Microsoft Innovation Podcast

Mark Smith [nz365guy]
  • 5.0 (3)
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED DAILY

If you want to get your ideas or questions featured on an episode, please leave us a voicemail: https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/voicemail/ Dive into the future of work with the "Microsoft Innovation Podcast," exploring the intersection of People, Business, Technology, and AI.  Engage with expert guests—including thought leaders from Microsoft, industry innovators, and community specialists—who are redefining the world with advancements in AI, Cloud technologies, the Power Platform, Dynamics 365, and beyond. Every episode delivers a blend of in-depth discussions, practical insights, and actionable strategies tailored for professionals driving enablement and innovation. Join us across our six shows: The Power Platform ShowThe MVP ShowThe Copilot ShowThe Ecosystems ShowThe AI AdvantageThe AI Unfiltered Show

  1. Don't Turn on Copilot Yet: Prep Your Data First

    1D AGO

    Don't Turn on Copilot Yet: Prep Your Data First

    Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM Pieter Kops shares practical lessons from the front lines of Copilot adoption. He explains why organisations must fix security and data quality before switching AI on, how oversharing and duplication damage AI outcomes, and where Copilot delivers real value beyond basic automation. The conversation focuses on SharePoint, metadata, governance, and helping people move from search and automation towards research and higher value AI use. 🎙 Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/819  👉 What you’ll learn      How to prepare your data estate before enabling Copilot Why oversharing creates real security and quality risks for AI Practical approaches to cleaning up SharePoint and file sprawl How metadata improves findability and Copilot results Where Copilot adoption stalls and how to push past basic automation ✅ Highlights      “Don’t switch it on yet. Do stuff first.” “If your security is not in place, then God knows what information you’re surfacing.” “Rubbish in, rubbish out.” “Human error is littered through the landscape of corporate data.” “Stop sharing.” “Deduplication is a tough process to do.” “People tend to have the folder structure on top of mind.” “That’s why we need Copilot.” “Most people just use Copilot as the new search agent.” “More than 90% of the ideas were just automation.” 🧰 Mentioned      SharePoint: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/sharepoint/collaboration Microsoft Copilot: https://www.copilot.com/ Microsoft Graph API: https://learn.microsoft.com/graph/ Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 ✅ Keywords       copilot adoption, sharepoint governance, data quality, oversharing, metadata, ai readiness, security, automation, microsoft copilot, document management, information architecture, enterprise ai  Support the show If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin. Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

    20 min
  2. Why Low‑Code Is Dead in the Age of AI Agents

    3D AGO

    Why Low‑Code Is Dead in the Age of AI Agents

    Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM  This episode explores how AI, agents, and prompting are reshaping how software and business solutions are built. Mark Smith and Keith Atherton discuss the shift beyond traditional low-code towards natural language, agent-driven development, where context, outcomes, and governance matter more than interfaces. They examine why developer fundamentals still matter, how generative AI accelerates delivery, and what new makers should focus on as Microsoft investment, tooling, and certifications pivot towards agentic and AI-first approaches.  👉 Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/818    🎙️ What you’ll learn    How agent-based development changes the way applications and systems are designed Why context engineering and outcomes engineering matter more than short prompts When low-code tools help and when direct code or CLI is faster How experienced developers gain leverage in an agent-driven world Where new makers should focus their learning as platforms and certifications evolve ✅ Highlights  “Beyond that hype, now organizations and customers, I can see them getting more mature and ready to actually adopt.” “We’re designing for API efficiency for AIs, not just human interfaces anymore.” “You wouldn’t have to put anything in your system that isn’t explicitly needed.” “If you can build something in a few minutes, why spend hours dragging and dropping?” “Context engineering is the next step beyond prompt engineering.” “My prompts are not one or two sentences, they’re hundreds of lines of data.” “It’s almost cumbersome today to go through visual steps when CLI is just speed.” “It could be seen as a bit of a superpower having that developer background.” “You need to know what good looks like to hold agents to account.” 🧰 Mentioned   Microsoft Power Platform: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platform Copilot Studio: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio  ChatGPT:  https://chatgpt.com  Visual Studio Code: https://code.visualstudio.com  Power Automate: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platform/products/power-automate  Dataverse: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platform/dataverse  ✅Keywords    ai agents, power platform, low code, generative ai, prompt engineering, context engineering, outcomes engineering, dataverse, power automate, software development, cli, microsoft 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

