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🎙️ FULL SHOW NOTES
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/705

What if the biggest barrier to AI success isn’t the model—but your data? In this episode, Sedarius Tekara Perrotta, CEO of Shelf, reveals why unstructured data is sabotaging enterprise AI efforts and how to fix it. From SharePoint chaos to hallucinating copilots, Sedarius shares a practical framework for transforming messy data into clean, actionable fuel for generative AI. If you're a business or tech leader navigating AI adoption, this conversation is your roadmap to clarity, control, and competitive edge.

🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS
Unstructured data is the silent killer of AI accuracy. Most organizations have millions of files riddled with micro-errors that confuse AI models and lead to hallucinations.
A successful AI strategy starts with a data strategy. Clean, enriched, and refined data is essential before plugging into any AI system.
Use the “Reduce, Enhance, Refine” framework. Focus on a specific use case, eliminate irrelevant data, enrich with metadata, and refine to a trusted set of documents.
Automation is key—but not enough. Human oversight and iterative monitoring are still critical to ensure AI outputs remain accurate and relevant.
AI agents will transform job roles incrementally. Expect gradual automation of tasks, with agents augmenting—not replacing—human expertise.

🧰 RESOURCES MENTIONED
👉 Shelf – AI-powered unstructured data management platform: https://www.shelf.io
👉 Microsoft Copilot Studio – Customizable AI interface for enterprise use: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/copilot-studio
👉 Gartner Research – Identified poor data quality as the #1 barrier to scaling GenAI - Read the full Gartner press release

This year we're adding a new show to our line up - The AI Advantage. We'll discuss the skills you need to thrive in an AI-enabled world.

Accelerate your Microsoft career with the 90 Day Mentoring Challenge

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Benefit from expert guidance, a supportive community, and a clear career roadmap. A lot can change in 90 days, get started today!

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

🎙️ FULL SHOW NOTES
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/704

What happens when enterprise tech projects go off course—and how do you fix them? In this episode, Gary Blunden shares hard-earned insights from years of rescuing failed digital transformations. From diagnosing platform misalignment to exploring the future of AI-driven development, Gary offers a grounded yet forward-looking perspective on what it takes to build resilient, scalable solutions in today’s fast-evolving tech landscape.

🔑KEY TAKEAWAYS
Recovery projects reveal deep tech-business disconnects: Success hinges on understanding user pain points, not just deploying shiny tools.
AI is reshaping software engineering: Tools like GitHub Copilot and agent-based systems are accelerating development—but human oversight remains critical.
Low-code is evolving into “vibe code”: Expect a shift from manual UI building to orchestrating intelligent, autonomous agents.
Documentation is becoming executable: Emerging tools may soon turn solution design docs into deployable systems.
Mentorship and legacy knowledge matter: As AI abstracts complexity, retaining foundational engineering wisdom is more important than ever.

🧰 RESOURCES MENTIONED
👉 Power Platform – Microsoft’s low-code development suite
https://powerplatform.microsoft.com
👉 Power Automate – Workflow automation tool
https://powerautomate.microsoft.com
👉 GitHub Copilot – AI pair programmer for developers
https://github.com/features/copilot
👉 Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7

This year we're adding a new show to our line up - The AI Advantage. We'll discuss the skills you need to thrive in an AI-enabled world.

Accelerate your Microsoft career with the 90 Day Mentoring Challenge

We’ve helped 1,300+ people across 70+ countries establish successful careers in the Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365 ecosystem.

Benefit from expert guidance, a supportive community, and a clear career roadmap. A lot can change in 90 days, get started today!

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

🎙️ FULL SHOW NOTES
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/701

What happens when AI meets the messy, human world of organizational knowledge? In this episode, Rebecka Isaksson—Microsoft MVP and knowledge management strategist—unpacks how AI can finally unlock the elusive value of tacit knowledge. From SharePoint sprawl to the power of communities of practice, Rebecka shares hard-won insights on transforming content chaos into enterprise intelligence. Whether you're navigating Microsoft 365 or scaling AI in your organization, this conversation will change how you think about knowledge, governance, and impact.

🔑KEY TAKEAWAYS
AI needs knowledge management: Without governance and lifecycle thinking, AI can’t deliver sustainable value in enterprise environments.
Tacit knowledge is the real gold: AI tools like Microsoft Copilot can now surface insights from informal conversations, chats, and communities—not just documents.
SharePoint’s hidden risks: Without role-based access control (RBAC), SharePoint can become a security and governance liability in AI-driven organizations.
Communities of practice scale expertise: Platforms like Microsoft Engage (not just Yammer) are critical for capturing and sharing real-time, experience-based knowledge.
Governance must evolve: Organizations need to move from content management to true knowledge management—governing not just files, but conversations, videos, and more.

🧰 RESOURCES MENTIONED
👉 Microsoft 365 Copilot – AI-powered productivity assistant: https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/microsoft-365/copilot
👉 Knowledge Fika - https://open.spotify.com/show/0X7STHKKiIEEj1nrd9hvQa?si=d6fd17b395f749ec
👉 Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7

This year we're adding a new show to our line up - The AI Advantage. We'll discuss the skills you need to thrive in an AI-enabled world.

Accelerate your Microsoft career with the 90 Day Mentoring Challenge

We’ve helped 1,300+ people across 70+ countries establish successful careers in the Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365 ecosystem.

Benefit from expert guidance, a supportive community, and a clear career roadmap. A lot can change in 90 days, get started today!

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

🎙️FULL SHOW NOTES
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/700

In this episode, Mark and Andrew dive deep into the shifting mindsets shaping the future of AI in business and tech. From building a personal AI-powered second brain to exploring the rise of “vibe coding,” they unpack the tools, tensions, and transformations redefining how professionals engage with technology. Whether you're an AI optimist, skeptic, or somewhere in between, this conversation challenges assumptions and offers a grounded look at where innovation is headed—and how to stay ahead of it.

🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS
The 3 AI Mindsets: Explore the “Optimists,” “Deniers,” and the “Angry Camp”—and how each group is reacting to the rapid evolution of AI.
Vibe Coding Explained: Why AI-assisted development is the new normal, and how tools like GitHub Copilot are changing the way we build software.
Building a Second Brain with AI: Mark shares a thought experiment on creating a multi-agent AI system to manage personal knowledge, security, and optimization.
The FrontPage to Squarespace Analogy: A compelling comparison of early web development tools to today’s AI-assisted platforms—and what it means for modern developers.
Why Familiarity Beats Flash: A case for investing time in mastering tools like Microsoft Copilot, even if they seem underwhelming at first.

🧰RESOURCES MENTIONED
👉 GitHub Copilot – AI pair programming tool: https://github.com/features/copilot
👉 Microsoft 365 Copilot – Enterprise AI assistant: https://microsoft.cloud
👉 VS Code – Visual Studio Code editor: https://code.visualstudio.com

This year we're adding a new show to our line up - The AI Advantage. We'll discuss the skills you need to thrive in an AI-enabled world.

Accelerate your Microsoft career with the 90 Day Mentoring Challenge

We’ve helped 1,300+ people across 70+ countries establish successful careers in the Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365 ecosystem.

Benefit from expert guidance, a supportive community, and a clear career roadmap. A lot can change in 90 days, get started today!

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

🎙FULL SHOW NOTES
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/699

What if the key to unlocking AI’s full potential isn’t more algorithms—but better data? In this episode, Harley Webster, founder of Amagi and Power BI lead, shares how his journey from geologist to data strategist shaped his obsession with clean, actionable data. From managing petabytes of oilfield data in Qatar to helping modern businesses unify fragmented systems, Harley reveals why data quality is the real foundation of AI success—and how Microsoft Fabric is changing the game. If you're navigating the intersection of business, AI, and data engineering, this conversation is a must-listen.

🔑KEY TAKEAWAYS
Data Quality is Non-Negotiable for AI: Harley emphasizes that without clean, governed, and well-modeled data, AI outputs are unreliable—no matter how advanced the model.
Microsoft Fabric is a Game-Changer: Fabric’s unified platform simplifies data engineering, enabling real-time pipelines, medallion architecture (bronze, silver, gold layers), and seamless integration with Power BI.
Start with Business Outcomes, Not Data Inventory: Harley’s approach is to define the top KPIs first, then trace back to the data sources—ensuring focus and ROI from day one.
Common Language is Critical in M&A: When merging data from different systems or companies, aligning terminology and definitions is essential to avoid misinterpretation and ensure accurate reporting.
ROI from Data Projects is Tangible: From automating manual reporting to protecting market share, Harley outlines how to quantify the business value of data initiatives—even in complex environments.

🧰 RESOURCES MENTIONED
👉 Microsoft Fabric – Unified data platform for engineering, analytics, and visualization: https://fabric.microsoft.com
👉 Power BI – Business intelligence and data visualization tool: https://powerbi.microsoft.com
👉 Dataflow Gen2 – Web-based data transformation tool in Microsoft Fabric
👉 `Natasha’s Foundation – UK charity supporting food allergy awareness: https://www.narf.org.uk
👉 VWS Software – Waste management software provider in the UK: https://www.vwssoftware.com

This year we're adding a new show to our line up - The AI Advantage. We'll discuss the skills you need to thrive in an AI-enabled world.

Accelerate your Microsoft career with the 90 Day Mentoring Challenge

We’ve helped 1,300+ people across 70+ countries establish successful careers in the Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365 ecosystem.

Benefit from expert guidance, a supportive community, and a clear career roadmap. A lot can change in 90 days, get started today!

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

🎙️FULL SHOW NOTES
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/698

What happens when a cloud architect dives headfirst into the evolving world of AI and becomes one of the earliest adopters of Microsoft Copilot in Europe? In this episode, Daniel Rohregger shares how he turned early access into real-world impact—running transformative workshops, challenging AI limitations, and building multilingual agents for legacy industries. Whether you're leading digital transformation or just trying to keep up with Copilot’s rapid evolution, this conversation is packed with insights that will sharpen your strategy and expand your toolkit.

🔑 Key Takeaways
How to Run Effective Copilot Workshops: Daniel breaks down his approach to correcting misconceptions, tailoring demos to business roles, and aligning AI with compliance needs.
The Power of Multilingual AI Agents: Learn how legacy manufacturing teams are using Copilot to bridge language gaps and preserve expert knowledge.
Why Responsible AI Matters: A candid look at the trade-offs between user empowerment and ethical safeguards in enterprise AI.
What’s Coming in Copilot Wave 2: Daniel shares what features he’s most excited about, including GPT-4o image generation and the new “Create” experience.
Pro Tips for Power Users: From prompt engineering to backend transparency, hear what advanced users wish Copilot would let them control.

🧰 Resources Mentioned
👉 Microsoft Copilot – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot
👉 Microsoft Forms with Copilot – https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/forms
👉 Azure AI Speech Services – https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/cognitive-services/speech-services/
👉 Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7

This year we're adding a new show to our line up - The AI Advantage. We'll discuss the skills you need to thrive in an AI-enabled world.

Accelerate your Microsoft career with the 90 Day Mentoring Challenge

We’ve helped 1,300+ people across 70+ countries establish successful careers in the Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365 ecosystem.

Benefit from expert guidance, a supportive community, and a clear career roadmap. A lot can change in 90 days, get started today!

Support the show

If you want to get in touch with me, you can message me here on Linkedin.

Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith