M365 Show - Modern work, security, and productivity with Microsoft 365

Mirko Peters (Microsoft 365 consultant and trainer)
  • 5.0 (1)
  • TECH NEWS
  • UPDATED DAILY

Welcome to the M365 Show — your essential podcast for everything Microsoft 365, Azure, and beyond. Join us as we explore the latest developments across Power BI, Power Platform, Microsoft Teams, Viva, Fabric, Purview, Security, and the entire Microsoft ecosystem. Each episode delivers expert insights, real-world use cases, best practices, and interviews with industry leaders to help you stay ahead in the fast-moving world of cloud, collaboration, and data innovation. Whether you're an IT professional, business leader, developer, or data enthusiast, the M365 Show brings the knowledge, trends, and strategies you need to thrive in the modern digital workplace. Tune in, level up, and make the most of everything Microsoft has to offer. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-show-modern-work-security-and-productivity-with-microsoft-365--6704921/support.

  1. Microsoft Fabric Governance Explained: Why Your Data Model Will Drift

    6H AGO

    Microsoft Fabric Governance Explained: Why Your Data Model Will Drift

    Episode OverviewThis episode explores how organizations approach data governance, why many initiatives stall, and what practical, human-centered governance can look like in reality. Rather than framing governance as a purely technical or compliance-driven exercise, the conversation emphasizes trust, clarity, accountability, and organizational design. The discussion draws from real-world experience helping organizations move from ad-hoc data practices toward sustainable, value-driven governance models.Key Themes & Takeaways1. Why Most Organizations Struggle with Data GovernanceMany organizations begin their data governance journey reactively—often due to regulatory pressure, data incidents, or leadership mandates.Governance is frequently introduced as a top-down control mechanism, which leads to resistance, workarounds, and superficial compliance.A common failure mode is over-indexing on tools, frameworks, or committees before clarifying purpose and ownership.Without clear incentives, governance becomes "extra work" rather than part of how people already operate.2. Governance Is an Organizational Problem, Not a Tooling ProblemTools can support governance, but they cannot create accountability or shared understanding.Successful governance starts with clearly defined decision rights: who owns data, who can change it, and who is accountable for outcomes.Organizations often confuse data governance with data management, metadata, or documentation—these are enablers, not governance itself.Governance must align with how the organization already makes decisions, not fight against it.3. The Role of Trust and CultureGovernance works best in high-trust environments where people feel safe raising issues and asking questions about data quality and usage.Low-trust cultures tend to produce heavy-handed rules that slow teams down without improving outcomes.Psychological safety is critical: people must feel comfortable admitting uncertainty or mistakes in data.Transparency about how data is used builds confidence and reduces fear-driven behavior.4. Start with Business Value, Not PolicyEffective governance begins by identifying high-value data products and critical business decisions.Policies should emerge from real use cases, not abstract ideals.Focusing on a small number of high-impact datasets creates momentum and credibility.Governance tied to outcomes (revenue, risk reduction, customer experience) gains executive support faster.5. Ownership and AccountabilityClear data ownership is non-negotiable, but ownership does not mean sole control.Data owners are responsible for quality, definitions, and access decisions—not for doing all the work themselves.Stewardship roles help distribute responsibility while keeping accountability clear.Governance fails when ownership is assigned in name only, without time, authority, or support.6. Federated vs. Centralized Governance ModelsPurely centralized governance does not scale in complex organizations.Purely decentralized models often result in inconsistency and duplication.Federated models balance local autonomy with shared standards and principles.Central teams should act as enablers and coaches, not gatekeepers.7. Metrics That Actually MatterMeasuring governance success by the number of policies or meetings is misleading.Better metrics include:Time to find and understand dataData quality issues detected earlierReduced rework and duplicationConfidence in decision-makingQualitative feedback from data users is often as important as quantitative metrics.8. Governance as a Continuous PracticeGovernance is not a one-time project—it evolves as the organization and its data mature.Policies and standards should be revisited regularly based on real usage.Lightweight governance that adapts over time outperforms rigid, comprehensive frameworks.Iteration and learning are signs of healthy governance, not failure.Practical Advice Shared in the EpisodeStart small: pick one domain, one dataset, or one decision and govern that well.Use existing forums and workflows instead of creating new committees whenever possible.Write policies in plain language that people can actually understand and follow.Treat governance conversations as design sessions, not enforcement actions.Invest in education so teams understand not just the rules, but the reasons behind them.Common Pitfalls to AvoidTreating governance as a documentation exerciseRolling out enterprise-wide rules before testing them locallyAssigning ownership without authority or incentivesConfusing compliance with effectivenessExpecting tools to solve human and organizational problemsWho This Episode Is ForData leaders struggling to gain traction with governance initiativesExecutives looking for practical, non-bureaucratic approaches to data accountabilityData practitioners frustrated by unclear ownership and inconsistent standardsOrganizations transitioning from ad-hoc analytics to data-driven decision-makingClosing ThoughtsThe episode reinforces that good data governance is less about control and more about clarity. When organizations focus on trust, ownership, and real business outcomes, governance becomes an enabler rather than a blocker. Sustainable governance grows out of everyday work, not slide decks or rulebooks.These show notes were developed from the full episode transcript and are intended to capture both the explicit discussion and the underlying principles shared throughout the conversation. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-show-modern-work-security-and-productivity-with-microsoft-365--6704921/support.

