Microsoft Innovation Podcast

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This episode with Balazs Horvath explores how AI is shifting from hype to practical value in business applications. The core insight is that models are now good enough, but value comes from context, not tools. CRM is becoming a database, interfaces are disappearing, and skills like problem framing, signal detection, and prompting matter more than building apps. AI works best as a colleague when organisations invest in shared language, data foundations, and human judgement.
 
👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/824   

🎙️ What you’ll learn   
Why context, not models, is the real limiter of AI value 
How CRM is shifting from interfaces to signal-driven systems 
Where ERP and data platforms still have defensible moats 
How reverse prompting improves thinking and outcomes 
Why consulting skills matter more than coding in the AI era 
✅ Highlights  
"It’s been more hype than actual value." 
"Models are good enough. It’s about the context that you give them." 
"I haven’t logged into my CRM for the past two weeks." 
"CRM will just become a database." 
"Finance is audited, legislated, and hard to replicate." 
"The way we interact with apps is changing." 
"I flipped our academic program upside down." 
"AI understands intent." 
"Ask me 20 questions, one at a time." 
🧰 Mentioned 
Dynamics 365: https://www.microsoft.com/dynamics-365  
Microsoft Power Platform: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platform 
Business Central: https://www.microsoft.com/dynamics-365/business-central  
Finance and Operations (Dynamics 365 Finance): https://www.microsoft.com/dynamics-365/finance  
Power BI: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platform/products/power-bi  
Microsoft Fabric: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-fabric  
Dataverse: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platform/dataverse  
Copilot: https://copilot.microsoft.com  
Claude: https://claude.ai 
Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com  
Microsoft Graph: https://learn.microsoft.com/graph  
Vibe.powerapps.com: https://vibe.powerapps.com 
✅Keywords   
ai context, crm future, power platform, dynamics 365, copilot, anthropic, claude, reverse prompting, vibe coding, business central, microsoft fabric, applied ai 
Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption
Support the show
If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM 
This episode breaks down why AI governance must evolve alongside agentic AI, drawing on the insights of Matthias Darblade. The conversation explores the EU AI Act, continuous compliance, and why the biggest business value often sits in high‑risk AI use cases. For organisations adopting agents, governance becomes a live system, not a one‑time checkbox, balancing innovation, responsibility, and trust at scale. 
👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/823   
🎙️ What you’ll learn 
Why agentic AI turns governance into a continuous process 
How the EU AI Act affects organisations inside and outside Europe 
Where the real business value lies in high‑risk AI systems 
Why static compliance models fail for AI and agents 
How organisations can govern AI without slowing innovation 
✅ Highlights 
“With this black box that needs to be governed and controlled.” 
“It gives you a certain sense of being safe regarding the regulators.” 
“It starts to become a lot, even for a company as big as Airbus.” 
“It’s definitely a live system.” 
“For AI, it will be a bit more complex.” 
“High risk is where most of the value lies for companies.” 
“You’re leaving a lot of money on the table.” 
“It needs to be running and monitoring in real time.” 
“You need to be respecting the law and proceed in a certain way.” 
🧰 Mentioned 
ISO 24001: https://www.iso.org/standard/81230.html 
AI governance: https://www.oecd.org/ai/governance/ 
Agentic AI: https://www.ibm.com/topics/agentic-ai 
Copilot: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot 
OpenAI: https://openai.com/ 
Gemini: https://ai.google/gemini/ 
✅Keywords 
ai governance, eu ai act, agentic ai, ai compliance, high risk ai, ai regulation, autonomous agents, responsible ai, continuous monitoring, enterprise ai, ai oversight, ai strategy 
Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption
Support the show
If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

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

Cas de Morree and Mark Smith unpack why applied AI skills now matter more than prompts. They explore Copilot’s real strength inside work data, the rapid shift towards agents and outcome‑driven systems, and how low‑cost tooling is reshaping productivity. The conversation challenges привычные workflows, highlights why more output does not equal better work, and shows how professionals can rethink email, meetings, automation, and software building using AI that actually integrates into daily work.

