The Copilot Connection

This week, Zoe and Kevin dig into Copilot Cowork and Agent 365. Fresh from a week at the Microsoft campus in Seattle, Kevin shares his key takeaways from MVP Summit — including a surprising amount of cross-product collaboration and a hands-on experiment building a conference bingo app entirely using GitHub Copilot's coding agent. Zoe and Kevin then dive into two of the biggest recent announcements: Copilot Cowork, now available in Frontier tenants, which takes Copilot from answering questions to actually taking action on your behalf, from organising your inbox to scheduling your week and creating reusable skills; and Agent 365, Microsoft's control plane for agents, launching on 1 May, which brings observability, governance, and threat protection for all your agents in one place. They also cover the practical steps to enable Cowork in your tenant, the current data residency considerations for European organisations, and the open licensing questions still to be resolved before general availability.Useful links:Lab that Kevin mentioned https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-agent-lab-soc-opskevmcdonk/mvp-summit-bingo: Web app for MVPs to track all those common phrases we hear over the week. Who will get bingo firsthttps://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2026/03/09/copilot-cowork-a-new-way-of-getting-work-doneGet started with Copilot Cowork (Frontier) | Microsoft LearnMicrosoft Agent 365 documentation | Microsoft Learn

In this episode of Copilot Connection, Zoe and Kevin are joined by Diana Wolfe, Head of Research & Strategy at Kyndryl, to explore one of the biggest challenges facing organisations today: the widening gap between AI ambition and AI implementation. Together, they unpack why so many companies struggle to realise value from AI investments, what human‑centred change looks like in an era of agentic AI, and how trust, psychological safety, and redesigned roles shape successful adoption.The conversation covers everything from workflow automation myths and cognitive overload to organisational silos, identity shifts, and the realities of embedding AI into everyday work. Expect thoughtful insights, a few laughs (including designer chickens and the underpants gnomes), and practical guidance on how individuals, leaders, and change practitioners can navigate the next phase of AI‑driven transformation.Tune in to learn why the future of AI isn’t just about technology—it’s about people, systems, and redefining what meaningful work looks like.TakeawaysAI implementation requires a holistic approachThe integration of AI technology presents multifaceted challenges AI adoption is evolving rapidlyHuman systems integration is crucial for responsible AI implementation

Send us a textWelcome to a brand new way of hearing about the latest Copilot extensibility news! In this episode of the Copilot Connection, Kevin swaps out Zoe for Garry Trinder in the first of a spin-off of episodes where we dig deeper into the extensibility side of Copilot.In this first episode, we go into an overview of the options that you have for extending Copilot. We talk cover why you would need to extend Copilot, the different ways you can do that (whether by end user, maker or specialist) and touch a little on how you can actually get started with doing it.Is there a specific topic that you'd like to see us cover? Let us know!TakeawaysExtensibility in Copilot allows developers to create tailored solutions.Understanding AI maturity is crucial for effective implementation.Personalization of AI tools enhances user experience and productivity.Scoping and context are essential for effective use of Copilot.Integrating external knowledge sources can enhance AI capabilities.Balancing deterministic and non-deterministic approaches is key in AI applications.Declarative agents simplify the process of building AI solutions.Responsible AI practices are necessary when developing custom solutions.Continuous learning and adaptation are vital in the evolving AI landscape.Related linksCopilot extensibility learning pathsCopilot camp - no actual camping requiredCommunity samplesPro dev community samples

Send us a textHow responsible are you with AI? Zoe Wilson and Kevin McDonnell are joined this week by Chris Huntingford (Director of AI at ANS among many other things!), focusing on responsible AI practices, data management, and the socio-economic impacts of technology. We covered the importance of transparency, accountability, and ethical practices in AI implementation. The discussion also touches on the cultural shifts required for successful AI adoption, the challenges of governance in AI systems, and the future of AI agents.We also had an amazing announcement for the Copilot Fireside Chat that you can hear at the end! Or get a sneak peak on the Fireside Chat site.Key takeaways:The importance of responsible AI practices is paramount.Data management and compliance are critical in the AI landscape.Socioeconomic impacts of AI technology must be considered.Education and critical thinking are essential for future generations.Creativity should not be overshadowed by AI advancements.AI-generated content can lead to a decline in quality and creativity.Legal accountability for AI deployment is necessary.Individuals must advocate for ethical AI practices.The EU AI Act sets important standards for AI accountability.Community engagement is vital for responsible AI development. Transparency is crucial in AI deployment.Shared responsibility involves vendors, deployers, and users.Accountability must be established at all levels.Data quality directly impacts AI outcomes.Cultural shifts are necessary for effective AI adoption.Governance in AI is more important than ever.Organizations should focus on training rather than cutting jobs.AI implementation requires careful planning and testing.Responsible AI practices must be prioritized.The future of AI agents needs robust governance frameworks.

Send us a textIn this episode of the Copilot Connection, hosts Zoe Wilson and Kevin McDonnell discuss the latest updates in the Microsoft Copilot ecosystem, including a new feature called Copilot Labs (not Lab...), insights from the upcoming Microsoft Ignite conference, and the importance of AI integration in business. They also touch on the significance of empowering neurodivergent employees and the community's engagement in upcoming events. They also have a new AI generated summary - what do you think?LinksIntroducing Copilot VisionMeet the new CopilotIgnite sessionsSession catalog at https://ignite.microsoft.com where you can search for codes.Build and extend agents with Microsoft Copilot studio | LAB433Code-first development workshop for Copilot agents | LAB441Extending M365 Copilot with Copilot agents: Best practices | BRK170Part 1:2 Declarative Agents: Build Agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot | LAB445Reinventing business processes with autonomous agents | BRK169Smarter workflows with ServiceNow Now Assist and Copilot integration | ODFP974 Ground Microsoft 365 Copilot in your business knowledge | BRK275Microsoft 365 Copilot advantages: How does it compare with other AI solutions | BRK276SharePoint content management reimagined with Copilot | BRK279 Unlock smart collaboration with Microsoft Teams | BRK280 Revolutionizing Employee Experience with AI | BRK283 The Future of Power Platform: Intelligent Apps | BRK171 From Copilot to code-first: the power of Microsoft Fabric and AI | THR618Bring on-device ML to enterprise apps with Windows Copilot Library | BRK303Copilot+ PCs: Your new superpower | THR650Mastering custom plugins in Microsoft Security Copilot | THR653 Build real-time collab experiences with Fluid and Copilot | LAB440 Empowering neurodivergent employees with Copilot | BRK297

Send us a textAfter a slightly quieter time on the podcast, Kevin and Zoe are back and we pick some of the Month of Copilot sessions to share some interesting ideas from them that will interest you.Check out the rest of the Month of Copilot sessions in the Copilot Connection - YouTube.Kevin mentioned Commsverse and Experts Live UK so check out the links for more info.Finally, if you want to try out the super hero prompt that Zoe mentioned, copy the prompt below and let us know what it finds!Look at the emails and Teams meetings that I have sent in the last 6 months. Use these messages to distill a personal brand voice document that I can use to inform copilot of my personal voice and style.Based on the above analysis, what superhero represents my style of work best? What would my super powers be? Can you format that as a dossier for superheroes -- listing my real name, and most similar existing superhero, and include the rest of the information formatted and edited in dossier style?

Send us a textIs your tenant ready for Copilot? Do you know what needs to be done to be ready? This week, Kevin was joined by Michal Pisarek, CEO and Janitor at Orchestry, who has been involved in governance in Microsoft 365 for many years. We talk about Copilot Readiness and three key areas for governance:- Understand the environment- Review oversharing- Sort out your sensitivity labelsZoe and Kevin also cover a few bits of the latest news, including some Drama Llama action with Whats App, some impressive custom copilot creation from Microsoft Research and a plea from Kevin to provide ideas and feedback to Microsoft.Don't forget that we are holding a Month of Copilot in June and still looking for people to share sessions. Submit your sessions at Month of Copilots: Call for Speakers.Useful links:Project VASA - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/vasa-1/ Lllama 3 launched - Meta steps up AI battle with OpenAI and Google with release of Llama 3 | Meta | The GuardianComparison of recent models - https://x.com/rschu/status/1781007659493212215Meta AI in WhatsApp - How to chat with Meta AI in a group | WhatsApp Help CenterPrivacy and Meta AI - https://www.facebook.com/privacy/guide/genai?entry_point=whatsapp_genaiFeedback portal has Copilot for Sales and for Service - Community (microsoft.com)For more news, subscribe to your newsletter on LinkedIn at LinkedIn

Send us a textEleven of twelve mini episodes as we bring our interviews from MVP Summit.Interviewee today - Angeliki PatsiavouAngeliki sees copilot as a way to increase productivity, creativity, and innovation for individuals, teams, and organizations. She uses copilot for M365 to get technical content and learn about power FX queries and functions.Listen to find out about what concerns her around governance in Copilot.Angeliki Patsiavou | LinkedInAngeliki Patsiavou 🎶 MVP Biz Apps (@a_patsiavou) / X (twitter.com)

