Microsoft Innovation Podcast

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM A practical discussion with Mary Pantelopoulou on quantifying and realising business value from AI and low code, using the Business Value Assessment to tie Power Platform, M365 Copilot, and autonomous agents to top‑line growth, cost reduction, risk mitigation, and redesigned processes that free people to focus on higher‑value work. 👉️ Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/787 🎙️ What you’ll learn  Frame AI investments with a clear business value model tied to strategic objectives Identify and quantify use cases using benchmarks and customer scenarios Move beyond time savings to decisions on how freed time is used Rethink processes for AI, not just automate existing steps Apply autonomous agents to transform CRM/ERP into intelligent platforms  ✅ Highlights  “It feels like when the internet was introduced… a big disruptive thing.” “Our focus is business applications, Power Platform, and recently M365 Copilot.” “We help customers quantify: if I’m spending $1, how much am I getting in return?” “We use our own technology—customer zero—to benchmark and quantify value.” “What do you actually do with this time… that’s the most interesting.” “Think about your processes, but rethink them.” “AI is becoming the backbone of our modern business applications.” “We’ve brought modern work and business applications together in a team called ABS.” “Pre‑built autonomous agents in sales, service, finance, supply chain, and customer insights.” “Traditional CRM and ERP are transformed into intelligent platforms.”  🧰 Mentioned Business Value Assessment (BVA) tool - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/guidance/coe/business-value-toolkit Power Platform - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform M365 Copilot - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot Agents / autonomous agents - https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2024/10/21/new-autonomous-agents-scale-your-team-like-never-before/ Customer zero - https://www.microsoft.com/insidetrack/blog/inside-microsoft-being-customer-zero-in-an-ai-powered-world/ Contact center productivity - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-365/products/contact-center ✅Keywords ai, power platform, business value assessment, m365 copilot, autonomous agents, crm, erp, productivity, one microsoft, finance, contact center, low‑code Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoptionSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM  This episode explores how AI is transforming hiring, reducing bias, and helping businesses reliably identify A players. Fletcher Wimbush shares practical steps for using AI to streamline job analysis, screening, assessments, and onboarding, giving small and mid sized businesses access to talent strategies once reserved for large enterprises. 👉 Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/786     🎙️ What you’ll learn  How AI accelerates fact driven hiring How CEOs can attract top talent through direct outreach How to design effective screener questions with AI How assessments surface high potential candidates How AI enabled systems cut time to offer ✅ Highlights "It starts with having a great team." "AI came along and we were able to take that entire process and accelerate the timeframe." "A lot of hiring can be done almost completely on automatic using AI." "AI is way less biased than the human." "Ask some really well worded multiple choice questions that AI created for us." "It eliminated 90 percent of those applicants right off the bat because they've self selected." "Assessments do a phenomenal job of bringing the people with the right integrity and behavioural makeup to the surface." "I almost never hire anybody with direct experience." "We built the system from an AI lens." "We onboard folks and get them up and running almost instantly." "Hiring is mostly going to be automated in the next five years." "The people who really embrace that are going to be the architects driving results." 🧰 Mentioned The FACT Driven Hiring System eLearning Course - https://discovered.ai/hiring-academy/  Discovered - https://www.discovered.ai Y Combinator -  https://www.ycombinator.comHiring Expert GPT - https://chatgpt.com/g/g-ves0BxHrx-hiring-expert✅Keywords ai hiring, recruitment, assessments, a players, smb hiring, job analysis, screening, onboarding, bias reduction, automation, talent strategy, ceo outreach Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoptionSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM  This episode explores practical ways to lift the quality of hybrid work through better tools, clearer communication, and smarter use of AI. Neil Fluester shares insights from years in unified communications, including how Copilot is evolving from a task engine to an enhancement engine, why peripheral design matters for productivity, and how thoughtful setups, from webcams to lighting to teleprompters, shape human connection in meetings. 