    1h 5m
  2. Power Platform Is Secure — Until Governance Disappears

    1D AGO

    Power Platform Is Secure — Until Governance Disappears

    Most organizations think they’ve secured Power Platform—but in reality, critical gaps still exist. In this episode, we break down what security really means for Power Platform, why common assumptions fail, and how to build a practical, enterprise-ready security strategy. 🎙️ Episode Overview In this conversation, we explore: Why default security settings aren’t enoughThe real risks of citizen development without governanceHow to align Power Platform security with enterprise IT standardsWhat roles, environments, and controls actually matter in practiceIf you’re responsible for Power Platform governance, security, or adoption, this episode is a must-listen. 🚨 The Big Security Myth “If users have access to Power Platform, it must already be secure.” Not true. We explain why: Platform access ≠ data protectionEnvironments ≠ security boundariesLicenses ≠ governance controlsSecurity failures usually come from misunderstanding how Power Platform really works. 🧱 Core Security Building Blocks Explained 🏢 Environments Not just containers—but policy boundariesWhy too many (or too few) environments cause riskHow default environments become security liabilities👤 Identities & Access The difference between:App usersMakersAdminsWhy over-permissioning is the #1 issueHow Azure AD roles fit into Power Platform security🔌 Connectors & Data Sources Why connectors are the real attack surfaceCommon mistakes with:Premium connectorsCustom connectorsShared connectionsHow data leaks actually happen🛡️ Governance ≠ Blocking Innovation Security doesn’t mean slowing people down. We cover how to: Enable citizen developers safelyUse guardrails instead of gatekeepingBalance speed, flexibility, and compliance💡 Good governance accelerates adoption—it doesn’t kill it. 🧰 Practical Controls That Actually Work ✅ Environment Strategy Separate:Personal productivityTeam appsMission-critical solutionsUse purpose-driven environments, not one-size-fits-all✅ DLP (Data Loss Prevention) Policies Why most DLP policies failHow to design policies that:Make sense to usersActually reduce riskCommon DLP anti-patterns to avoid✅ Monitoring & Auditing What to log (and what’s noise)How to spot risky behavior earlyWhy visibility beats restriction⚠️ Common Mistakes We See Everywhere 🚫 Relying on the default environment 🚫 Treating Power Platform like SharePoint 🚫 Giving global admin rights “temporarily” 🚫 Ignoring connection ownership 🚫 Assuming Microsoft “handles security for you” 🧠 Mindset Shift: Security as Enablement The biggest takeaway: Power Platform security is not a technical problem—it’s an operating model problem. Success comes from: Clear ownershipSimple rulesShared responsibility between IT and the business🎯 Who This Episode Is For Power Platform AdminsSecurity & Compliance teamsIT Leaders & ArchitectsCenter of Excellence (CoE) membersAnyone scaling Power Platform beyond pilots🚀 Final Takeaway Power Platform can be incredibly secure—but only if you: Understand how the platform really worksDesign governance intentionallyTreat security as a product, not a checklist🎧 Listen in to learn how to do it right—without slowing your organization down. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-show-modern-work-security-and-productivity-with-microsoft-365--6704921/support.

    1h 5m
  3. Foundry Is the Next Shadow IT Risk (Without This Purview Rule)

    2D AGO

    Foundry Is the Next Shadow IT Risk (Without This Purview Rule)

    (00:00:00) Microsoft Foundry: A Platform for Autonomous Workloads (00:00:29) Reframing Foundry as an Agent Factory (00:01:13) The Four Components of Foundry (00:01:37) Agents as Non-Human Identities (00:02:23) The Governance Challenge of Foundry (00:04:00) Learning from Microsoft's Past Mistakes (00:06:56) The Autonomous Nature of Foundry Agents (00:08:15) Failure Mode 1: Agent Identity Collapse (00:12:49) The Danger of Permission Drift (00:17:51) Failure Mode 2: Data Boundary Collapse Shadow IT didn’t disappear — it evolved. In this episode, we break down why Foundry is quietly becoming the next major Shadow IT risk inside organizations, especially as teams rush to build AI apps, copilots, and agents faster than security and governance can keep up. What used to be unsanctioned SaaS tools has now turned into unsanctioned AI workloads — and the implications are far more serious. 🚨 The New Face of Shadow IT: AI & Agents Foundry makes it incredibly easy for developers, data teams, and even business units to spin up powerful AI-driven applications and agents. That speed is exactly the problem. When Foundry environments are created without guardrails: Security teams may not even know the apps existSensitive data can be accessed or processed without oversightAgents may run autonomously with excessive permissionsCompliance boundaries become blurred or completely bypassedThis episode explains why AI platforms amplify Shadow IT risk, rather than just repeating old mistakes. 🔐 Why One Missing Purview Rule Changes Everything We dig into the critical role of Microsoft Purview in governing Foundry environments — and how missing even a single policy can create a massive blind spot. Without the right Purview configuration: Data classification may not apply to AI prompts or outputsDLP controls may never triggerSensitive information can be exposed through agent workflowsOrganizations lose visibility into how data is being used, transformed, or shared by AIThis isn’t about blocking innovation — it’s about ensuring AI is deployed safely, visibly, and intentionally. 🤖 AI Agents Are Not “Just Apps” One of the biggest mindset shifts discussed in this episode: AI agents must be treated as first-class IT assets. Agents don’t just read data — they act on it. They can: Chain tools togetherMake decisionsTrigger downstream systemsOperate continuously without human reviewIf these agents are created in Foundry without identity controls, policy enforcement, and governance, they effectively become autonomous shadow employees with access to your data. 🧠 Where Organizations Are Getting This Wrong We explore common mistakes teams are making right now: Letting developers deploy Foundry solutions before governance is readyAssuming Purview “just works” for AI by defaultTreating AI experimentation as low-riskIgnoring agent identities and permissionsFailing to inventory AI workloads across the environmentThe result? Security teams are left reacting after incidents instead of preventing them. ✅ What You Should Be Doing Instead This episode outlines practical steps organizations should take immediately: Define ownership for every Foundry environment and agentApply Purview policies before AI goes to productionEnsure data classification follows AI inputs and outputsMonitor agent behavior, not just user behaviorBring security into the AI development lifecycle earlyThe goal isn’t to slow teams down — it’s to make sure speed doesn’t come at the cost of control. 🔑 Key Takeaways Shadow IT is no longer just apps — it’s AI platforms and agentsFoundry dramatically lowers the barrier to creating risky workloadsOne missing Purview rule can eliminate visibility entirelyAI agents require the same (or stronger) governance as human usersSecurity must evolve alongside AI, not chase it afterward🎯 Who This Episode Is For Security leaders worried about AI risk and governanceIT teams managing rapid AI adoptionArchitects designing modern AI platformsCompliance professionals navigating AI-driven data usageDevelopers building in Foundry who want to do it right Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-show-modern-work-security-and-productivity-with-microsoft-365--6704921/support.

    59 min
  4. Entropy in the Lakehouse: Fabric’s Answer to Identity Chaos

    3D AGO

    Entropy in the Lakehouse: Fabric’s Answer to Identity Chaos

    (00:00:00) The Importance of Identity in Data Systems (00:01:52) The Illusion of Natural Keys (00:03:03) The Lake House Problem (00:06:08) The Physics of Data Entropy (00:09:33) Identity Columns as a Solution (00:10:58) The Clock Without a Mechanism (00:15:14) Incident 1: Power BI's Silent Bias (00:19:10) The Futility of Application-Level Identity (00:23:43) Incident 2: Lakehouse Identity Collapse (00:28:33) The Inevitability of Replay and Divergence In this episode, we dive headfirst into one of the most quietly painful problems in modern data platforms: identity chaos. As organizations scale their analytics environments, especially within lakehouse architectures, identity, access control, and governance tend to sprawl faster than anyone wants to admit. The result is entropy. Confusing permissions, brittle security models, duplicated identities, and a growing gap between data teams and governance teams. This conversation explores how Microsoft Fabric approaches this challenge and why identity management is becoming a foundational concern for lakehouse design, not an afterthought. What This Episode Covers We break down how entropy creeps into lakehouse environments and why traditional identity models struggle to keep up with modern analytics platforms. From fragmented access policies to disconnected tooling, identity chaos directly impacts security, compliance, and developer productivity. You’ll hear a practical discussion of how Fabric simplifies identity by unifying experiences across data engineering, analytics, and governance, reducing friction without sacrificing control. Key themes include: Why identity sprawl is inevitable in growing data platformsHow entropy shows up in real-world lakehouse deploymentsThe relationship between identity, governance, and trust in analyticsHow Microsoft Fabric aligns identity across workloadsWhat data leaders should rethink about access managementWhy Identity Matters in the Lakehouse The lakehouse promises flexibility, scalability, and speed. But without a coherent identity strategy, those benefits collapse under operational complexity. Permissions become unclear, audits become painful, and teams slow down as they wait for access or work around broken models. This episode connects the dots between identity management, data governance, and platform reliability, showing why Fabric’s approach is designed to reduce entropy instead of adding another layer of abstraction. Who This Episode Is For This discussion is especially relevant for: Data engineers and analytics engineersPlatform and cloud architectsSecurity and governance leadersOrganizations adopting or evaluating Microsoft FabricAnyone dealing with identity chaos in a lakehouse environment Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-show-modern-work-security-and-productivity-with-microsoft-365--6704921/support.

    1h 5m
  5. The Teams Manager Illusion

    4D AGO

    The Teams Manager Illusion

    (00:00:00) The Unseen Voice of Governance (00:00:43) The Readiness Review Cycle (00:07:19) The Never-Ending Loop of Governance (00:13:05) Unmanaged Objects: A Persistent Problem (00:20:47) Compliance Workshop: A Choreographed Dance (00:28:09) License True-Up: Sustaining the Narrative (00:34:05) The Rise of Script Run: Automation's Silent Entry (00:34:20) The Bot in the Chat (00:35:55) Automation and Reassignment (00:37:47) The Evolving Readiness Index Microsoft Teams promises order: dashboards, scores, policies, labels, and admin centers that suggest everything is being managed. But for many organizations, that sense of control is an illusion. In this episode, we pull back the curtain on Microsoft Teams governance and explore why so many environments feel “almost under control” without ever truly becoming stable, secure, or simple. From endless readiness reviews to dashboards stuck in permanent amber, this conversation examines how modern collaboration tooling quietly rewards motion over outcomes. We walk through what really happens inside large Microsoft 365 tenants after the initial rollout hype fades: orphaned teams multiply, guest access quietly expands, compliance tools remain in audit mode, and exceptions become permanent features. Meanwhile, leadership is reassured by scores, heatmaps, and maturity models that appear to show progress — even when the underlying risks remain unchanged. This episode challenges the belief that more tools automatically mean better governance. Instead, it asks harder questions about ownership, responsibility, and why Teams environments so often evolve into systems that justify their own complexity. In this episode, we discuss: Why Microsoft Teams governance often feels “managed” without actually being controlledHow dashboards, readiness scores, and maturity models create false confidenceThe hidden cost of Teams sprawl, orphaned groups, and unmanaged collaboration spacesWhy compliance tools stay in “audit mode” far longer than anyone admitsHow guest access, exceptions, and admin bypasses slowly become the defaultThe difference between governance theater and real operational controlWhy many Teams environments are designed to continue indefinitely, not resolve cleanlyWhat admins, architects, and IT leaders quietly experience behind the admin center glowWho this episode is for: Microsoft 365 and Teams administratorsIT architects and security engineersCompliance, risk, and governance professionalsConsultants working with Microsoft 365 tenantsLeaders who sense something is “off” with their Teams environment but can’t quite name itKey takeaway: If your Teams environment always feels “not quite ready,” it might not be failing — it might be functioning exactly as designed. The illusion isn’t accidental. It’s structural. This episode isn’t about blaming tools or people. It’s about understanding the loops we get caught in, the metrics we learn to trust without questioning, and how real control often comes from fewer dashboards and more deliberate decisions. If you’ve ever stared at a Teams admin panel late at night wondering why everything looks managed but nothing feels resolved — this episode is for you. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-show-modern-work-security-and-productivity-with-microsoft-365--6704921/support.

    4h 22m
  6. The Compliance Time-Loop: Why Your M365 Policies Are Lying

    5D AGO

    The Compliance Time-Loop: Why Your M365 Policies Are Lying

    (00:00:00) The Illusion of Stability (00:00:00) The Green Lie (00:00:38) Setting the Stage for Observation (00:06:09) The First Loop: Stability and Consistency (00:12:18) The Second Loop: Creation Under Load (00:15:39) Discovery of Version Suppression (00:25:39) The Third Loop: Survival Before Governance (00:36:20) The Reality Check (00:37:24) Redefining Success Metrics for Governance (00:37:46) Tracing Pre-Governance Deletion as an Incident Everything is green. Policies are enabled. Dashboards are stable. Audit logs reconcile. So why does governance still drift? In this episode, we replay the same Microsoft 365 tenant, the same retention policies, and the same discovery queries—again and again—until we uncover the hidden truth: correct outcomes can still mask behavioral change. Creation compresses. Survival shortens. Discovery stabilizes on a shrinking corpus. This is not a failure story. It’s a story about meaning drifting while execution stays correct. What This Episode Is About Most Microsoft 365 compliance failures don’t show up as errors. They show up as silence. This episode walks through a real-world replay of: SharePoint Online versioningMicrosoft Purview retention labelsPreservation Hold Libraries (PHL)Unified Audit Log (UAL)eDiscovery (Standard & Premium)AutoSave and co-authoring behaviorPre-governance cleanup and survival timingEverything works. Nothing breaks. And yet—the meaning changes. Core Question Explored What happens when systems keep answering correctly, but the question has quietly changed? Instead of asking “Did the policy execute?”, this episode asks: Did creation preserve enough history?Did content survive long enough to be governed?Did discovery reflect what actually happened—or only what remained?Episode Structure (Chapter Breakdown) 🔁 Loop Zero — Defining “Green” Establishing a clean Microsoft 365 baselineRetention policies enabled and propagatedAudit logs active and reconcilingSecure Score and Compliance Manager stableeDiscovery returning expected resultsKey insight: Green dashboards prove repetition, not intent. ✏️ Loop One — Creation Drift Question: Does edit activity equal version history? What we observe: AutoSave and co-authoring aggressively consolidate editsFileModified events far exceed version incrementsSingle-author, spaced saves behave differently than co-authoring burstsRetention preserves versions that exist—not edits that occurredResult: Creation compresses meaning at birth. 🕒 Loop Two — Survival Drift Question: Does content live long enough to be governed? What we observe: Meeting recordings, temp exports, and OneDrive spillover disappear quicklyRetention labels often arrive after deletionPreservation Hold Libraries only capture what survives to first deleteGovernance clocks lose to operational cleanup clocksResult: You can’t retain what’s already gone. 🔍 Loop Three — Discovery Drift Question: Does stable discovery equal complete discovery? What we observe: Identical KQL searches return flat results week after weekUpload activity rises, but discoverable content does notExecution times stay flat because scope quietly shrinksDiscovery faithfully reflects what survived—not what happenedResult: Search consistency ≠ scope consistency. The Pattern Revealed Across all loops, the same pattern emerges: Creation compressesIntelligent versioning bundles editsFewer near-term recoverable states existSurvival shortensContent dies before governance intersectsCleanup precedes retentionDiscovery stabilizesSearches run fast over a thinner corpusFlat results mask upstream filtrationNothing failed. The behavior changed. The Lie Exposed “The policy executed, therefore the intent was enforced.” Execution proves availability. It does not prove meaning. Retention retains versions, not edits. Discovery finds what exists, not what briefly appeared. Green dashboards confirm repetition—not alignment with business intent. Practical Takeaways What to Measure Instead of “Green” 1. Creation Ratio Versions created vs. FileModified eventsWatch for flattening under stable collaboration patterns2. Survival Hit Rate Percentage of items labeled before deletionEspecially for recordings and transient content3. Discovery Coverage Ratio Discoverable items vs. created itemsFlat coverage during rising activity signals driftWho This Episode Is For Microsoft 365 ArchitectsCompliance & Records ManagerseDiscovery & Legal Operations teamsSecurity & Governance LeadsAnyone responsible for “retention” promisesIf you’ve ever said: “But the policy is on”“The search ran successfully”“Compliance Manager is green”…this episode is for you. One-Sentence Takeaway If your results never change, you’re governing repetition—not reality. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-show-modern-work-security-and-productivity-with-microsoft-365--6704921/support.

    1h 20m
  7. The Microsoft Grinch: I Did Not Steal Your Data. I Only Revealed It.

    6D AGO

    The Microsoft Grinch: I Did Not Steal Your Data. I Only Revealed It.

    (00:00:00) The Accusation (00:00:11) Grounding and Permissions (00:00:31) The Mirror Reflects (00:10:34) The First Incident (00:15:54) The EEU Overshare (00:21:00) The Hammer of Fear (00:27:10) Restricted SharePoint Search (00:33:07) The Measured Muzzle (00:38:59) The Blueprint of Governance (00:39:22) Assessment: Telemetry and Inventory In this episode, we dive deep into one of the most misunderstood and controversial topics in modern digital workplaces: data access, ownership, and governance. What happens when organizations don’t actually know who owns their data? What does “access” really mean inside platforms like Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and Microsoft Graph? And why do so many companies believe their data is secure—when in reality, it’s silently exposed? This conversation unpacks the uncomfortable truths behind digital sprawl, abandoned sites, misconfigured permissions, and the illusion of control that exists in many enterprises today. 🔍 Episode Overview The episode begins with a powerful claim: accusations of data theft often miss the real issue. The problem isn’t malicious intent—it’s lack of visibility. When no one knows who owns what, data doesn’t disappear… it drifts. From there, we explore: Why “zero state” environments exist and what they revealHow abandoned or ownerless sites continue to live on quietlyWhy access ≠ ownershipThe risks of over-reliance on labels and surface-level governanceHow Microsoft Graph exposes uncomfortable but necessary truthsThis episode challenges the way organizations think about security, governance, and responsibility in the modern cloud-first workplace. 🧠 Key Topics Covered 1. The Illusion of Data Ownership Many organizations assume data ownership is obvious—until they actually try to define it. We discuss why ownership is often missing, outdated, or assumed, and how that creates massive long-term risk. 2. Access vs. Control: A Dangerous Assumption Just because someone has access doesn’t mean they should. This section explores how permission sprawl happens, why it’s rarely intentional, and how it quietly undermines governance strategies. 3. The “Zero State” Problem What happens when there is no clear owner, no classification, and no governance applied? The episode explains how zero-state data environments emerge and why they’re more common than most teams realize. 4. Abandoned Sites That Never Die Inactive or abandoned SharePoint and Teams sites don’t simply disappear. We break down why these digital “ghost sites” persist, how they retain sensitive data, and why they’re so difficult to track. 5. Microsoft Graph as a Mirror Rather than being the problem, Microsoft Graph is revealed as a truth engine—a mirror that shows organizations what’s really happening beneath the surface of their environments. 6. Labels, Governance, and False Confidence Labels alone don’t fix governance. We discuss why over-labeling without ownership, review, and accountability creates a false sense of security. 💡 Key Takeaways Visibility is not theft: Surfacing data access issues doesn’t create risk—it exposes existing risk.Ownership must be intentional: If ownership isn’t assigned, it doesn’t exist.Inactive doesn’t mean safe: Abandoned data is often the most dangerous.Tools don’t fail—assumptions do: Governance breaks down when organizations assume systems manage responsibility for them.Truth is uncomfortable, but necessary: Real governance starts with facing what’s actually there.🎯 Who This Episode Is For IT administrators and architectsSecurity and compliance professionalsMicrosoft 365, SharePoint, and Teams adminsDigital governance leadersAnyone responsible for data protection, access, or complianceIf you work in a modern digital workplace and believe your data is “under control,” this episode is essential listening. Phrases Data governance best practicesMicrosoft 365 data accessSharePoint site ownershipMicrosoft Graph securityDigital workplace governanceData ownership vs accessCloud data complianceZero state data riskEnterprise data visibility📢 Final Thoughts This episode isn’t about blame—it’s about clarity. Data doesn’t become risky because someone looks at it. It becomes risky when no one is responsible for it. By understanding how access, ownership, and governance really work behind the scenes, organizations can finally move from assumed security to actual control. 🎧 Listen now and rethink what you believe about your data. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-show-modern-work-security-and-productivity-with-microsoft-365--6704921/support.

    3h 55m
  8. When Contracts Answer Back: AI Contract Management in Microsoft 365

    DEC 23

    When Contracts Answer Back: AI Contract Management in Microsoft 365

    (00:00:00) Introducing a New Way of Interacting with Contracts (00:00:39) The Hidden Costs of Manual Search (00:02:13) Storage vs. Answer Thinking (00:05:17) AI-Powered Contract Extraction (00:06:15) NDAs: Expiring Contracts at Your Fingertips (00:20:11) Vendor Agreements: Transparency in Financial Terms (00:25:25) Statements of Work: Streamlining Approval Processes (00:30:27) Data Protection Agreements: Compliance Made Easy (00:36:40) The Mechanics of Answering Contracts (00:36:55) The Ordinary Tools, Extraordinary Results What if your contracts could answer questions—accurately, instantly, and with proof—without leaving Microsoft 365? In this episode, we explore how AI-powered contract management inside Microsoft 365 is quietly changing the way organizations work with agreements. Not through a new platform, not through migrations, and not through risky automation—but by asking better questions of the contracts you already store in SharePoint. A simple natural-language question goes in. A precise answer comes back. With dates. With clauses. With citations. Nothing flashy happens—and that’s the point. 🔍 Episode Overview Most organizations treat contracts as files: stored carefully, labeled correctly, and retrieved through manual search. But search is slow. Reading is repetitive. And risk hides in latency. This episode investigates what happens when contracts stop being “stored” and start being queryable sources of truth. Using AI document processing, SharePoint Knowledge Agents, and existing Microsoft 365 governance, contracts begin to respond to real business questions—without breaking security, compliance, or audit trails. 🧠 What You’ll Learn in This Episode 1. Storage vs. Answers Why storing contracts securely isn’t enough—and how manual search quietly costs organizations time, money, and accuracy. 2. How AI Turns Documents Into Answerable Data How AI extracts key facts like: Expiration datesRenewal logicNotice windowsPayment termsIndemnity clausesGoverning law…and writes them into SharePoint metadata—without moving the file. 3. Asking Questions Instead of Searching Files Examples of real questions the system answers: “Which contracts expire in the next 30 days?”“Where is indemnity non-mutual?”“Which MSAs auto-renew with less than 60 days’ notice?”“Which SOWs are stuck awaiting signature?”Each answer includes exact clause-level citations, not summaries or guesses. 4. NDAs, MSAs, SOWs, and DPAs in Practice Real-world use cases covering: NDA volume and quiet expirationsVendor agreements and renewal riskStatement of Work approval delaysData Processing Agreements and compliance exposure5. Governance That Never Moves Why this works without changing your control plane: Files stay in SharePointPermissions still applyPurview sensitivity and retention labels persistAudit logs capture every question and answerNothing leaves the tenant. 6. Why Citations Change Everything Trust doesn’t scale on summaries. It scales on verifiable evidence. Every answer links back to the exact sentence that governs it—so humans verify in seconds instead of re-reading entire contracts. 7. Where Humans Stay in the Loop AI doesn’t “decide”: Ambiguous language is flaggedCross-document conflicts are surfacedJudgment remains humanThis is decision support, not automation theater. 🎯 Who This Episode Is For Legal and compliance professionalsMicrosoft 365 administratorsIT and security leadersProcurement and finance teamsAnyone managing contracts at scaleIf you work with contracts and believe “we already store them correctly,” this episode will change how you think about access, risk, and speed. 🔑 Topics Covered AI contract managementMicrosoft 365 contract automationSharePoint Knowledge AgentAI document processingContract governance and complianceNDAs, MSAs, SOWs, DPAsClause-level contract analysisAI in legal operationsContract lifecycle management (CLM)Microsoft Purview governance📌 Key Takeaway Your contracts were never the problem. The interface to them was. By turning documents into answerable knowledge sources—inside Microsoft 365, under existing governance—organizations reduce risk, eliminate manual effort, and gain audit-ready clarity. Nothing new was installed. Nothing was migrated. Only the question changed. 🎧 Listen now and see what your contracts have been ready to answer all along. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-show-modern-work-security-and-productivity-with-microsoft-365--6704921/support.

    1h 19m
See All (422)

About

Welcome to the M365 Show — your essential podcast for everything Microsoft 365, Azure, and beyond. Join us as we explore the latest developments across Power BI, Power Platform, Microsoft Teams, Viva, Fabric, Purview, Security, and the entire Microsoft ecosystem. Each episode delivers expert insights, real-world use cases, best practices, and interviews with industry leaders to help you stay ahead in the fast-moving world of cloud, collaboration, and data innovation. Whether you're an IT professional, business leader, developer, or data enthusiast, the M365 Show brings the knowledge, trends, and strategies you need to thrive in the modern digital workplace. Tune in, level up, and make the most of everything Microsoft has to offer. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-show-modern-work-security-and-productivity-with-microsoft-365--6704921/support.

Information

You Might Also Like