Data Readiness for Agentic AI: Why Your Agents Are Only as Smart as Your Data

Organizations are investing heavily in copilots, AI assistants, and autonomous agents, expecting transformative business outcomes. Yet many AI initiatives struggle to deliver value for a simple reason: the data behind them is incomplete, inaccessible, poorly governed, or disconnected from the systems where work actually happens.

While organizations often focus on model selection, prompts, and agent design, successful agentic AI depends on something more fundamental: high-quality, trusted, and discoverable data. AI agents can only reason over the information available to them. When data is fragmented across repositories, trapped in legacy systems, duplicated across platforms, or lacking proper governance, even the most sophisticated agents produce limited results.

In this session, we'll explore what data readiness means in the era of agentic AI and how organizations can prepare their information ecosystem to support copilots and autonomous agents at scale. Through real-world examples, architectural patterns, and practical frameworks, we'll examine common data readiness challenges and the strategies leading organizations are using to overcome them.

You'll learn how to assess the quality, accessibility, security, and connectedness of your organization's data assets; determine whether information should be migrated, integrated, or surfaced through retrieval mechanisms; and establish the governance practices necessary to ensure agents can access the right information while protecting sensitive data.

Whether you're preparing for your first AI initiative or scaling enterprise-wide agent deployments, you'll leave with a practical roadmap for transforming data from a barrier into a competitive advantage for AI.

Attendees will leave with:
- A framework for assessing organizational data readiness for copilots, AI assistants, and autonomous agents.
- Strategies for identifying and addressing common data challenges, including silos, duplication, poor data quality, and inaccessible information.
- Practical guidance for choosing between migration, integration, retrieval, and federation approaches when connecting enterprise data to AI experiences.
- An understanding of how governance, security, permissions, and knowledge management influence AI outcomes.
- A roadmap for creating a trusted data foundation that enables agents to deliver accurate, secure, and meaningful business value.

First Public Delivery

Message Matchmaking: Choosing the Best Microsoft 365 Tool for Every Communication

In today’s hybrid workplace, internal communications professionals face a growing challenge: choosing the right channel to deliver the right message to the right audience. This session will explore how to strategically leverage Microsoft 365 tools—SharePoint, Viva Engage, Teams, Outlook, and Viva Connections—to optimize message delivery, engagement, and impact.

We’ll begin by unpacking key communication considerations: message purpose, audience behavior, urgency, complexity, and feedback mechanisms. Then, we’ll dive into a comparative analysis of available channels, highlighting their strengths, limitations, and best-fit scenarios. Whether you're announcing a policy update, launching a change initiative, hosting a leadership Q&A, or sharing project feedback, you'll learn how to match your message to the most effective platform.

Through real-world examples and interactive discussion, attendees will gain clarity on:

- When to use SharePoint for authoritative, long-lasting content
- How Viva Engage fosters community and culture through dynamic, conversational messaging
- Why Teams excels at collaborative, actionable communication
- Where Outlook fits for formal, structured, and traceable messaging
- How Viva Connections unifies the experience and surfaces strategic content

LGBTQ+ in Tech: Panel Discussion

Join us as we discuss the unique challenges and barriers that LGBTQ+ individuals face in the tech industry, including discrimination, bias, and lack of representation. Let's dig into inclusive hiring practices, workplace culture, allyship and advocacy, and intersectionality with other marginalized identities such as race, gender, and disability.

We'll ask our panel of speakers to talk about the importance of fostering an inclusive workplace culture where LGBTQ+ employees feel safe, valued, and supported and have them share their success stories of how they overcame challenges and achieved significant milestones in their careers.

We'll also highlight the role of allies in supporting LGBTQ+ colleagues and advocating for their rights within the organization. and explore the role of mentorship in supporting the career growth of LGBTQ+ professionals in tech.

This session seeks to highlight the importance of building and participating in LGBTQ+ tech communities and extending our networks for support and professional development. Come and network with your LGBTQ+ community and allies.

Unlocking the Power of Microsoft Loop: New Features and Seamless Integrations

Join us for an introductory session where we dive into the latest updates and features of Microsoft Loop. This session will provide an introduction to the stand-alone Loop tool and explore its seamless integration with other Microsoft applications such as Copilot Pages, Teams, and OneNote. Whether you're new to Loop or looking to enhance your productivity with its new capabilities, this session is designed to provide valuable insights and practical tips.

What you will learn:
1. How Microsoft Loop's new features and integrations can significantly improve collaboration and productivity within your team.
2. Discover how Loop seamlessly integrates with Copilot Pages, Teams, and OneNote, providing a unified experience across different applications.
3. Gain practical insights and best practices for using Loop to its full potential, ensuring you get the most out of this powerful tool.

From Pilot to Copilot: Building a Scalable AI Adoption Framework

As organizations race to integrate Microsoft 365 Copilot, many are discovering that successful adoption requires more than just enabling a license. It requires a cultural shift, upskilling your workforce, and establishing governance frameworks that balance innovation with responsibility.

This session will guide you through the essential pillars of AI readiness—culture, skills, and governance, helping you build a workplace that’s not only equipped for AI—but empowered by it. This session provides a practical, scalable framework for rolling out Copilot across departments—grounded in change management, governance, and user empowerment.

Drawing from real-world implementations and organizational change principles, we’ll explore how to move from isolated pilots to enterprise-wide transformation. Whether you're in IT, HR, or a business unit, you'll leave with actionable strategies to drive adoption, reduce resistance, and maximize ROI.

Key takeaways:
• Adoption Framework Blueprint: Learn how to assess your organization’s current AI maturity.
• Learn a repeatable model for scaling Copilot from pilot groups to full organizational rollout.
• Change Management Essentials: Discover how to align stakeholders, build champions, and support users through AI-driven change.
• Governance Meets Empowerment: Balance control and innovation with policies that support responsible Copilot use.

Next-Gen AI Champions: The New Face of Organizational Change Management

As AI tools like Microsoft Copilot rapidly reshape the workplace, the traditional role of change champions must evolve. This session explores how to empower a new generation of Change Agents who are not just advocates for adoption—but strategic enablers of AI transformation and automation. Learn how to equip champions with the skills, mindset, and influence to drive responsible, inclusive, and scalable AI integration across your organization.

Whether you're leading a Copilot rollout, managing digital transformation, or building a culture of innovation, this session will help you activate your most powerful asset: your people.

• Understand how AI is redefining the role of change champions in Microsoft 365 environments.
• Learn how to identify, train, and support AI-savvy champions across business units.
• Explore upskilling pathways for business users, IT, and leadership.
• Explore real-world frameworks for empowering champions to lead with empathy, data, and influence.
• Discover tools to help champions communicate AI value and manage resistance.
• Leave with a blueprint for building a sustainable, community-driven change network.

First public delivery

The AI-Driven Workplace: What Leaders Need to Know Now

AI is no longer a future concept—it's a present-day catalyst for transforming how we work, lead, and innovate and it’s embedded in tools like Microsoft Copilot, Viva, and Power Platform. This strategic session is designed for executives, decision-makers, and business leaders who want to understand the real impact of AI in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. From Copilot to intelligent automation, we’ll explore how AI is reshaping productivity, culture, and competitive advantage. You’ll leave with a clear vision of what’s possible, what’s practical, and what’s next.

• Understand the strategic implications of AI across Microsoft 365 tools like Copilot, Viva, and SharePoint Premium.
• Learn how to align AI initiatives with business goals, employee experience, and digital transformation.
• Gain practical governance models to ensure data readiness.
• Discover leadership strategies to foster a culture of curiosity, experimentation, and ethical AI use.
• innovation and continuous learning.
• Gain a roadmap for evaluating, piloting, and scaling AI solutions in your organization.

First public Delivery

Essential Insights for Governing Copilot Agents

As organizations embrace Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, and custom agents to unlock productivity and streamline business processes, governance becomes mission-critical. These agents can access enterprise content, interact with business systems, and influence everyday decision-making. Without the right controls in place, organizations risk exposing sensitive data, creating compliance gaps, and enabling uncontrolled agent proliferation.

This session provides a practical governance framework for securing, managing, and scaling Copilot agents across the enterprise. Whether you're supporting a handful of business-driven agents or preparing for large-scale adoption, you'll learn how to establish the policies, controls, and operational practices needed to balance innovation with security and compliance.

Through demonstrations, real-world examples, and implementation guidance, we'll explore four key areas of Copilot agent governance:

Foundational Controls: How Microsoft Purview, sensitivity labels, DLP policies, and access controls help protect prompts, responses, and connected data sources.
Lifecycle Management: Intake processes, environment strategies, ownership models, and version management approaches that prevent "agent sprawl" while supporting innovation.
Compliance and Risk Management: Leveraging audit logs, data retention policies, DSPM for AI, and governance monitoring to meet regulatory and organizational requirements.
Operational Oversight: Using Copilot Studio governance capabilities, Centers of Excellence, analytics, and reporting to monitor adoption, business value, and agent performance.