👉 For full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/822  
 🎙️ What you’ll learn    
How Copilot’s value changes when it is connected to your work data 
Why outcome engineering is replacing prompt engineering 
When AI automation increases noise instead of productivity 
How agents can replace SaaS tools and reduce recurring costs 
What applied AI skills look like for consultants and knowledge workers 
 ✅ Highlights   
“They forgot about the entire plugged into your work data, and that’s what Copilot is good at.” 
“It was a rough start using Copilot.” 
“It will keep iterating on a task till it gets to the destination.” 
“I think this is the start of outcomes engineering rather than prompt engineering.” 
“We expect all this magic from these new tools.” 
“Why would you send out meeting notes to everyone?” 
“It’s insanity.” 
“I’ve taken over $2,000 of annual cost out of my business SaaS expenses.” 
“The only limitation is your own creativity at this point.” 
 🧰 Mentioned     
Microsoft Copilot: https://www.copilot.com/ 
Microsoft 365: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365  
Microsoft Graph: https://learn.microsoft.com/graph/overview 
Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/ 
Claude (by Anthropic): https://claude.com/ 
Bitly: https://bitly.com/ 
RAG systems (Retrieval‑Augmented Generation): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrieval-augmented_generation 
Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 
 ✅ Keywords      
ai productivity, microsoft copilot, applied ai skills, outcome engineering, ai agents, automation, microsoft 365, anthropic, claude, openai, knowledge work, business ai 
Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption
Support the show
If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

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

This episode with Joris de Gruyter explores how advanced AI agents are reshaping individual productivity and technical work. The conversation covers coding agents, personal agent systems, automation beyond code, and the risks of burnout, privacy, and memory misuse. Real-world examples show how AI can turn notes into workflows, handle testing and reporting, and operate as a team of specialised agents. The key message is clear: applied AI skills now combine technical fluency with strong boundaries around focus, context, and trust.

👉️ Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/821

🎙️ What you’ll learn  
How coding agents are expanding into everyday knowledge work 
Practical ways to turn notes into repeatable automation 
When to use multiple AI agents and when to limit them 
How memory features can introduce risk and bias 
Why APIs matter for an AI-driven future of work 
✅ Highlights 
“I realised that I had incredible power to create anything my mind can conceive digitally.” 
“Tokens have become my money.” 
“The productivity gains is causing this tremendous burnout for some reason.” 
“I’ve put the guardrails in place so they’re not allowed to talk to me after 9pm.” 
“It started with notes, and it’s turning into automation.” 
“The internet is a very hostile place to AI.” 
“Memory is the first thing I turn off everywhere.” 
“I don’t want anybody else’s code in my mix.” 
“It allows you to become almost like superhuman in a weird way.” 
🧰 Mentioned 
AI Brain Fry: https://hbr.org/2026/03/when-using-ai-leads-to-brain-fry 
GitHub Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot 
Work IQ: https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/copilot/extensibility/workiq-overview 
Claude:https://claude.ai/ 
✅Keywords 
ai agents, github copilot, coding agents, automation, productivity, ai burnout, ai memory, privacy, workflows, devops, markdown, applied ai 
Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption
Support the show
If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM 
 
This episode explores the shift from prompt driven AI tools to personal AI assistants that act like always on teammates, with Volodymyr Panchenko sharing real examples of non technical users building tools, publishing content, analysing data, and generating income simply by talking. The core idea is lowering friction so anyone can apply AI without learning complex systems. The conversation focuses on practical empowerment, skill shifts in the intelligence age, and why belief, curiosity, and iteration matter more than technical mastery. 
👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/820
🎙️ What you’ll learn 
How personal AI assistants differ from traditional chat based tools 
Why one click and voice first interfaces unlock broader AI adoption 
How users are building and sharing tools without technical knowledge 
What skills matter most as AI accelerates workplace change 
How AI can propagate innovation across teams automatically 
✅ Highlights 
“We’re doing a very personal AI assistant, like you’re a multi tool employee, 24 7.” 
“My thing is one click solutions.” 
“The last person knows about how AI works, they’re more like gold.” 
“It’s an OpenClaw for my mum.” 
“The less people know, they don’t know it doesn’t work this way.” 
“It’s small blocks like in Minecraft.” 
“Overnight she made a few thousand dollars.” 
“Everything else AI will do.” 
“It’s never going to be perfect.” 
🧰 Mentioned 
OpenClaw: https://openclaw.ai/  
Portal: https://portal.ai/  
Telegram: https://telegram.org/  
Apple App Store: https://www.apple.com/app-store/ 
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/  
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/ 
Google: https://www.google.com/ 
Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/  
OpenAI: https://www.openai.com/  
Minecraft: https://www.minecraft.net/ 
Codemasters: https://www.codemasters.com/  
✅Keywords 
personal ai assistant, applied ai, openclaw, portal ai, telegram bots, voice first ai, ai productivity, ai skills, automation tools, innovation propagation, ai adoption, human ai collaboration 
Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption
Support the show
If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith