Report from AI Agent and Copilot Summit NA – Day 3
The final day of #AIAgentCopilotSummit brought a mix of big-picture thinking, hands-on learning, and a call to action for businesses and individuals alike. If Day 1 was about career transformation and Day 2 focused on AI’s role in redefining work, then Day 3 was all about the future—how AI will shape industries, decision-making, and even our identity.
Daily Themes:
- AI as a Reimagination Machine – AI isn’t just improving processes; it’s reshaping how industries and businesses operate.
- Be Intentional with AI – Change is happening fast. The question isn’t if AI will impact your business, but how you’ll choose to shape that impact.
Morning Sessions & Insights
🔹 Keynote: How Agents & Copilots are the Business & Industry Reimagination Machine
Speakers: Bryan Goode, Bob Evans
- The pace of AI change is accelerating.
- “Magic moments with AI”—small but powerful experiences where AI enhances human work.
- Start experimenting now—but be intentional about how you use AI.
- Consider the Agent-to-Human ratio—AI shouldn’t replace people, but augment them.
🔹 Keynote Fireside Chat with sa.global CEO Stephen James
- Challenges in AI adoption—it’s not just about technology, but mindset.
- The “Hyperautomated Future” is coming.
- Don’t start with the tool—start with the problem AI needs to solve.
- Reduce cycle time—AI should make processes faster, not just different.
🔹 Presenting the AI Use Case: How to Speak the Language of the C-Suite and Board of Directors
Speaker: Diane Gardner
- Know your audience—Executives care about risk, ROI, and business impact.
- The 10 critical elements of an AI proposal:
- The Project: Goals, Timeline, Costs, Benefits.
- Protection: Security, Intellectual Property, Regulatory Risks.
- The Future: Employee training, maintenance, and ongoing evaluation.
- “Take a critical pain point and fix it… Show how it may be applied in other ways.”
- Memorable Quote: “The key to AI success is failing fast.”
🔹 Better Together: When and How to Build Agents Leveraging Copilot Studio & Azure AI Foundry
Speakers: Prashant G Bhoyar, Dewain Robinson
- Copilot Studio is a conversational AI platform that enables both low-code and no-code development.
- Agents range from simple (retrieval-based) to advanced (autonomous decision-making).
- “Every employee will have a Copilot. Every business process will have an agent.”
- Demo: Building a custom Copilot agent integrating Azure AI services.
🔹 Artificial Intelligence for Authentic Inclusion
Speaker: Shayna Robinson
- AI can help neurodivergent employees and individuals with disabilities in the workplace.
- AI assists in communication, confidence, and accessibility.
- Employers need to actively engage with and support diverse communities using AI.
🔹 Co-Creating Agents & Copilots: A Case Study with Vixxo & Microsoft Partner
Speakers: Lucas Diaz, Bobby Hunnicutt, Jim McCarthy
- Lessons learned from AI adoption in a real business setting:
- AI won’t drive adoption—people will.
- Turn super-users into AI advocates.
- Outcomes > Outputs—focus on the business impact, not just AI features.
- Flexibility, change management, and communication are critical.
🔹 Fireside Chat: Data Innovation Profile
Speakers: Miyoshi Tokuno, Michael Simms
- AI success requires clear success criteria—they used the 80/20 rule to aim for 85% accuracy.
Afternoon Masterclasses
Attendees had five tracks to choose from. I actually played mix and match.
- Data Modernization with AI
- Using Agents & Copilots in D365 Finance & Operations/SCM
- Building Agents & Copilots in Copilot Studio & Azure AI Foundry
- Using Agents & Copilots in M365 Modern Work
- Using Agents & Copilots in Power Platform
🔹 Session 8: Copilot and D365 Finance & Supply Chain
Speaker: Jason Greene
- Getting Copilot set up and enabled—many features are included but require activation.
- Three types of Copilot experiences:
- Sidecar – Free, included in solution, but must be enabled.
- Embedded – Built into dashboards, interactive.
- External – AI chat that integrates with enterprise data.
- Demo: Using Copilot to automate finance and supply chain workflows.
🔹 Session 9: Using Copilot Agents to Chat with Structured & Unstructured Data
Speakers: Mitchell Mathews, Jack Fallon
- Leveraging Azure AI Search to interact with both structured and unstructured data.
- Power Automate & AI Builder to extract, parse, and process business data.
- Key Takeaway: The quality of your data determines AI success.
🔹 Session 10: AI Builder in Action – Smart Contract Automation with AI & Power Platform
Speakers: Jack Fallon, Mitchell Mathews
- Business Problem: High-volume, manual contract processing was inefficient.
- Solution: AI Builder extracts, processes, and integrates contract data into Power Automate & Dataverse.
- Demo: Step-by-step walkthrough of building an AI-powered contract processing workflow.
Closing Keynote: How to Survive AI as Companies & Humans
Speaker: Lambert Hogenhout (United Nations)
- AI isn’t just changing work—it’s changing identity.
- The world is on fire with AI change—how will we navigate it?
- Advice:
- Be very aware of everything happening in AI.
- Decide what you want to keep and what you want to stop doing.
- Final Thought from John: “Let’s be intentional with AI.”
Key Takeaways from Day 3
✅ AI adoption is not just about tools—it’s about strategy.
✅ Business leaders need AI fluency to make the right decisions.
✅ Success requires an AI-friendly culture, not just AI tools.
✅ Data is everything—if your AI isn’t performing well, check your data.
✅ The future of AI is about augmentation, not just automation.
💡 Go-Do: Experiment with Copilot in Your Workflow
AI won’t drive adoption—people will. Start small:
- Identify a process in your business that could benefit from AI augmentation.
- Enable Copilot features in your existing tools (Microsoft 365, Dynamics, Power Platform).
- Test it, tweak it, and get feedback from real users.
Dag Drew an Easter egg.
This blog post was written with the assistance of AI.
That’s a wrap for #AIAgentCopilotSummit! What are your biggest AI takeaways? Drop a comment! 🚀
#AIforEveryone #FutureOfWork #Copilot #AITransformation
janeteblake 