Attendees will leave with:
- A practical governance framework for managing Copilot and custom agents at enterprise scale.
- Proven approaches for securing data, reducing risk, and maintaining compliance across AI experiences.
- Strategies for establishing ownership, lifecycle management, and operational oversight for agent deployments.
- Actionable recommendations for enabling innovation while maintaining control of organizational data and AI investments.

First public delivery

From Copilot to Agents: An Enterprise AI Maturity Model for Scaling Business Impact

Many organizations have successfully introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot, but few have a clear roadmap for what comes next. After the initial excitement of AI-powered productivity, leaders often struggle to determine how to move from individual use cases to team transformation and ultimately to AI agents that can automate and execute business processes.

This session introduces a practical Enterprise AI Maturity Model that helps organizations progress through four stages of AI adoption: personal productivity, team collaboration, process optimization, and autonomous agents. Attendees will learn how leading organizations in healthcare, manufacturing, and professional services are applying AI at each stage while balancing governance, risk, change management, and value realization.

Through real-world examples, proven adoption patterns, and measurable success indicators, you'll leave with a framework for assessing your organization's current state and building a roadmap to achieve sustainable business outcomes with AI.

Attendees will leave with:
- A practical framework for assessing AI maturity, from individual Copilot usage to enterprise-scale AI agents.
- An understanding of the governance, change management, and data readiness requirements needed at each stage of the maturity model.
- An actionable roadmap with key metrics, success criteria, and investment priorities to accelerate AI adoption and business value.

First public delivery

How to Identify the Use Cases Worth Funding

Every organization is collecting AI ideas. The real challenge is deciding which ones deserve investment.

AI workshops routinely generate dozens of opportunities, from copilots and agents to process automation and custom AI solutions. Yet many organizations struggle to move beyond experimentation because they lack a structured way to evaluate competing priorities. Should you invest in the high-impact initiative that may take months to deliver, or the quick win that generates immediate momentum? How do you compare a customer-facing AI agent against an internal productivity solution? And how do you ensure AI investments align to measurable business outcomes rather than excitement and hype?

In this session, we'll explore a practical framework for evaluating and prioritizing AI opportunities across the enterprise. Drawing from real-world experiences helping organizations build AI roadmaps, we'll examine the factors that separate successful initiatives from stalled experiments, including business impact, value realization, urgency, implementation complexity, organizational readiness, risk, and adoption potential.

Attendees will learn how to create a repeatable process for assessing AI opportunities, balancing short-term wins with long-term transformation, and building an AI portfolio that delivers meaningful business results. Whether you're supporting an AI Center of Excellence, leading innovation initiatives, or responsible for AI investment decisions, you'll leave with a framework that can be applied immediately within your organization.

Attendees with leave with:
- A practical framework for evaluating AI opportunities using business value, risk, readiness, complexity, and adoption criteria.
- Techniques for comparing competing AI investments and prioritizing initiatives that align with strategic objectives.
- An approach for building and managing an AI portfolio that balances quick wins, long-term transformation, and measurable business outcomes.

First public delivery

The AI Readiness Assessment Every Executive Team Should Complete Before Deploying Agents

Organizations are investing heavily in copilots, assistants, and AI agents, but many are making a critical mistake: evaluating the technology before evaluating their readiness to adopt it.

Successful AI programs depend on far more than model selection and platform capabilities. Data quality, governance, security, leadership alignment, workforce readiness, and change management often determine whether an AI initiative delivers meaningful business value or becomes another stalled pilot. Yet these organizational factors are rarely assessed before deployment begins.

In this session, we'll introduce a practical executive readiness assessment designed to help organizations evaluate their preparedness for enterprise-scale AI adoption. Through real-world examples and lessons learned from AI transformation initiatives, we'll explore the six dimensions that consistently influence AI success: strategy and leadership alignment, data readiness, security and governance, operational capabilities, workforce enablement, and value measurement.

Attendees will learn how to identify common warning signs that indicate an organization may not yet be prepared to deploy AI agents at scale, how to uncover readiness gaps before they become costly obstacles, and how to create a roadmap that improves the likelihood of successful adoption.

Whether you're planning your first AI initiative or preparing to scale beyond copilots into agentic AI, you'll leave with a framework that helps leadership teams make more informed investment and deployment decisions.

Attendees will leave with:
-An executive assessment framework for evaluating organizational readiness across strategy, data, governance, security, operations, and workforce adoption.
-The ability to identify common readiness gaps and warning signs that frequently derail AI initiatives.
-A roadmap for improving organizational preparedness before investing in enterprise-scale AI agents.