🎙️ Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/785👉 What you’ll learn    How to move from basic Copilot prompts to agentic, enhancement-focused workflows How hardware design influences productivity and meeting presence How speaker attribution, transcription and translation are reshaping collaboration How to improve video quality with simple upgrades to lighting, cameras and placement How home automation and monitoring can streamline daily routines ✅ Highlights    “I use it as a bit of a do engine. Copilot, do this for me, Copilot, do that for me.” “I’m trying to cross the chasm to where we move from that just getting it to do stuff to enhance me.” “The translation stuff is just blows my mind.” “You can kind of opt in and train it and teach it your linguistic style and your tone.” “It’s garbage in, garbage out.” “You wouldn’t leave the house looking terrible, so why would you turn up to the meeting looking terrible?” “Stop sucking on the way you look.” “Any free power is free power at the end of the day.” “Lithium iron phosphate is the new chemistry that everyone sort of loves because it’s super safe.” “You can knock up a large amount of kilowatt storage now.” 🧰 Mentioned      Microsoft Teams - https://teams.microsoft.com Copilot - https://copilot.microsoft.com Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 ✅ Keywords     copilot, teams, logitech, webcams, teleprompter, ai, video quality, home assistant, automation, translation, transcription, unified communications Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoptionSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM  This episode explores how professionals in the Power Platform and Dynamics space can future‑proof their careers. Sarah Jones and Franco Musso share practical guidance on contracting, freelancing, niching, personal brand development, and navigating rapid change driven by AI. Their insights focus on building career security, creating flexibility, and designing work that supports long‑term growth. 👉 Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/784 🎙️ What you’ll learn   How to transition from permanent roles to contracting and freelancing How to design a flexible work model that supports income and lifestyle goals How to build a personal brand that attracts clients How to niche effectively to strengthen positioning How AI and market shifts are reshaping job security and opportunity ✅ Highlights “You're expected to be with the same customer Monday to Friday, 9 to 5.” “I designed my work year. I can dictate what my day looks like.” “That freedom is quite special.” “It's about the value that you put on walking the kids to school together.” “It's whatever you choose it to be.” “People in permanent jobs are scared to leave their permanent job that they feel is secure.” “If you've got the chance now to get involved with the change, then do it.” “There's a powerful but limited window now for people in the business that are interested in the tech.” “You could be the absolute superstar in accounting AI.” “Selling to an existing customer is said to be 7 times cheaper.” “This gives 6 to 12 months runway for those people who might be thinking about it.” “The phenomenon of AI is coming.” 🧰 Mentioned Microsoft Power Platform https://powerplatform.microsoft.com/ Dynamics 365 https://dynamics.microsoft.com/ Power Pages https://powerpages.microsoft.com/ Scottish Summit https://scottishsummit.com/ ✅Keywords   power platform, dynamics 365, freelancing, contracting, ai, job security, personal brand, niching, career change, Microsoft, power pages, mentoring Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoptionSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM  This episode explores how organisations can advance AI capability by shifting from siloed, linear thinking to ecosystem thinking. Barbara Wittmann outlines why many AI initiatives fail, how mindset transformation enables responsible adoption and where real innovation begins inside an organisation. She explains the role of the middle, why data foundations matter and how ethical leadership can guide sustainable AI-driven change. 👉 Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/783    🎙️ What you’ll learn  How to identify AI use cases that align with real business strategy How mindset training supports sustainable AI transformation How to build cross departmental ecosystems that accelerate innovation How to move proofs of concept into production with stronger data baselines How to lead ethically during AI driven organisational change ✅ Highlights “What in the world are we doing with AI?” “Everyone is stuck on really making it work.” “We go in with a workshop called Mindset Before Machines.” “People want to fix their pressing issues without going to the root cause.” “We need to start thinking in constant innovation cycles.” “You cannot delegate complexity anymore.” “Technology is part of your DNA, not a side piece.” “AI implementation is essentially a very human problem.” “Values are grounding to us.” “Ethical transformation calls for wisdom in leadership.” “You have to understand the problem before you move to the next step.” “It is the miracle drug, the snake oil in the pioneer days.” 🧰 Mentioned LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbarawittmann/ Digital Wisdom Collective: https://www.digitalwisdomcollective.com/mindset-before-machines Substack: https://digitalwisdomcollective.substack.com/  Company Website: https://www.digitalwisdomcollective.com/ ✅Keywords ai adoption, leadership, organisational change, ecosystems, mindset, data quality, innovation, proofs of concept, ethical transformation, productivity, strategy, silos 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/CopilotAdoptionSupport the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith