Ep 24 - Copilot Chat and the Future of Work

We've realised that we haven't been quite so good about getting the newsletter out along with the episodes so the aim for 2025 is to get much better at it. The great news is that we have some fantastic links that we didn't talk about on the latest show.

Latest Microsoft news

Very useful resource to see the latest Copilot release notes - Release Notes for Microsoft 365 Copilot | Microsoft Learn

We delved into Copilot Chat and what it would mean to organisations in the latest show (see below). Here are a few key public assets supporting the Copilot Chat announcement week:

• M365 hero blog: https://aka.ms/copilotchat
• Copilot Studio blog (includes pricing info): https://aka.ms/mcscopilotchat
• MTC blog for admins: https://aka.ms/copilotchatMTC
• Copilot Success Kit (updated): https://aka.ms/Copilot/SuccessKit New agent overview guide: https://aka.ms/Copilot/AgentOverviewGuide IT controls guide: https://aka.ms/Copilot/ITControlsGuide
• Demo videos: Public: Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat - Manage agents demo Public: Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat - Agent builder demo

Microsoft Research released the Future of Work report just before Christmas and there is some fantastic resources in there to get a view of where Microsoft may be thinking to take Copilot to next - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/microsoft-new-future-of-work-report-2024

Microsoft is also bringing Copilot to their Family and personal Microsoft 365 plans.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2025/01/16/copilot-is-now-included-in-microsoft-365-personal-and-family/

There was an interesting report from a company in December that raised quite a bit of noise, especially amongst the record management community. However, this rebuttle from someone in Microsoft Netherlands really helps to dispell much of the concern.

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/marie-de-groot_microsoft365-hallucinate-schools-activity-7282319304073654274-TMwN?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Sébastien Levert posted on updates to Kiota that will help you with creating your Declarative agents amonst other things.

https://bsky.app/profile/sebastienlevert.com/post/3lfqytwxr622a

Mark Russinovich posted a great article on Microsoft's AI red team that is a must read.

https://bsky.app/profile/markrussinovich.bsky.social/post/3lfoglyutta23

Community Posts

I know we shouldn't but this image from John Moore caused a bit of a giggle as we do love a bit of rename banter.

https://bsky.app/profile/johnmoore.bsky.social/post/3lfslgpmy322y

Daniel Rohregger put together a great post to help think about the cost of PAYG agents in Copilot Chat.

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/drohregger_what-does-the-new-payg-for-agents-in-copilot-activity-7285909965200904192-Djls?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

There was an interesting post shared by Barry Dorrans on Bluesky that noted the first o1pro guided Federal litigation. This will be one to keep an eye on.

Announcement of the first o1 pro guided Federal litigation : r/singularity

https://bsky.app/profile/blowdart.me/post/3lexqmua6as2v

Mahmoud Hassan put together a great summary on the limits around Copilot document lengths.

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/mahmoudhamedhassan_copilotstudio-agents-sharepoint-activity-7284593639974985728-FM-2

Zoe and I love working with Loryan Strant and the reason is we get to chat more often about the awesome deep dives he does. This one was particularly beautiful for those wondering about analytics.

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/loryanstrant_the-four-ways-to-build-your-own-copilot-usage-activity-7284369613507739648-5e-O

Need to automate the creation of the latest SharePoint agents? Leon Armston made a post how to do this with PowerShell

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/leonarmston_creating-sharepoint-agents-copilot-files-activity-7283498067239026688-yjbQ

Even Kevin McDonnell got on the blog post action, this time highlighting the Minimal Turing Test after an inspiring post from Hannah Fry .

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/kevmcdonnell_i-am-a-huge-huge-fan-of-professor-hannah-activity-7283389537639141376-B88T

Looking for prompts to use around Power Platform? Tiffany Songvilay brings her favourites in her latest post.

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/tiffany-songvilay_microsoft365copilot-m365copilot-copilot-ugcPost-7283165009763872772-kgqG

Srini Raghavan wrote up a great summary of a year in agents.

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/srini-raghavan_a-year-in-review-with-agents-in-microsoft-ugcPost-7281073966977294337-0bjh

Also, Jack Rowbotham pulled together a broader timeline for AI at Microsoft in 2024.

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/jackrowbotham_microsoft-ai-artificialintelligence-activity-7279738046948720642-bnww

We have really enjoyed Ethan Mollick 's posts on AI but this one was particularly entertaining as he recreates classic video games as movies using AI.

https://bsky.app/profile/emollick.bsky.social/post/3leui723sv22c

Simon Willison has been posting some very insightful thoughts on AI over the year and summarised it nicely in one post.

Things we learned about LLMs in 2024

Podcast summary

In this episode of Copilot Connection, hosts Zoe Wilson and Kevin McDonnell discuss the evolution of Microsoft's Copilot ecosystem, including the recent announcement of Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. They explore the implications of AI agents in business, insights from the Microsoft Research Future of Work report, and the importance of democratizing access to AI technologies. Finally, we talk about our exciting guest for the next Copilot Fireside Chat and her new team. Takeaways Powered by Riverside AI

• The Copilot ecosystem has evolved significantly over the past 18 months.
• Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat aims to provide a unified experience for users.
• AI agents can democratize access to technology for frontline workers.
• Organizations need to balance AI adoption with sustainability concerns.
• The Future of Work report highlights the importance of readiness in organizations.
• Multi-agent systems have great potential but require further research.
• User experience design is crucial for effective AI integration.
• Real-world examples are needed to demonstrate the value of AI agents.
• The conversation around AI should focus on responsible and sustainable use.
• Engagement with the community is essential for successful AI adoption.