Women in Tech Panel - Breaking Barriers

In this panel session we will discuss the challenges women in the tech industry face today and what we can and should do about them. Despite significant advancements, women continue to encounter barriers such as underrepresentation, retention issues, gender pay gaps, bias, and stereotyping. Our panel of female industry experts will share their insights and experiences, discussing the following topics:
- The impact of underrepresentation and the importance of role models
- Strategies to improve retention and support career advancement for women in tech
- Addressing the gender pay gap and promoting fair compensation
- Combating bias and stereotypes in the workplace
- Increasing female representation in leadership roles

Join us for a discussion aimed at empowering women in tech, driving meaningful change with our industry and an opportunity for you to share your stories.

The Human Hack: Rebooting Consulting Culture

This isn’t about tools, templates, frameworks, or even just the latest AI technologies it’s about people and mindset. In this honest and practical session, we explore how as consultants and delivery leads, we can rediscover and develop better consulting cultures in a world obsessed with tools and delivery speed.

Expect a candid conversation as two seasoned leaders in the Microsoft consulting community are interviewed by a fellow highly experienced leader. The session will be filled with, stories, audience Q&A, and actionable advice you can put straight into action back on your projects and in your teams. Bring your questions and get involved.

You’ll leave with new ways to:

- Sharpen your critical thinking skills and learn how to ask the right questions to get to the true root of a problem.

- Build strong, trusting relationships with clients by encouraging open communication, curiosity, and teamwork.

- Make sure your work delivers clear, measurable business value by considering its impact on people, processes, and technology.

If you’ve ever felt like your work was technically perfect but somehow missed the mark, this session will show you why and how to fix it. Take away new ways to think, lead, and consult that make your engagements more rewarding, your impact more visible, and your career genuinely fulfilling.

AI is driving a significant shift in the consulting landscape, encouraging a heightened focus on tools, templates, and frameworks risking the loss of the human experience and mindset. Don’t let yourself drift into transactional delivery. Join us to reclaim the mission, rebuild the mindset, and become the kind of consultant the industry desperately needs.

Making the most out of Customer Voice

Looking for a feedback management solution that allows you to create and distribute great surveys and provide in-depth analysis of responses? Customer Voice is included for free with some licenses and integrates with Dynamics 365 business applications allowing you to collect, analyse, and track real-time feedback! Join this session to understand:
• Key features and capabilities of Customer Voice
• Template, channel and personalisation options
• How it defers to Microsoft Forms/Forms Pro
• Integration and Licensing options
• Useful Resources to get started
Customer Voice is a great tool to keep track of customer satisfaction and metrics and gain rich insights through real-time survey data in customer records. Make the most of it following this session!

Ideal for those completely new to Customer Voice or those looking to understand its capabilities to make the most out of it.

Joining (and Staying in) the IT Industry: 9 Myths Deterring Women

How diverse is your IT team? The Tech Industry often carries misconceptions as to who it consists of with the stereotype being geeky introverts and mainly male.

But the reality really is quite different - the IT industry and particularly the world of Microsoft partners, the Microsoft Community and those working within Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform is diverse, global and full of individuals from different backgrounds and age groups.

And yet there are myths that deter women from joining (and staying) within the IT Industry when they really are not true at all. Join me as I share my own experiences and go through the 9 myths I've seen hold us back , why they shouldn't and what we can all do to dispel them.

Getting Started with Power Automate and Dataverse

New to Power Automate and Dataverse and don’t know where to start? Join this session to understand:
• Dataverse triggers and actions
• Popular automation scenarios
• Power Automate best practices
• Useful hints and tips!
With the basics covered you will be able to start utilising Power Automate to create your own cloud flows within Dataverse and beyond!

Ideal for individuals who have not worked with Power Automate but would like to or those who have struggled to understand the basics to get started.

Customer Voice and a Canvas App: Get more from your surveys

This session will provide a demo of the key features of Customer Voice including how to extend Customer Voice functionality using the Power Platform by utilising a canvas app to gather survey responses in person/on site.

Adopting AI: Navigating Challenges, Unleashing Potential

With AI tools increasingly changing the way we work, what do we need to do to make sure AI tools are successfully adopted by ourselves, our teams and our organisations? How do we prepare ourselves for the future? Join this session where we will cover:

- The latest AI trends and tools within the Power Platform
- Driving AI change and creating an AI-ready culture
- Defining an AI strategy and driving business value
- Adopting and governing responsible AI practices

With these tools, you will be able to prepare your teams for using AI as well as successfully plan, strategize, and scale AI projects in your organisation.

From Copilots to Azure AI: Selecting the Best AI Tools for Your Needs

When looking at the Microsoft stack, there are a number of AI tools available to choose from. How do you know which tool is best to use for each scenario? Join me as I give an overview of the tools available, when each should be used and what you need to consider. We will cover everything from Copilots and Agents to Azure AI Services, AI Foundry and Virtual Machines. Whether you need software, a platform, infrastructure or all 3, there are a variety of options available and even an AI decision tree to help you choose!

The Next 5 Years: The AI Trends You Need to Know

If you are implementing AI solutions and haven’t looked into synthetic data, machine customers, AI avatars of employees or the latest AI legislation (yes really) – you need to. This year alone, 30% of GenAI projects are being abandoned due to poor data quality, inadequate risk controls, escalating costs or/and unclear business value. And by 2028, what we are implementing right now will be technical debt… Join me as we look at the key AI trends up to 2031 to watch out for and what you need to keep in mind to for your AI strategy.

AI Legislation: What You Need to Know

With AI legislation slowly being introduced and varying wildly from country to country, it is not easy to identify what you need to know about it when it comes to creating, using and managing Microsoft Business Applications and Power Platform solutions. Join this session to get an overview of:
• The AI legislation, regulations and standards as they currently stand globally (EU AI Act, NIST AI Risk Management Framework, AIDA, ISO/IEC)
• What current legislation applies to Microsoft solutions
• Existing Microsoft tools you can use now to address legislation
• How to future proof your solutions to remain compliant
Being aware of the legislation requirements now will allow you to plan and have the right governance and controls in your tenant – and even beat the deadlines!