Send us a textSecond of twelve mini episodes as we bring our interviews from MVP Summit.Interviewee today - Tom MorganTom uses GitHub Copilot to develop things on Microsoft 365 platform, and finds it useful for taking out some of the tedious tasks that he already knows how to do as well as learning with it.Listen to find out how he built using a new language to him and how Copilot may help junior developers. Tom Morgan | LinkedIn Tom Morgan (@tomorgan) / X (twitter.com)

Send us a textWith more and more people getting access to all the different Copilots, there are more myths that are appearing online. So, in this episode, Zoe and Kevin take a look at some of those myths and either bust them or add the detail behind the truth of each of them, Plus, we highlight some of the latest news along the way including some potential new text to video for Copilot (warning - that last comment is shameless clickbait!) in there too.Myths addressed:Copilot is trained on your data - Daniel Anderson's LinkedIn postCopilot just worksOne size fits allCopilot will save you moneyCopilot is collecting all your data from Office Apps - evidenceNo human involvement neededEveryone is excited about Copilot - Microsoft's Pricey AI Assistant Copilot Gives Some Buyer's Remorse (requires subscription)You can automate everythingYou can't do anything about Copilot choosing the right plugin - How Copilot for Microsoft 365 decides which plugin to useCopilot keeps changing how it works - Introducing the new Microsoft Copilot experience in TeamsCopilot can solve everythingNews mentioned:Announcing Fabric Copilot pricing Sara Fennah's post on upcoming Roadmap items for M365GPT Mentions: Effortlessly Streamline Your AI SearchSora from Open AIOther Copilot news:API-based message extensions in Team Dev PortalDamien Bird on using ChatGPT in Excel via Office Scripts to generate sample dataCombating abusive AI-generated content: a comprehensive approachA Whole New Way of Working3 big AI trends to watch in 2024Using Copilot in Apple Vision Pro5 Takeaways From Pioneers In Microsoft Copilot AdoptionSticker Generator in Designer What was Sora trained on? Creatives demand answers.

Send us a textFollowing on from the last episode, we continue with some of the interviews from ESPC23 in Amsterdam with guests Heather Cook, Karoliina Kettukari and Gabriel Ho from Microsoft. Hear what they think about what Copilot means to them, the transformation that people will see, what people should prepare for and what they hope will happen next. Plus the latest news on Copilot for Sales, new Microsoft Copilot engines and cool stuff shared by Dona Sarkar and Alexio Chandiwana.Copilot for Sales can log leads directly - https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-sales-copilot-blog/what-s-new-in-sales-copilot-december-2023/ba-p/4008438Swift key with built in copilot - https://x.com/alex_chandiwana/status/1737033401784308005?s=46&t=T_UsQjGMhGGOFKsyPDAf2gDona’s AI content - https://x.com/donasarkar/status/1736729230757810630?s=46&t=T_UsQjGMhGGOFKsyPDAf2gDona's AI workshop - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/donasarkar_aicareer-activity-7143210436362977280-2--iContinued AI Innovation in Copilot | Search Quality Insights (bing.com)Biased copilot from Leon - https://x.com/leonarmston/status/1735586459145642288?s=46&t=T_UsQjGMhGGOFKsyPDAf2gYear in review: How Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Teams, and our partners built a stronger ecosystem - Microsoft Community HubTurn your ideas into songs with Suno on Microsoft Copilot | Bing Search Blog

Send us a textWe are joined by Tricia Sinclair, Microsoft MVP, CRM Tech Architect at Avanade and quiz host extraordinaire. Together, we talk about the latest news, how Copilot is changing Customer Service with Dynamics and the issues and considerations around Sustainability for Copilot and the wider Generative AI ecosystem.M365 Copilot General Availability https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/microsoft-365-copilot https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/ Our Copilot Demos Copilot Demos - YouTubeAnnouncing Microsoft Applied Skills, the new credentials to verify in-demand technical skills - Microsoft Community Hub https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/dynamics365/bdm/2023/10/23/modernize-customer-support-with-copilot-in-dynamics-365-customer-service/Microsoft pushes the boundaries of small AI models | Semafor

Send us a textWelcome to Copilot Connection, the podcast that explores the world of Microsoft Copilots! Join your hosts, Zoe Wilson and Kevin McDonnell, as they take you on a journey through the different Copilots available and how they can help you in your day-to-day life. From the newly launch date announced Microsoft 365 Copilot to the Dynamics 365, GitHub, Windows, Custom and more Copilots, we'll cover it all. Our upbeat and engaging conversations with experts in the field will keep you entertained and informed. Tune in to Copilot Connection and discover how these AI-powered assistants can transform the way you work!