    40 min
  3. Change Leadership vs Management: What Humans Do Best

    4D AGO

    Change Leadership vs Management: What Humans Do Best

    Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM This episode explores why emotional resilience is becoming a core leadership skill in the age of AI. Jennifer Selby Long explains how a leader’s emotional state shapes team performance, why calm and consistency now matter more than constant disruption, and how grounded leadership enables effective change. Drawing on real client examples, she shares practical frameworks leaders can use to build self awareness, manage stress, and lead transformation without burning themselves or their teams out. 👉 Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/817    🎙️ What you’ll learn  Why a leader’s emotional state is contagious and shapes team outcomes The difference between change management and change leadership in practice How calm, consistency, and grounding build trust during rapid change Frameworks leaders use to recognise stress triggers and manage reactions Why emotional intelligence is a competitive advantage in AI driven workplaces ✅ Highlights  “The emotional state of the leader is highly contagious to the team.” “You really need to understand those stakeholders and get those folks aligned.” “Change management is about ensuring completion to a standard.” “Change leadership is keeping people hopeful, inspired, and focused on the future.” “The leadership element is what the human brings.” “Calm, consistency, and stability in leaders has been really underemphasised.” “Even when you think you’re hiding your emotions, you’re not.” “Cultivating inner calm is a surprisingly vital foundational skill for leaders today.” 🧰 Mentioned  Shirzad Chamine: https://positiveintelligence.com/about/  Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine: https://books.google.com/books/about/Positive_Intelligence.html?id=ziSoxw_ACSwC  The Problem with Change by Ashley Goodall: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203578496-the-problem-with-change  Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: https://www.themyersbriggs.com/en-US/Explore-Solutions/MBTI ✅Keywords  emotional intelligence, change leadership, change management, leadership resilience, grounded leadership, stakeholder alignment, organisational change, ai leadership, inner calm, self awareness, saboteur mindset, positive intelligence  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

    33 min
  4. Build AI Agents by Voice, Not Workflows

    APR 8

    Build AI Agents by Voice, Not Workflows

    Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM Ragnar Heil shares hands-on lessons from building and running autonomous agents with OpenClaw. He compares conversational, agent-first workflows with traditional automation tools, highlights real infrastructure and security trade-offs, and explains why this kind of experimentation accelerates deep understanding of agent architecture. The conversation explores where Copilot fits today, what breaks in early-stage agents, and why learning Linux, scripting, and model plumbing is becoming a core AI skill for practitioners. 👉 Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/816  🎙️ What you’ll learn      How conversational interfaces like Telegram change the way agents are built and operated Where traditional automation adds friction compared to autonomous agents Practical infrastructure choices for running experimental agents safely Real-world security and governance risks when working with agentic AI Why hands-on agent maintenance accelerates architectural understanding ✅ Highlights    “I literally talk into the microphone and then it builds it overnight without any effort for me.” “They’re not really autonomous, most of them are retrieval agents.” “Please don’t install OpenClaw on your PC or MacBook.” “It could literally delete your whole C drive without your command.” “I never learned so much around Linux scripts than in my whole life.” “I’m losing my fascination because I have to fix it every single day.” “It’s taken me further into understanding agents than I have ever been.” “We are in a very, very early stage here.” “The interface as we know it is going to go away.” 🧰 Mentioned      OpenClaw: https://openclaw.ai/ [openclaw.ai] Copilot: https://copilot.microsoft.com/ Microsoft responsible AI standards: https://www.microsoft.com/ai/responsible-ai Copilot Studio: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio/ Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 ✅ Keywords       openclaw, autonomous agents, agentic ai, copilot, copilot studio, power automate, telegram interface, linux scripting, ai security, governance, mcp servers, infrastructure  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

    27 min
  5. The AI Coding Reckoning: What Breaks First?

    APR 5

    The AI Coding Reckoning: What Breaks First?

    Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM  This episode features Martin Miller and explores the practical reality of using AI inside organisations. The conversation cuts through hype to focus on where AI genuinely adds leverage, where it breaks down, and why subject matter expertise, data quality, and critical thinking still matter. From AI‑generated code and agent teams to data governance, outages, and deepfakes, the discussion frames AI as a powerful amplifier rather than a replacement. The core message is clear: AI rewards clarity of intent, strong foundations, and human judgement.  👉 Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/815 🎙️ What you’ll learn  How AI‑generated code fails without clear problem definition Why data quality and governance are prerequisites for AI success When AI amplifies expertise versus creating costly mistakes How organisations misuse AI by chasing headcount reduction Why critical thinking weakens when AI replaces core learning ✅ Highlights  “It’s not about can you write a for loop. It’s about can you define what you’re trying to accomplish.” “The more you know, the more you can use this tool.” “Nothing like making a decision off of bad data.” “AI is a power tool in the box of tools, and it’s a super tool.” “It will confidently deliver you results that may or may not be what you need.” “Headcount reduction and creating solutions are mutually exclusive.” “If you can’t manage your data with or without humans, you need to know that.” “You can generate the anomaly of the moment using AI all day long.” “There’s no Brent to call when your AI isn’t working.” “People that used AI couldn’t remember anything about the paper.” 🧰 Mentioned  Claude: https://claude.ai/ OpenAI: https://openai.com/  ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/  Gemini: https://gemini.google.com/ DevOps: https://www.atlassian.com/devops The Phoenix Project: https://itrevolution.com/product/the-phoenix-project/  Foursquare: https://foursquare.com/ Book: AI in a Weekend: An Executive’s Guide: https://www.amazon.com/Weekend-Executives-Guide-Martin-Miller-ebook/dp/B0D4JPSRH2✅Keywords  ai strategy, ai coding, data governance, critical thinking, ai agents, devops, site reliability engineering, ai outages, deepfakes, prompt engineering, subject matter expertise, enterprise 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

    35 min
  6. Build AI Agents Overnight: Prompt-to-Prototype

    APR 1

    Build AI Agents Overnight: Prompt-to-Prototype

    Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM    Simon Doy and Mark Smith explore the rapid shift from experimentation to production use of AI agents. The conversation focuses on practical agent design, Copilot Studio, RAG quality, and where automation fits better than full agents. Simon shares real client work in the NHS, small business realities, and how partners deliver Copilot adoption and agent-led transformation. A recurring theme is choosing the right level of AI, from automation with AI sprinkles to long running agent workflows, while staying pragmatic about cost, governance, and user experience.  🎙 Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/814 👉 What you’ll learn      How agentic workflows are moving from demos into real production use When simple SharePoint grounding is enough and when Azure AI Search is required How to combine automation and agents to avoid slow, interactive AI experiences Practical approaches to Copilot adoption for leaders and teams Why token usage, orchestration, and model choice are becoming operational concerns ✅ Highlights      “On Friday, I let Claude Opus go and build me a Teams agent overnight.” “The agentic side and being able to have these long running tasks is really shifting things.” “Customers are now getting much more open to trying things out.” “Copilot Studio is the first port of call.” “You don’t get the quality back from the agent that you need with complex content.” “How you chunk it is so important for RAG.” “Not everything needs to be a full on agent.” “Automation with AI sprinkles is sometimes the better option.” “My world is fast becoming measured by tokens.” “You don’t have to use the most expensive model on everything.” 🧰 Mentioned      Copilot Studio - https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio Azure AI Search - https://azure.microsoft.com/products/ai-services/ai-search EmpowerM365 -  https://empowerm365.com Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 ✅ Keywords       ai agents, copilot studio, microsoft 365, automation, rag, azure ai search, sharepoint, claude opus, agentic workflows, copilot adoption, power automate, tokens  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

