Microsoft Innovation Podcast

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Sam Fankuchen shares how organisations can move beyond AI hype to build real capability. The discussion focuses on creating an AI-ready culture, using AI agents with human oversight, and adopting AI responsibly in regulated environments. Sam explains why transparency, ethics, and experimentation matter, and why delaying adoption carries its own risks. The conversation is grounded in practical experience, showing how AI can scale human impact while keeping people, trust, and quality of life at the centre. 
👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/805
🎙️ What you’ll learn  
How to build an AI-ready culture without waiting for perfect certainty 
Where AI agents deliver value beyond chatbots in day-to-day work 
How human-in-the-loop design reduces risk while increasing speed 
Ways regulated industries can innovate responsibly with AI 
Why slow AI adoption can be more dangerous than thoughtful experimentation 
✅ Highlights 
“We have more AI agents than we do employees.” 
“Ethics means understanding where we are in the curve of possibilities.” 
“We are not going to turn back the clock.” 
“Companies that do not figure this out will not be around.” 
“There is no such thing as total comfort with AI.” 
“You need a safe place where people can share what they are learning.” 
“AI is an extension of culture, but also something new.” 
“Every minute that we wait diminishes value.” 
🧰 Mentioned 
Microsoft Teams: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams 
AI agents: https://cloud.google.com/discover/what-are-ai-agents 
Sam’s powerful 9/11 story and what catalyzed his civic journey [06:18]: https://tobijohnson.com/167-keeping-civic-engagement-alive-despite-funding-cuts-with-sam-fankuchen/ 
Nonprofit Leadership Podcast: https://nonprofitleadershippodcast.org/can-ai-enhance-rather-than-replace-empathy/
✅Keywords 
artificial intelligence, ai agents, ai culture, responsible ai, human in the loop, regulated industries, ai adoption, business transformation, ethics, productivity, collaboration, ai strategy 
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
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If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM 
Danny Burlage joins The MVP Show to explore why AI adoption in organisations is stalling and what actually moves it forward. The conversation moves beyond personal productivity to focus on AI as infrastructure, process transformation, and organisational capability. Danny shares what he sees in European enterprises, why Copilot adoption has lagged, and how companies can move from isolated pilots to real business impact by redesigning end to end processes and building AI literacy at scale.
🎙 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/804
👉 What you’ll learn     
Why personal productivity gains rarely convince executives to invest in AI 
How to reframe Copilot and AI as organisational infrastructure, not a tool 
What separates AI proof of concepts that fail from those that reach production 
How gamified training can accelerate AI and Copilot adoption 
Where real AI value emerges through cross functional, end to end processes 
✅ Highlights     
“We see adoption of end user or bring your own AI going through the roof” 
“The whole Copilot experience when they hit the market was not that great” 
“At this moment, if I compare ChatGPT towards a Copilot, Copilot is better” 
“Nobody’s interested in saving half an hour per employee per day” 
“They’re all interested in how can we improve organisational wide processes” 
“AI has been seen as a nice bit of new tech rather than infrastructure” 
“Most software developers are becoming prompt engineers on steroids” 
“That’s where the actual proof of the pudding is” 
“We’re slowly getting there but we’re not there yet” 
🧰 Mentioned     
Microsoft Copilot: https://www.copilot.com/ 
Microsoft Teams: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams  
SharePoint: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/sharepoint/collaboration 
ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/ 
Azure AI Foundry: https://azure.microsoft.com/products/ai-foundry/ 
Facilitator app in Microsoft Teams: https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoftteams/facilitator-teams 
Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 
✅ Keywords      
ai adoption, microsoft copilot, enterprise ai, ai literacy, digital transformation, agentic ai, process automation, copilot training, ai governance, business processes, generative ai, productivity
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

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM 
This episode explores how organisations can move from AI curiosity to real value using Microsoft Copilot and agents, drawing on practical insights from Yves Habersaat. The conversation focuses on adoption that starts where people already work, keeps early use cases simple, and scales only when the need is clear. It also covers real-world agent scenarios, model choice, and why low-code tools are often enough to deliver results quickly. 
👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/803
🎙️ What you’ll learn     
How to introduce Copilot in tools teams already use every day 
Why Teams is often the fastest way to see AI value 
When simple agents are enough and when custom builds make sense 
How to approach agent design without overengineering 
Why understanding the use case matters more than the tool choice 
🔴 Highlights     
“A lot of customers want to try concretely what is AI.” 
“They want to use AI in the day-to-day basis.” 
“Teams is a really good entry point.” 
“You can have concrete results without spending a lot of time.” 
“Keep it simple at the beginning.” 
“After, you add more complexity and more logic.” 
“Copilot Studio has evolved a lot.” 
“You need to understand the use case first.” 
🧰 Mentioned     
Microsoft Copilot - https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 
Agent SDK (Microsoft 365 Agents SDK) -  https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/agents-sdk/ 
Azure AI Foundry -  https://ai.azure.com/ 
Azure -  https://azure.microsoft.com/ 
ChatGPT -  https://chat.openai.com/ 
Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 
✅ Keywords      
microsoft copilot, ai agents, copilot studio, microsoft teams, azure ai, agent sdk, ai adoption, prompting, enterprise ai, ai workflows, low code ai, 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

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM 
 
This episode reframes how leaders should approach generative AI, with insights from Justin Trombold. Instead of chasing use cases or tools, the focus is on fixing processes, incentives, and operating models. The conversation explores why many AI pilots fail, how ROI thinking can mislead, and why AI should be treated as a new way of working rather than a software upgrade. Practical examples show how small, disciplined changes can unlock productivity, innovation, and meaningful business impact without overinvesting or freezing in fear. 
👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/802   
🎙️ What you’ll learn 
How to identify AI opportunities by examining business processes, not tools 
Why most AI pilots stall before delivering real value 
How incentives and operating models determine AI ROI 
When ROI metrics help and when they get in the way 
How productivity gains can unlock business model innovation 
✅ Highlights 
“Let’s not talk about use cases. Let’s talk about your processes.” 
“If you don’t have to mow your lawn, why would you do it?” 
“You’re just going to shift the bottleneck to another place.” 
“There’s a very high level of maturity in the potential.” 
“There’s generally a very low level of maturity in the willingness.” 
“People are talking a lot about the drill.” 
“Generative AI is transformation.” 
“It’s a change in the way that you’re working.” 
“AI gives people permission to innovate.” 
 🧰 Mentioned  
Start your own value-creating GenAI Journey with our "rapid" diagnostic here: 
Survey Page | AnteSyn Advisors - https://www.antesynadvisors.com/blank-3  
"How to Flourish" with guest Daniel Coyle - EconTalk Podcast Archive - Econlib - https://www.econtalk.org/  
Generative AI - https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/generative-ai 
MIT study on AI ROI -  https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/28/1126693/finding-return-on-ai-investments-across-industries/  
Proofs of concept (POCs) -  https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/proof-of-concept-definition 
Design thinking viability and feasibility concepts https://www.uxdesigninstitute.com/blog/desirability-viability-and-feasibility/ 
✅Keywords 
generative ai, ai roi, operating model, business processes, productivity, innovation, incentives, ai pilots, digital transformation, leadership, applied ai, 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

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM

AI enablement is a change problem, not a tech problem. In this episode, Molly Rupert-Sullivan breaks down how to support three groups at once: people who do not get AI yet, people who want to opt out, and champions who want more. You will hear practical ways to set expectations, avoid over‑teaching “all AI”, and build momentum by giving champions the right access, platforms, and repeatable wins that can scale across an organisation.

👉️ Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/801  
🎙️ What you’ll learn 
Map AI adoption into segments and tailor support levels to each group. 
Respond to “no thanks” with clear expectations and a path to re-engage.  
Build champions by focusing on domain expertise, not technical depth.  
Scale internal wins by giving champions access to enterprise tools and visibility.  
Decide when to use personal AI tools versus enterprise copilots for data separation.  
 🔴Highlights 
“My entire role is about AI enablement.”  
“There’s such a spectrum of where people are.”  
“I think that there will be a place for some people to opt out.”  
“It will become very difficult for people not to use it because they will fall behind.”  
“We don’t all need to be AI experts.”  
“You’re already an expert in whatever your domain is.”  
“Access is, a big one.”  
“Showcasing those wins and successes, giving them platforms.”  
“I use Pi on my phone a lot.”  
“I don’t want answers tied to my corporate data.”  
🧰 Mentioned 
Pi - https://pi.ai/ 
ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/ 
Change management: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_management 
MVP Summit:https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-US/Summit [mvp.microsoft.com] 
Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 
✅Keywords 
ai enablement, ai adoption, change management, champions, resistance, opt out, productivity, enterprise access, copilot, chatgpt, professional services, agents 
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