Tech Ease

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Tech Ease is a Microsoft 365 podcast for people who use SharePoint and Copilot at work. Anand Vijayaragavan, Microsoft MVP for SharePoint, explains Copilot Chat, Copilot Studio, Agent Builder, SharePoint pages and free SPFx samples in plain language. Day Brief episodes cover the Microsoft 365 updates worth your time. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@anandvijayaragavan18 Read on Substack: https://anandvijayaragavan.substack.com Independent, not affiliated with Microsoft.

  1. Season 4, Episode 32 Trailer

    Free preview: How to Build Interactive 3D HTML Pages in SharePoint: Adding Some Spook, Part Two

    In Part One I showed you a haunted front yard living on a SharePoint page. This free preview introduces Part Two — the build story.I explain why I try SharePoint’s host-supported Babylon.js loading first, and show scenes from my own SharePoint tests on 6 November 2026. Screenshots show appearance, not proof of every control’s behaviour on another device.The full build walkthrough is for Tech Ease members.Full members episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/03q2FEfyBCE8Vw4yTnaT3lYouTube free preview: https://youtu.be/Lb37TUvwX9EFree Part One tour: https://youtu.be/--oGsHe1k2kHalloween Haunt demo: https://anandragav.github.io/copilot-html-dashboards/halloween-haunt/Chapters00:00 Part Two: the build story00:28 Correction: try the host manifest first00:48 Two approaches01:26 Nov 6 test: winter wonderland01:42 Nov 6 test: Halloween Haunt01:55 Invitation to the members walkthroughFollow Tech Ease so you catch what’s next.

  2. 1d ago

    Your Copilot Notebooks Are Becoming Workspaces + 3 More Microsoft 365 Updates

    Your Copilot Notebooks are becoming Copilot Workspaces, and the standalone Word, Excel and PowerPoint agents are moving into Chat. This Tech Ease Day Brief also covers wider fair-use limits for commercial Copilot Chat without the paid licence, SharePoint tools in Work IQ in public preview, and Frontier expanding to eligible Teams, new Outlook, OneDrive and SharePoint previews.Four Microsoft 365 updates: Notebooks become Workspaces while standalone Office agents move into Chat (MC1535647, MC1536062, MC1530611); fair-use limits expand in unlicensed commercial Copilot Chat with no published numerical allowances (MC1536158, MC1536163); SharePoint tools in Work IQ enter public preview with delegated permissions and Copilot Credits; and Frontier enrollment expands to eligible Teams, new Outlook, OneDrive and SharePoint previews from November (MC1529472).Chapters:0:00 Four updates0:07 Workspaces0:30 Office agents0:55 Chat fair-use limits1:32 SharePoint tools in Work IQ2:10 Frontier expands2:39 Follow Tech EaseLinks:- Copilot Notebooks → Workspaces (Support): https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/copilot-notebooks-to-copilot-workspaces- Home / Projects / Workspaces (MC1535647, unofficial mirror): https://mc.merill.net/message/MC1535647- Standalone Word / Excel / PowerPoint agents (MC1536062, unofficial mirror): https://mc.merill.net/message/MC1536062- Office in Copilot (MC1530611, unofficial mirror): https://mc.merill.net/message/MC1530611- Copilot Chat fair-use limits (Support): https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/standard-versus-priority-access-to-features-in-microsoft-365-copilot-chat- Limits notice MC1536158 (unofficial mirror): https://mc.merill.net/message/MC1536158- Limits notice MC1536163 (unofficial mirror): https://mc.merill.net/message/MC1536163- SharePoint tools in Work IQ (blog): https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/spblog/introducing-sharepoint-tools-in-work-iq/4569917- SharePoint tools Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/extensibility/work-iq/sharepoint-iq- Work IQ API overview: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/extensibility/work-iq/api-overview- Frontier expands (blog): https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoft-copilot-blog/frontier-expands-to-more-microsoft-365-public-previews/4567243- Get started with Frontier: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/manage/get-started-frontier- Frontier MC1529472 (unofficial mirror): https://mc.merill.net/message/MC1529472Caveat: Message Center links above are from the unofficial mc.merill.net mirror, not my tenant Message Center. Confirm in your admin center before acting on tenant-specific timing.Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oVIcWd_edicTech Ease on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@anandvijayaragavan18Follow Tech Ease on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Cd8NsDE7kdQmLnbXe8Xx1

  3. 1d ago

    Copilot Chat vs Agent Builder vs Studio vs Cowork vs Autopilot: How Much Work Are You Handing Over?

    Short answer: each Microsoft Copilot tool hands over a different amount of work. Here is one left-to-right map from Copilot Chat through Agent Builder, Copilot in SharePoint, Copilot Studio, Copilot Cowork and Autopilot, with one example and one honest trade-off at each stop, plus where skills fit across all six. Copilot Chat, Agent Builder, Copilot in SharePoint, Copilot Studio, Copilot Cowork and Autopilot can feel like a blur of new names. In this episode, I walk through all six on one simple map, built around a single question: how much of the work are you handing over? It follows my earlier Tech Ease episodes on agents and skills, and on Copilot Cowork. Chapters: 00:00 How much work are you handing over? 00:44 The left-to-right map 01:06 Copilot Chat 01:22 Agent Builder 01:49 Copilot in SharePoint 02:15 Copilot Studio 02:37 The stops overlap 02:53 Copilot Cowork 03:26 Autopilot 03:51 Skills under all six 04:27 Where I would start Script and original map: Anand Vijayaragavan. Map structure adapted from the creator-supplied slide 3; original Notebooks-style coral/teal line-art illustrations and animation rebuilt for this episode. No third-party screenshots used. Narration generated with Anand's authorized cloned voice using ElevenLabs. TTS and Scribe are paid generation; production/rendering also uses Grok Bot usage. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2pkXDUv0dIQ Tech Ease on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@anandvijayaragavan18 Follow Tech Ease on Spotify.

  4. 4d ago

    Copilot Agents vs Skills: When to Use Agent Builder, Copilot Studio, Cowork and Autopilot

    Build one Copilot agent and give it many skills, then move up to Copilot Studio, Cowork or Autopilot only when the work actually demands it. A skill is an instruction you keep retyping, saved once as a small folder with a SKILL.md file, and the same idea now shows up in Agent Builder, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Cowork. In this episode I explain the difference between a Copilot agent and a skill, and how I decide which tool to reach for. I start with Agent Builder, show what a skill is under the hood, try skills in PowerPoint and Excel, and then go through when Copilot Studio still leads, what Cowork does with the work you delegate, and where Autopilot fits. What I cover: - Copilot vs an agent: help when you ask, versus a goal it keeps working on - Agent Builder: describe it, start from a template, or configure it yourself, then test and create - Why ten agents become ten things to maintain, and the one-front-door pattern - What a skill is: a name, a description, instructions and optional files - PowerPoint: call a skill with @ and its name; Excel: built-in skills like clean-data - Agent Builder or Copilot Studio: up to eight skills per agent, model choice, Copy to Copilot Studio, and upgrading older SharePoint agents before March 2027 - Four questions that pick the tool for the job - Cowork: approvals before sensitive actions, editing files, schedules and triggers - Autopilot, previously called Scout: its own identity, working within the permissions you set - Five checks before you build Chapters: 00:00 The short answer 00:16 Copilot vs an agent 00:31 Agent Builder: the quickest way 01:03 One agent, many skills 01:42 What a skill is 02:38 Skills in PowerPoint and Excel 03:04 Agent Builder or Copilot Studio? 04:38 Which tool for which job 05:06 Cowork 05:41 Autopilot 06:19 Before you build 06:46 Wrap-up: a new agent, or a new skill? Screenshots: Microsoft Learn, Microsoft Support and the Official Microsoft Blog (© Microsoft), credited on screen. Agent names in my own tenant are masked. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mHl5mBq2s1Q Tech Ease on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@anandvijayaragavan18 Follow Tech Ease on Spotify.

  5. 6d ago

    SharePoint Page Ideas: A Halloween 3D Scene with Babylon.js (Part One)

    Yes, a SharePoint page can run a live 3D scene. Here's a Halloween one built with Babylon.js in the new HTML pages, with a flat fallback when 3D is off. Try it: https://anandragav.github.io/copilot-html-dashboards/halloween-haunt/ Halloween came to my SharePoint site. I built a haunted front yard in 3D with Babylon.js: a ghost, lightning, a cackling witch, a hand pushing up out of the dirt and a parade of ghost cars, all living on a single SharePoint page that anyone can play with. If 3D isn't available, the page shows a flat, animated version of the same scene instead of a blank box. This free Part One is the tour. Part Two, my members-only technical deep dive, covers how I got it running entirely on its own inside SharePoint: what I kept, what I cut, and how it passed the security checks. Try it yourself: https://anandragav.github.io/copilot-html-dashboards/halloween-haunt/ Chapters00:00 The idea: Halloween on a SharePoint page00:19 The spark: Babylon.js in the new HTML pages00:35 The tour: ghost, lightning, witch, hand and the Cruise parade01:01 Sound, and the flat fallback when 3D is off01:24 The catch: a trimmed-down Babylon.js01:48 Wrap-up and where to try it Follow Tech Ease so you catch what's next. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/--oGsHe1k2k

  6. Oct 30

    Copilot Studio vs Agent Builder: When to Switch (Fall 2026 Update)

    Short answer: use Agent Builder until you need workflows, model choice or full lifecycle control. Then move to Copilot Studio. Here are 3 questions to decide. Agent Builder in Microsoft 365 Copilot picked up a lot this fall: skills that let one agent handle several jobs, skill packages that can run their own scripts, company systems your IT team can switch on as knowledge, and a new Plugins button in the Copilot app. Your Copilot license is quietly becoming a power user toolkit. In this episode of Tech Ease, I give you three simple questions for deciding when it's time to move to Copilot Studio, explain why the gap between the two tools is closing, and I'm honest about where Copilot Studio still leads, from workflows to model choice. I also cover the copy button and why SharePoint agents built in the older .agent file format need an upgrade before the end of March 2027. Chapters00:00 The demo that changed the question00:28 The basics: what an agent is00:49 What's new this fall02:17 When to move to Copilot Studio03:51 Inside the demo: skills and scripts04:31 Is the gap closing?06:21 Wrap-up: your first step Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/g74Re0iJb34 Some screenshots: Microsoft Learn Follow Tech Ease on Spotify

  7. Oct 29

    SharePoint Weekly Quiz Web Part: Boost Intranet Engagement (Free SPFx Sample)

    A weekly one-question quiz is an easy way to bring people back to your SharePoint intranet. This free SPFx sample sets it up in 3 steps and also runs in Teams and Copilot Chat. Could one weekly question give colleagues a reason to return to your intranet? I walk through the Weekly Pulse Quiz for SharePoint, including advance planning, department-specific questions, appearance options, and what anonymous answers really mean. The episode also explains its Microsoft Teams availability and how the quiz can be used in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/P7vP8gJeqR0Code sample (GitHub): https://github.com/pnp/spfx-copilot-components/pull/75 Follow Tech Ease for new episodes.

  8. Oct 29

    Save Copilot Chat Files to SharePoint in One Step (Free SPFx Form)

    You can save a document from Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat straight into a SharePoint library, with its metadata, without leaving the chat. This free SPFx form does it, and it also works on a SharePoint page. A finished presentation is only useful to your team if they can find it. Anand explains the Document Submission Form, a custom app that brings SharePoint document contributions into Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, with a preconfigured Knowledge Base destination and the flexibility to choose another library. The same form also works on a SharePoint page for colleagues who prefer to start there. What we cover in this episode: The 4-step interruption: Why finished presentations and documents get stuck between a Copilot conversation and your team's SharePoint library.One form, two places: How the same component sits on a SharePoint page for colleagues who start from the intranet, and opens inline inside Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat when you're already working in chat.Built-in Home Base: Pre-configuring your team's default SharePoint site URL and destination library (Knowledge Base) so you don't have to look up an address every time—while still letting you switch destinations when a file belongs in another team's library.Library fields & permissions: Bringing in required and optional fields (Document Title, Category, Status) from the destination library automatically, and uploading with your existing SharePoint permissions.Boundaries & IT deployment: Microsoft 365 Copilot license requirements for the in-chat experience vs. standard SharePoint access on a SharePoint page, IT administrator deployment via the SharePoint App Catalog, and keeping destinations scoped within your company's SharePoint tenant.Chapters: (00:00) Finishing a presentation in Copilot — and the 4-step sharing interruption (00:26) Meet the Document Submission Form (00:46) One form, two places: on a SharePoint Knowledge Hub page (01:09) Submitting a document inline inside Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat (01:33) Configured Home Base: Site URL & Knowledge Base pre-filled (01:55) Changing the destination library when needed (02:19) The moment useful work becomes shared knowledge (02:40) Destination library fields & your existing SharePoint permissions (03:03) Boundaries: Microsoft 365 Copilot license vs. SharePoint access & IT deployment (03:28) Under the hood: SharePoint Framework (SPFx) & tenant boundary (03:51) How to start with your team & PnP Community contribution Source and implementation: Document Submission Form contribution, pull request #73: https://github.com/pnp/spfx-copilot-components/pull/73 Deployment uses SharePoint Framework version 1.24, the SharePoint App Catalog, and Sync to Teams. The in-chat experience requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot license; the SharePoint page version requires appropriate SharePoint access.

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About

Tech Ease is a Microsoft 365 podcast for people who use SharePoint and Copilot at work. Anand Vijayaragavan, Microsoft MVP for SharePoint, explains Copilot Chat, Copilot Studio, Agent Builder, SharePoint pages and free SPFx samples in plain language. Day Brief episodes cover the Microsoft 365 updates worth your time. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@anandvijayaragavan18 Read on Substack: https://anandvijayaragavan.substack.com Independent, not affiliated with Microsoft.

Information

  • Creator
    Anand
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    149
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Anand
  • Show Website
    Tech Ease