Andrew Wigmore, Teams Product Owner at defence contractor BAE Systems, shares insights from his 40-year career and the company's journey to Microsoft Teams and the cloud.

• Migrating 45,000 phone numbers from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams in a single morning

• Managing 65,000 E5 users and doing over a third of a billion minutes of Teams audio annually

• The cultural shift from on-premises infrastructure to evergreen cloud services at a defence company

• Rolling out Microsoft Teams Rooms across 180 meeting spaces, including executive home offices

• Operator Connect telephony across 11 countries, including challenging regions

• Cloud adoption, security, and export control requirements in defence

Thanks to Ribbon, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.

MVP Tom Arbuthnot shares all the latest Microsoft Teams and Copilot news and announcements in less than 15 minutes for February 2026.

Many thanks to Neat for their continued support.

PowerPoint Deck

• Enhanced M365 Copilot Memory​
• Copilot Chat (free) in Outlook with all emails and Calendar​
• Ilya Bukshteyn's ISE keynote​
• Microsoft Teams Licensing Changes April 2026​
• Places Roadmap Updates​
• Express voice enrolment​
• Meet App Becomes Events App​
• Teams Live Events and API are retiring​
• Multiple phone numbers on Teams Phone Devices​
• Transitioning Teams Android Device Management​
• Events

Useful Links:
Briefings:

• Real AI Use Cases in the Contact Centre with Luware Nimbus - Costs, Risks and Benefits - Marcel Gaufroid, Head of Sales – EU, at Luware​
• Microsoft Places in 2026: APIs, Desk Booking, and Copilot Context - Brennan McReynolds, Product Strategy Lead for Microsoft Places​
• Pure IP's Platform Strategy that Simplifies Enterprise Communications - Adnon Dow, Chief Strategy Officer at Pure IP​
• AI Voice Agents - Sean Keegan, Developer Evangelist for Azure Communication Services at Microsoft​

Teams Insider Podcasts

• The role AV Distribution play in Microsoft Teams Rooms with Jenny Hicks, Technical Director at Midwich UK​
• Logitech's New Rally AI Cameras and Multi-Camera Microsoft Teams Rooms with Henry Levak, VP of Product for Logitech for Business​
• Microsoft Places in 2026: APIs, Desk Booking, and Copilot Context Brennan McReynolds, Product Strategy Lead for Microsoft Places​
• Microsoft Teams Rooms and Phone Journey at Toyota Financial Services JT Elliott, Unified Communications and Collaboration Manager, at Toyota Financial Services​​

Mahendra Sekaran, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, leads product management and data science for IC3 (Intelligent Conversations and Communication Cloud)—the core communications platform powering Microsoft Teams.

• IC3's role as the backbone for Microsoft Teams, supporting 320 million monthly active users and 26 million PSTN users

• How AI is transforming internal productivity at Microsoft, from daily briefings to real-time data insights

• Microsoft's vision for AI-native phone experiences and the future of intelligent call handling

• Why 2026 is the year of scaling agentic AI, with Microsoft Teams evolving into a hub where agents interact with humans

• How AI tooling is changing product management and engineering, from coding agents to AIOps for incident response

• The potential for granular personalisation in user experiences based on AI-driven insights

Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.

Jenny Hicks, Technical Director at Midwich UK, joins the podcast to share insights on AV distribution and the evolving Microsoft Teams Rooms landscape.

• What distribution is and the value it brings to the Microsoft Teams Rooms ecosystem

• How the pandemic accelerated UC adoption and shaped hardware preferences

• The rise of all-in-one devices and why refresh cycles have slowed

• Sustainability, ESG reporting and the case for modular systems

• Why Microsoft certification matters and how hardware choices affect long-term support

• AI readiness and future-proofing meeting room investments

Thanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.

Henry Levak, VP of Product for Logitech for Business, shares exciting new product announcements ahead of ISE 2026.

• Rally AI Camera Pro: a dual-camera PTZ solution combining optical zoom with a wide-angle digital camera, designed with a shallow profile

• Rally AI Camera: a compact digital-only variant with in-wall mounting options and fabric covers for discrete, design-friendly installations

• Multi-camera support for Microsoft Teams Rooms, enabling up to four cameras on Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows

• Logitech’s native bluetooth headset portfolio

• Logitech Spot: the battery-powered environmental sensor now shipping, with upcoming Microsoft Teams and Places integration

Thanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.

Brennan McReynolds, Product Strategy Lead for Microsoft Places, at Microsoft, shares what changed during Places’ first full year in general availability and what is coming next as hybrid work patterns continue to shift.

• How Places supports flexible work planning in Microsoft Calendar and Microsoft Teams, including building and room context

• The evolution of desk booking on maps, location check-in signals, and improving confidence in finding the right space

• Why Places is focused on in-person connection and collaboration, not desk booking for everyone

• How the Places directory and Microsoft Graph APIs enable partners to manage buildings, floors, rooms, desks, and maps at scale

• Three integration patterns: spatial data in and out, occupancy and check-in signals, and extensible experiences like visitor management and digital signage

• How location context feeds Work IQ and future Copilot experiences for planning, scheduling, and room selection

Thanks to Brennan for his valuable insights.

JT Elliott, Unified Communications and Collaboration Manager, at Toyota Financial Services, shares his journey from traditional AV to deploying over 300 Microsoft Teams Rooms with Logitech.

• JT's career path from courtroom AV systems through 7-Eleven to Toyota Financial Services
• The decision to standardise on Logitech Rally Bars and Rally Board 65 for 300+ rooms and plans to deploy 150 more.
• Experience deploying 125 Rally Boards in just six weeks with integration partner AVI-SPL
• Why Toyota chose Android-based MTRs and the flexibility of Logitech's platform
• The importance of observability and reliability in room system operations
• Migrating from Direct Routing to Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams Phone

Thanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud

MVP Tom Arbuthnot shares all the latest Microsoft Teams and Copilot news and announcements in less than 15 minutes for the first update of 2026.

Many thanks to Landis for their continued support.

Deck

• Microsoft 365 AI Workplace - 2026 Focus Areas​
• Microsoft’s continued AI Focus in 2026​
• 7 New Microsoft Copilot Roadmap Features​
• 26M Teams Phone Users​
• 8 Microsoft Teams New Features and Updates​
• 7 New Teams Rooms and Devices​
• Events

Useful Links:

Briefings

• AI Voice Agents with Azure Communication Services - Sean Keegan, Developer Evangelist for Azure Communication Services at Microsoft​
• Microsoft 365 Copilot Agents, Features and Control - Deep Dive with Rolf Tröndle - Rolf Tröndle walks through what’s new with Microsoft 365 Copilot.​
• Contact Center Options for Microsoft Teams - Native vs Connect vs Extend vs Unify - Alistair Pidd, Professional Services Director, at Pure IP discusses contact center strategies for Microsoft Teams​

Teams Insider Podcasts

• Scaling Microsoft Copilot Adoption 22,000 Diverse Users at Centrica with Bill Compton, Head of Digital Adoption at Centrica​
• Copilot and Agent Adoption in the Big Four Professional Services Firms with Mo Khalifa, Workforce AI Specialist at Microsoft​
• From PBX to Microsoft Teams and Voca Contact Centre at the Chartered Institute of Housing with Richard Sewell, IT Manager​
• Working from Sea: Virgin Voyages Transforms Remote Work with Nirmal Saverimuttu, CEO, at Virgin Voyages, and Michael Levy, CEO, at Numonix​
• What Cisco Rooms bring to Microsoft Teams Rooms with Tom Richards, Senior Director, Strategy and Planning at Cisco​

Bill Compton, Head of Digital Adoption at Centrica, shares how he's driven Microsoft Copilot adoption across a diverse 22,000-person organisation—from field engineers to call centre agents to knowledge workers.

• Building a strong digital champions network through gamification and peer-led change
• Leveraging the included Copilot Chat to build AI literacy across the entire organisation before scaling premium licences
• Taking a measured approach to Copilot rollout: starting with 25 licences and scaling to 2,000 paid M365 Copilot based on demonstrated value
• Creating hybrid adoption events that reached over 3,000 employees through live streaming and on-demand content
• Gathering real user prompts and use cases to build internal stories and identify champions
• Addressing the challenges of reaching diverse workforces in protected environments like call centres and offshore platforms

Thanks to Luware, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud

MVP Tom Arbuthnot shares all the latest Microsoft Teams and Copilot news and announcements in less than 15 minutes for December 2025.

Many thanks to AudioCodes for their continued support.

PowerPoint Deck

• Anthropic models on by default in Microsoft 365 Copilot
• GPT-5.2 in Microsoft 365 Copilot
• Microsoft Copilot Roadmap
• Agentic AI Foundation
• Microsoft Planner Major Update in 2026
• Express Voice Enrollment in Microsoft Teams
• Teams Meeting Recap and Recording APIs
• Teams Devices Update
• Teams Roadmap
• Events

Briefings

• All the Microsoft Ignite 2025 announcements in 24 minutes - Microsoft MVP Rolf Tröndle gives a comprehensive walkthrough of the news from Microsoft Ignite 2025
• AI Voice Agents with Azure Communication Services - Sean Keegan, Developer Evangelist for Azure Communication Services at Microsoft
• Microsoft 365 Copilot Agents, Features and Control - Deep Dive with Rolf Tröndle - Rolf Tröndle walks through what’s new with Microsoft 365 Copilot.
• Contact Center Options for Microsoft Teams - Native vs Connect vs Extend vs Unify - Alistair Pidd, Professional Services Director, at Pure-IP discusses contact center strategies for Microsoft Teams

Teams Insider Podcasts

• Copilot and Agent Adoption in the Big Four Professional Services Firms with Mo Kahlifa, Workforce AI Specialist at Microsoft
• From PBX to Microsoft Teams and Voca Contact Centre at the Chartered Institute of Housing with Richard Sewell, IT Manager
• Working from Sea: Virgin Voyages Transforms Remote Work with Nirmal Saverimuttu, CEO, at Virgin Voyages, and Michael Levy, CEO, at Numonix
• What Cisco Rooms bring to Microsoft Teams Rooms with Tom Richards, Senior Director, Strategy and Planning at Cisco
• Telcos Moving Into AI With Microsoft Teams and Copilot With Rick Garcia
• Microsoft Teams and AI Powered Workplace, Perspective From Ignite 2025 with Ilya Bukshteyn and Irena Andonova