of WITGirls Podcast where she shares news & information about M365. 

Lise has worked with SharePoint since 2003 in many different roles. Most of the focus has been on building intranets, setup document management systems, build forms and workflows.

Over the past few years Lise has worked mostly with Microsoft 365 apps like SharePoint Online, Teams, Power Apps and more with a clear focus on helping customers find a solution using the right apps, functions and features of Microsoft 365. 

So it was a really great discussion about some real world pain points and issues that businesses are facing and how to acheive some great outcomes to solve those problems with the Microsoft 365 toolkit.

To connect with Lise here is where she can be found:

Witgirsl Podcast: https://linktr.ee/Witgirls

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liserasmussen

Blog: http://sharepointbabe.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sharepointbabe