    29 min
  7. Copilot Chaos: A Simple Map of Microsoft's AI

    MAR 30

    Copilot Chaos: A Simple Map of Microsoft's AI

    Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM  Dani Kahil breaks down the growing complexity of Copilot and AI agents in the Microsoft ecosystem and how practitioners can make sense of it. The conversation focuses on practical mental models, minimum viable agents, and real-world use cases, including document-heavy processes in higher education. The core insight is that successful AI adoption depends less on tools and more on clear roles, scoped responsibilities, feedback loops, and realistic expectations of non-deterministic systems.   👉 Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/813 🎙️ What you’ll learn    How to distinguish between Copilot experiences, products, and build tools across Microsoft platforms Why diagrams and visual models help reduce AI and Copilot confusion for teams and leaders How to define a minimum viable agent to prevent scope creep Why treating agents like junior co-workers improves outcomes How feedback loops and incremental task expansion make agents useful in production  ✅ Highlights  “It took me a lot of time to kind of process the information.” “I always like visuals and kind of diagrams.” “There are so many different versions of the different copilots.” “These are completely separate products.” “I started looking at them as roles and job functions.” “Treat your agent like a co-worker.” “In two minutes, you can build an agent, and it’s useless.” “Start with a very simple instruction at the beginning.” “It will never be 100%. That’s the nature of generative AI.” 🧰 Mentioned  Diagram to download: https://danikahil.com/microsoft-copilots-and-ai-agents-ecosystem-diagram/ Youtube video of my walkthrough of the diagram: https://youtu.be/nZ8g11YthYI Microsoft Power Platform: https://www.microsoft.com/power-platformAzure AI Foundry: https://azure.microsoft.com/products/ai-foundryWindows Copilot: https://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-11?wincampaign=Copilot✅Keywords    copilot, ai agents, power platform, microsoft 365, copilot studio, agent builder, azure foundry, power apps, automation, generative ai, minimum viable agent, ai adoption  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

    29 min
  8. AI Adoption Isn’t IT: Exec Alignment Comes First

    MAR 29

    AI Adoption Isn’t IT: Exec Alignment Comes First

    Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM  In this episode of AI Unfiltered, Kristen Perdue explains why AI adoption fails when leaders treat it like standard software instead of a fundamental shift in how organisations operate. The conversation focuses on executive mindset, cultural alignment, and communication gaps that quietly derail AI initiatives. Kristen shares how to prioritise the right use cases, close AI literacy gaps, and re‑engineer processes so AI drives growth rather than amplifying broken workflows.  👉 Full Show Notes https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/812   🎙️ What you’ll learn  Why AI adoption is a leadership and culture challenge, not an IT rollout How executive misalignment undermines AI strategy and execution How to prioritise AI use cases based on real operational bottlenecks Why overconfidence in AI skills creates risk across organisations When process re‑engineering must happen before automation ✅ Highlights  “AI is a different way of doing business. It’s not really a tool.” “It doesn’t work like software. It is a completely new way of doing business.” “Most approached it going, well, should I roll out AI?” “We started throwing darts at a dart board anywhere it landed.” “AI multiplies good and it multiplies bad.” “Only 21% of the companies deploying AI even touched re‑engineering their processes.” “That lack of communication is the reason initiatives fail.” “People are confident, but they score 40 out of 100.” 🧰 Mentioned  Generative AI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_artificial_intelligence Process re‑engineering: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_process_reengineering McKinsey study on AI and process re‑engineering: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-how-organizations-are-rewiring-to-capture-value Section AI literacy report: https://www.sectionai.com/ai/the-ai-proficiency-report ✅Keywords  ai adoption, executive alignment, ai strategy, generative ai, ai literacy, change management, process re-engineering, business transformation, leadership mindset, ai governance, organisational culture, 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

    32 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

If you want to get your ideas or questions featured on an episode, please leave us a voicemail: https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/voicemail/ Dive into the future of work with the "Microsoft Innovation Podcast," exploring the intersection of People, Business, Technology, and AI.  Engage with expert guests—including thought leaders from Microsoft, industry innovators, and community specialists—who are redefining the world with advancements in AI, Cloud technologies, the Power Platform, Dynamics 365, and beyond. Every episode delivers a blend of in-depth discussions, practical insights, and actionable strategies tailored for professionals driving enablement and innovation. Join us across our six shows: The Power Platform ShowThe MVP ShowThe Copilot ShowThe Ecosystems ShowThe AI AdvantageThe AI Unfiltered Show

Information

  • Creator
    Mark Smith [nz365guy]
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    818
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Mark Smith - Cloverbase Ltd.
  • Show Website
    Microsoft Innovation Podcast

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