This Month we have an exciting topic to discuss - CoPilot. But wait, there are two CoPilots in the world of Microsoft - Windows CoPilot and Microsoft 365 CoPilot. Join us as we dive into the world of these AI-powered assistants and explore how they are transforming the way we work and use technology.

A lot of exciting things have happened this month, and it's not over yet! For our purposes, we here at Office Explorers were excited to see all the huge news coming out of the Microsoft 365 Conference held May 12-14 out in Las Vegas. This month, friend of the podcast Jason Rivera comes back to talk through his biggest takeaways from the conference.

Jason has a blog post that dives into some of the content we discuss on air, you can find that here:

https://sharepointlessons.wordpress.com/2023/02/27/streamline-your-workflow-automation-with-the-new-ish-ai-powered-describe-it-to-design-it-template-for-power-automate/

He also, as you recall, has a book out that is a must-have for anyone working with Microsoft's Power Platform. Check it out: Building Solutions with the Microsoft Power Platform: Solving Everyday Problems in the Enterprise: Rivera, Jason: 9781098117542: Amazon.com: Books

Finally, we here at Office Explorers want to bid a fond farewell to co-host, co-producer, and just generally all-around heck of a good person Taylor, who has moved on from the MBG to explore her own new adventures. Thank you, Taylor, and may your scripts always run correctly the first time.

Greetings friends, and welcome to the 50th* Episode of Office Explorers! The podcast where we fail to mark the occasion on the episode itself. This month we hip you to the Power Platform COE Start Kit with the MBG's Anush Singh, and clue you in to some news we think you need to know. As always, come for the information and stick around after the credits for the outtake.

*50th 'official' episode, not counting the one time Rob and Kat did a second episode recapping a Microsoft Conference. So 50th month of episodes? Either way, thank you everyone who's been along for the ride!

Welcome back, Explorers! Taylor and Rob have an exciting set of topics for your consideration this month. The episode begins with a great discussion on some Microsoft news featuring updates to products we've had whole episodes about in the past – Teams, Yammer, and Viva. From there your hosts sit down with author and MBG Collaboration Architect Jason Rivera to discuss his new book from O'Reilly, "Building Solutions with the Microsoft Power Platform" (available wherever fine technology books are sold, we imagine). The hosting team wrap things up with some post-interview discussion about the book and the Power Platform before signing off for the month. 

As always, come for the insight into M365, stick around for the non sequitur at the end (you DO listen all the way to the end, don't you?) 

For all of Jason's links, check him out here: https://direct.me/sharepointjr 

Would it be February without Office Explorers taking a look at SharePoint?

No, it would not! Taylor and Rob have a great conversation with MBG's Trey Smith, who was there when it all began; SharePoint-edly speaking, that is. There's SharePoint-related news and some great post-interview analysis.

Links from the episode:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-file-request-f54aa7f8-2589-4421-b351-d415fc3b83af

Taylor and Rob start the new year off with a topic they haven't covered in a minute (or several): Microsoft Viva. MBG Expert Andrew Glasser brings us up to speed on what's new, what's improved, and an anecdote or two about the early days of what would become Viva.

As always your hosts bring you the Microsoft 365 News you need, and some after-the-interview analysis to help put things into perspective.

Links from the episode:

The Jeff Teper Tweet

Andrew Glasser on Twitter

Andrew Glasser on LinkedIn

This month Taylor and Rob dive back into a topic they first covered a year ago, Dynamics 365. This time they talk Business Apps with the MBG's own expert Hector Konomi (LinkedIn).

They also discuss a fun Viva Topics development, extol the virtues of the Microsoft WhiteBoard Mobile App, and as always share some Microsoft 365 news!

Taylor and Rob offer up some great M365 news related to Excel and renaming your tenant, wave goodbye (again) to IE11, and give a shout out to friend of the pod Jason Rivera. All this before sitting down with Nidhi K. to wrap our heads around Azure DevOps with Github.

Links from this month's episode:

Change your SharePoint domain name - SharePoint in Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn

Community Days | M365 Philly Virtual 2022

Just like last year, we're dedicating our entire episode this month to covering and contextualizing all the information that came out from Microsoft's Ignite conference.

Taylor and Rob recount what stood out for them and then they sit down with the MBG's Reed Wiedower (@CTO_Reed). Reed offers a master class in Ignite 2022.

Stick around after the interview for Rob and Taylor's post-conversation thoughts!

Links from the episode:

The Ignite 2022 Book of News

Gartner Study 

We’re back! After taking off August to recharge our batteries and poke under the pod’s hood, September’s episode features some fine tweaks to our format that we think will make the show even better. In the news, Taylor has some exciting MS Teams updates while Rob talks about the new Microsoft Learn platform. After that, stick around for a conversation on Intune with the MBG’s own Ahmed Mohamed.

For more information about Meeting effectiveness in Viva Insights: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/viva/insights/org-team-insights/meeting-effectiveness

For more on Microsoft Learn, visit: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-learn-blog/build-skills-that-open-doors-with-microsoft-learn/ba-p/3614011

For more on how the MBG can help you with Intune, visit: Windows & Intune | Cognizant Microsoft Business Group