Microsoft Innovation Podcast

• Future-Ready Your Career Before Layoffs Hit

  🔴 For full Show Notes  https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/769Hosts: Mark Smith, Meg SmithIn this season finale, Meg and Mark explore how to future-ready your career before layoffs hit. They use Earl Nightingale’s “The Strangest Secret” as a springboard to talk about AI-driven disruption, the illusion of job security, and why side hustles, weak-tie networks, and daily learning matter. Meg shares her 10-minute podcast habit that reignited her career, while Mark unpacks planning A, B, and C, trimming fixed costs, and using StrengthsFinder and structured interview prep to translate your strengths into new opportunities.👉Join the private WhatsApp group for Q&A and community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/E0iyXcUVhpl9um7DuKLYEz🎙️What you’ll learnRecognise the illusion of job security in an AI dominated worldDesign plan A, B, and C so a layoff does not put you in panic modeStart small, sustainable learning habits even when you only have 10 minutesUse StrengthsFinder and your strengths language to target better-fit rolesPrepare interview stories with the SBI method to prove impact with evidence✅Highlights“We become what we think about.”“There is a coming risk of us to bury our head in the sand and think that the way we work is going to be there forever.”“I honestly believe that there's going to be a scenario where entire companies that have been around for decades are going to disappear.”“Maybe you can find 10 minutes to start with. And then you might be able to set the ball rolling.”“The first time they were on LinkedIn was because they got laid off.”“Out of that becomes the ability to connect you to potentially your next opportunity.”“One of them was to look at our personal finances and cut the fat.”“For me, trying to figure out how to transfer my or translate my skills, the thing I started with was StrengthsFinder.”🧰MentionedThe Strangest Secret - Earl Nightingale https://amzn.to/3Mb99GM 90 Day Mentoring Challenge https://www.90daymc.com/StrengthsFinder / CliftonStrengthsSBI (Situation, Behaviour, Impact)✅Connect with the hostsMark Smith:  Blog https://www.nz365guy.com LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nz365guy Meg Smith:  Blog https://www.megsmith.nz LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/megsmithnz Subscribe, rate, and share with someone who wants to be future ready. Drop your questions in the comments or the WhatsApp group, and we may feature them in an upcoming episode.✅Keywords: ai, layoffs, job security, weak ties, linkedin, strengths finder, cliftonstrengths, digital literacy, side hustles, career resilience, interview prep, networkingMicrosoft 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

  --------  

  26:32

  --------

  26:32
• Agentic AI: Why It’s the Next Big Shift in Tech

  Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM 👉 Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/768  Agentic AI is transforming enterprise technology by moving beyond content generation to autonomous actions. In this episode of Copilot Show, Mehrnoosh Sameki explores the risks, guardrails, and governance frameworks needed to deploy AI agents safely and effectively.  🎙️ What you’ll learn How agentic AI differs from generative AI and why it matters Key risks: task misalignment, prohibited actions, sensitive data leakage Practical guardrails and evaluation strategies for AI agents How to manage agent sprawl with Microsoft Foundry Control Plane Why red teaming and observability are critical for AI safety ✅ Highlights “Everything that I hear at work is about agentic AI.” “Agents don’t just output text or image. They take actions.” “Task alignment and staying on task is a huge one.” “Sensitive data leakage is more and more important.” “Bad actors could overwrite those information with different techniques.” “If you don’t know how many agents are out there, huge safety risk.” “We released something called Foundry Control Plane.” “Each agent gets a unique identity to suspend, quarantine, or stop.” “You can set org-wide policies against your agents.” “Red teaming is huge for identifying the risks.” “Our AI red teaming agent gives you a scorecard of vulnerabilities.” 🧰Mentioned Microsoft Foundry Control Plane: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-foundry/control-plane/overview Entra: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/microsoft-entra Azure AI Foundry: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/ai-foundry  Pyrit (open-source toolkit): https://github.com/Azure/PyRIT  AI red teaming agent: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-foundry/concepts/ai-red-teaming-agent OpenAI partnership: https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2025/01/21/microsoft-and-openai-evolve-partnership-to-drive-the-next-phase-of-ai  Credo AI: https://www.credo.ai  ✅Keywords agentic ai, generative ai, responsible ai, guardrails, observability, task misalignment, sensitive data leakage, agent hijacking, foundry control plane, entra, red teaming, ai governance 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

  --------  

  32:24

  --------

  32:24
• AI Deepfakes: The New Frontier of Identity Theft

  Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM  AI is transforming identity security and giving cybercriminals superpowers. This episode explores the rise of deepfakes, social engineering, and why traditional MFA and recovery flows fail. Learn how businesses can protect digital trust and secure remote work in an AI-driven world. 👉 Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/767🎙️ What you’ll learn Why generative AI accelerates identity theft and fraud How deepfakes undermine video verification and trust The hidden risks in MFA recovery and onboarding flows Practical steps to secure help desks and remote workers How mobile cryptographic attestation strengthens identity checks ✅ Highlights “Cybercrime now rivals the GDP of the world’s largest economies.” “Generative AI has given superpowers to bad actors.” “Deepfakes make it impossible to trust what’s on a video call.” “Half of IT help desk calls are locked-out employees.” “Recovery flows for MFA are fundamentally insecure.” “North Koreans are applying for remote jobs using live deepfakes.” “The camera on your laptop isn’t connected to the TPM chip.” “We realised identity verification had to move to mobile.” “HubSpot automated account recovery with high-assurance identity checks.” “Okta recommends visual verification—but it’s slow and fragile.” “Passkeys don’t eliminate passwords or provisioning risk.” “AI lets attackers mimic company language and values effortlessly.” 🧰 Mentioned Nametag: https://getnametag.com/Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com Okta: https://www.okta.com HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com Azure: https://azure.microsoft.com Microsoft Entra ID: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/identity-access/microsoft-entra-id Cisco Duo: https://duo.com Beyond Identity: https://www.beyondidentity.com ✅Keywords ai security, identity theft, deepfakes, mfa recovery, remote work risk, social engineering, cybercrime growth, mobile attestation, okta, entra id, passkeys, generative aiMicrosoft 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

  --------  

  34:01

  --------

  34:01
• Mastering Copilot: Practical AI for Business Productivity

  Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM Practical insights on adopting Microsoft 365 Copilot and AI tools for real business impact. Learn how to identify quick wins, improve productivity, and master prompt engineering for better results. 🎙️ Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/766🔑 What you’ll learn How AI is reshaping workflows and productivity tools Practical Copilot use cases for Outlook, Word, Teams, and PowerPoint Why adoption programs and training matter for AI success Techniques for effective prompt engineering How to document processes quickly using Teams and Copilot 👉 Highlights "We're seeing a lot more summarization, a lot more drafting." "Agentic is coming through with agents and agent-to-agent communication." "You don't need to deploy it to everybody." "It's really something that you need to have that adoption program in place." "Prompt engineering does play a big role in it." "How you use Copilot in Word is very different to how you use Copilot in Outlook." "My daily one probably starts off in Outlook, summarizing the emails overnight." "Create a presentation from a document." "Teams transcripts are great." "Copilot gives you that structure, that outline, and it's really quick." "The design aspect has improved, that's kind of cool." "Copilot for M365 is really aimed at the business user." 🧰 Mentioned Microsoft 365 Copilot - https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/copilot Grammarly - https://www.grammarly.com Cloudflare - https://www.cloudflare.com Danielbrown.id.au - https://danielbrown.id.au Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 ✅Keywords ai adoption, microsoft 365 copilot, outlook productivity, teams transcripts, prompt engineering, power bi, word summarization, powerpoint design, bizchat, azure hosting, process documentation, business workflows Support the showIf you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

  --------  

  16:32

  --------

  16:32
• Build Resilience to Thrive in the AI Age

  🔴 For full Show Notes  https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/765Resilience, wellbeing, and lifelong learning are three levers for thriving in the Intelligence Age. Mark and Meg unpack how to reset after a hard year, design simple habits, and build confidence through practice. They explore personal stories of grief, burnout, and career uncertainty, and show how revisiting trusted books, building AI agents for health, money, and meaning, and turning learning into a weekly rhythm keep skills relevant for 2026 and beyond.👉Join the private WhatsApp group for Q&A and community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/E0iyXcUVhpl9um7DuKLYEz🎙️What you’ll learnHow to treat resilience as a repeatable practice, not a fixed trait.How to design simple habits to reset mindset, health, and wellbeing after a hard season.How personal AI agents could support health, mental health, finances, and meaning, and where to be cautious.How to shift from one-off training to a lifelong learning habit that fits your style.How uniquely human skills like creativity and emotional intelligence grow your confidence in an AI-enabled workplace.✅Highlights"Every single one of them requires practice. And I need the mindset of practice to also take my tendency to try and get to perfection.""How do you bounce back after hard times, after hard things happen?""I know I can do hard things because I've done them before.""There is a sense of burnout and wellbeing is probably not on the forefront."🧰MentionedGrit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance https://amzn.to/3XJIxz5Man's Search for Meaning https://amzn.to/47VuMDuAtomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones https://amzn.to/3MhA5EGNever Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It https://amzn.to/3K5cYN8Machines of Love and Grace https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/machines-of-loving-graceMicrosoftinnovationpodcast.com https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/✅Connect with the hostsMark Smith: Blog https://www.nz365guy.com, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nz365guyMeg Smith: Blog https://www.megsmith.nz, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/megsmithnzSubscribe, rate, and share with someone who wants to be future ready. Drop your questions in the comments or the WhatsApp group, and we may feature them in an upcoming episode.✅Keywords: resilience, wellbeing, lifelong learning, ai agents, mental health, burnout, habits, meaning, skills, learning practice, teenagers, future skillsMicrosoft 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

  --------  

  25:12

  --------

  25:12

More Business podcasts

Trending Business podcasts

About Microsoft Innovation Podcast