First Public Delivery

We've got Copilot and Agents... Do we still need an intranet?

Microsoft 365 Copilot and AI-powered agents are fundamentally changing how employees discover information. Instead of navigating sites, searching repositories, and browsing organizational content, employees can increasingly ask a question and receive an answer instantly.

This shift has left many organizations asking a provocative question: if AI can find, summarize, and deliver information on demand, do we still need an intranet?

The answer is yes... but perhaps not for the reasons we needed one in the past.

In this session, we'll explore how the role of the modern intranet is evolving in an AI-first workplace. We'll examine which traditional intranet functions are being replaced by copilots and agents, which use cases remain critical, and how organizations should rethink information architecture, publishing strategies, employee communications, and knowledge management for the era of generative AI.

Through real-world examples, we'll discuss when employees benefit from conversational experiences versus curated destinations, why authoritative content remains essential for trustworthy AI, and how intranets continue to serve as the backbone for organizational communications, culture, governance, and knowledge discovery.

Whether you're responsible for employee experience, internal communications, knowledge management, or digital workplace strategy, you'll leave with a practical framework for designing an intranet that thrives alongside copilots and agents rather than competing with them.

Attendees will leave with:
- An understanding of which traditional intranet capabilities are being enhanced, transformed, or replaced by AI.
- A framework for determining when employees need conversational AI experiences versus curated content experiences.
- Best practices for structuring content so it remains discoverable, trustworthy, and AI-ready.
- Guidance for evolving intranet strategy, governance, and employee communications in an AI-first workplace.
- A vision for the future role of intranets in organizations deploying copilots and autonomous agents.

First public delivery

Cultivating Connections: Harnessing the Power of Viva Engage for Community Building

Dive into the heart of organizational connectivity with leaders, community managers, and team members who are committed to fostering a sense of belonging and collaboration in the workplace. This session is an invaluable opportunity for those eager to enhance community engagement and leverage the full potential of Viva Engage and is presented through the lens of diversity and inclusion.

Why Should You Attend?
* Engage with Purpose: Discover how Viva Engage unites individuals across your organization, enabling them to connect with leaders, share experiences, and contribute to a vibrant work culture.
* Explore Community Dynamics: Learn about the various community types in Viva Engage, from public forums to private groups, tailored to specific topics or interests.
* Master Community Management: Gain insights into the essential role of community managers in curating content, stimulating member interaction, and overseeing community health.
* Drive Engagement: Uncover strategies to boost community engagement beyond the platform, utilizing best practices and tools like polls and announcements to keep conversations lively.
* Leverage Community Insights: Utilize community insights and analytics to evaluate community impact, refine engagement tactics, and strengthen connections within your organization.

Walk away with actionable insights that will elevate your employee engagement goals.

Building an AI Center of Excellence for the Autonomous Enterprise

Organizations are moving quickly from AI experimentation to enterprise-wide deployment of copilots, assistants, and autonomous agents. While many organizations focus their early efforts on governance and technology, they often struggle with a more fundamental question: who owns AI, how are decisions made, and what operating model will enable AI to scale across the business?

The organizations seeing the greatest business value from AI are establishing Centers of Excellence that connect strategy, business priorities, technology teams, risk stakeholders, and end users. Rather than acting as a gatekeeper, a modern AI CoE serves as an accelerator by providing clear direction, repeatable processes, and a framework for turning ideas into measurable business outcomes.

In this session, we'll explore how leading organizations are designing AI operating models that support sustainable adoption of copilots and autonomous agents. Through practical frameworks, real-world examples, and lessons learned from enterprise AI programs, we'll discuss how to establish ownership, prioritize use cases, manage demand, build organizational capabilities, measure value, and create the structures necessary to scale AI across the enterprise.

Whether you're launching your first AI initiative or expanding into agentic AI, you'll leave with a blueprint for building an AI Center of Excellence that enables innovation, accelerates adoption, and helps organizations move from isolated pilots to enterprise-wide transformation.

Attendees will leave with:
- A practical blueprint for designing an AI Center of Excellence that aligns business strategy, technology teams, and operational stakeholders.
- Frameworks for prioritizing AI investments, managing demand, and selecting high-value use cases for copilots and autonomous agents.
- Strategies for defining ownership, funding models, success metrics, and value realization across AI initiatives.
- An enterprise operating model that helps organizations scale from experimentation to sustainable AI-powered transformation.

First public delivery