Expectations and Preparation: Keys to Copilot Success

Copilot for Microsoft 365 is a game changer for organizations! The insights and productivity gains are unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Organizations have vivid images in their minds about all the amazing things Copilot will do to make their lives better. Most of these ideas started with well-intentioned marketing or communications, but there is a LOT of education needed to level set users on what Copilot for Microsoft 365 can and cannot do. Plus, without proper preparation for Copilot, your organization may face more frustration than transformation. Preparing your organizations data, policies and change management programs is absolutely key to a successful Copilot rollout.

In this candid, real-world session Join MVP's Antonio Maio and Mark Rackley as they help you get the most out of your investment in Copilot while discussing how to effectively prepare you organization so that not only is your infrastructure ready, but so are your users’ expectations.

Demystifying Copilot Studio

Copilot Studio offers the power of bringing Copilots to the masses! Now anyone can create their own Copilot and harness the power of Generative AI! Join this real-word, demo-packed session with Copilot veteran Mark Rackley and discover the truth beyond the marketing including:
- What are the features of Copilot Studio
- How does licensing work?
- How can you extend Copilot for Microsoft 365?
- How do you connect to your business data?
- How to publish your agents to other channels

Best Practices for Connecting to External Data in Copilot Studio

Copilot Studio is an essential tool for creating your custom agents. It's quick and easy to get started, but all too often we run into scenarios where we need to connect to external data sources and perform tasks that are not native to M365. That's where the power of Custom Connectors come into play. In this session, join MVP Mark Rackley as, together we will build a Sample API and Custom Connector for Copilot Studio. Attendees will learn:
- Deep dive into connecting to external data and best practices for using Actions, Topics, and Generative Answers
- How to effectively connect to a ServiceNow Knowledge base
- How to create and integrate a Custom Connector for Copilot Studio

A Deep Dive into Copilot Studio

Copilot Studio is the go-to tool in your Power Platform arsenal to create custom Copilots and extend Copilot for Microsoft 365. Join this half-day, demo-packed workshop from Mark Rackley and learn all the ins and outs of Copilot Studio including:
- How to build a Custom Copilot
- How to Extend Copilot of Microsoft 365
- How to incorporate Azure OpenAI for even more GenAI awesomeness
- How does licensing work for Copilot Studio

You'll walk away eager and empowered to get started creating your own amazing solutions using Copilot Studio

Be Your Own Copilot: How to Create your Own Generative AI Assistant

Microsoft Copilot is coming... eventually... but what can you do today to create your own Copilot experiences in Microsoft 365?? Join this demo-packed session as Mark Rackley walks you through how to leverage Azure OpenAI today to create custom Copilots without having to worry about your data leaving your tenant.

Introduction to JSON to master customizing SharePoint

JSON is EVERYWHERE in SharePoint Online and your ability to take your SharePoint deployments to the next level depend on your ability to understand and create complicated JSON objects. In this densely demo-packed session, attendees will learn:
- What is JSON and how to understand the structure
- Tips for creating JSON objects and starting with community content as a starting point

Attendees will also learn how to use JSON Objects in SharePoint Online to:
- Customize list columns and list views
- Create Site Designs for creating custom site templates
- Create stunning Quick Views for Viva Connections ACE's
- Post messages in teams as Adaptive Cards
- Process SharePoint REST queries in Power Automate
- and more!!

How to Execute JavaScript, TypeScript, and Excel Formulas In Power Automate

Power Automate has become an essential tool for the Microsoft 365 developer. However, all too often executing simple logic can become tedious and painful using Power Automate standard features. Doing math in Power Automate shouldn't be so painful!

Thankfully, Power Automate developers can now create scripts that use JavaScript, TypeScript, or even Excel formulas to execute complicated business logic and bring more power to your Power Automate solutions. Attend this demo-packed session to learn out to take your Power Automate Flows to the next level as we dive into a real-world scenario and build a practical solution step-by-step. In this session, attendees will learn to use Office Scripts to:

- Execute JavaScript, TypeScript, and Excel Formulas
- Simplify complicated Flows
- How to quickly and easily generate dynamic adaptive cards
- Generate graphs and charts on the fly for real-time updates to SharePoint data

A Real World Introduction to Viva Connections

One of the brightest stars (and lowest cost) member of the Microsoft Viva family is Viva Connections, but it also seems to be the most misunderstood. What exactly is Viva Connections, what features does it offer, and how can your organization start using it today? In this lively session, attendees will learn:
- What is the difference between Viva Connections Desktop and Viva Connections Mobile?
- How to best use the Viva Connections Newsfeed
- How to use and customize the Viva Connections Dashboard
- How to take advantage of out of the box ACE's (Adaptive Card Extensions) and how to use the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) to create your own to create a more powerful dashboard experience

Working with JSON and Arrays in Power Automate

Creating flows in Power Automate is one of the most powerful features available to the citizen developer. However, in order to truly master creating flows citizen developers need to understand how to parse the often confusing arrays and JSON objects that are returned from various processes. In this session, Mark Rackley will break down how to effectively:
• Access data in an array
• Parse a JSON object
• Generate a sample schema
Don’t miss your chance to unlock a world of powerful features in Power Automate by learning to master data in Power Automate.

Attainable AI – Real World Artificial Intelligence for Everyone

Why has your organization not embraced AI yet? Cost? Complexity? No perceived business value? Thanks to Azure and Microsoft 365, AI is not only cost-effective (sometimes free) and easy to use, there are many real-world use-case scenarios that you can take advantage of today without having to be a developer. Attend this demo-packed session to learn how quick and easy it is to get started with AI in your organization to create bots, translate conversations, identify objects in pictures, and more!

Securing Your Tenant: Using Microsoft Graph Data Connect to Assess Oversharing and Prepare for Micro

In this session, we will explore how to use Microsoft Graph Data Connect to assess oversharing in your M365 tenant and prepare for the role of Microsoft Copilot from a security standpoint. We will discuss the importance of having good content management practices in place prior to Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption, and how to evaluate oversharing and implement information protection to ensure that data is protected.

What you are missing: fundamentals of Generative AI and Copilot

It can all be so overwhelming. Generative AI, Large Language Models, RAG, Copilot. It seems it's the only thing going on in tech right now, but if you don't fully grasp some of the fundamentals of technology, it will lead to confusion, frustration, and loss of ROI. Join this fast paced, non-technical, interactive session (and bring your questions!) where attendees will learn from the daily conversations Mark has with clients about:

- Why does Copilot respond the way it does??
- What are the capabilities of LLM's and Copilot
- How are other companies leveraging LLM's and Copilot?
- Why is Copilot not a reporting tool!

I'm in conversations with clients (and Microsoft reps) every single day that lack basic understanding of what Generative AI and LLM are and what they can do. This leads to frustration and incorrect expectations about the technology. In this session I break down what's actually going on with these tools and help attendees understand what can and should NOT be done with a LLM / Copilot.

Agents run amuck! Governing your agents in M365

Copilot Studio Agents, Declarative Agents, SharePoint Agents, Copilot Studio use rights agents? Every day, there's another agent and another way for your users to create them. It can quickly turn into a nightmare for your organization trying to make sure these agents are secured and governed correctly. There is hope though! Join this fast-paced session and learn:
- Where agents are deployed and how to find them
- What are the capabilities of these agents and what do they have access to?
- How do control the creation of agents
- What are the licensing requirements for creating the various agents

Clients are freaking out about all the agents being created in their environments and don't understand where they are being stored, how they are being used, or how many they have! This session is designed to educate them on how to get their arms around all the agents and better secure and govern them.