GitHub Copilot SDK and Hybrid AI in Practice: Automating README to PPT Transformation
Introduction In today's rapidly evolving AI landscape, developers often face a critical choice: should we use powerful cloud-based Large Language Models (LLMs) that require internet connectivity, or lightweight Small Language Models (SLMs) that run locally but have limited capabilities? The answer isn't either-or—it's hybrid models—combining the strengths of both to create AI solutions that are secure, efficient, and powerful. This article explores hybrid model architectures through the lens of GenGitHubRepoPPT, demonstrating how to elegantly combine Microsoft Foundry Local, GitHub Copilot SDK, and other technologies to automatically generate professional PowerPoint presentations from GitHub README files. 1. Hybrid Model Scenarios and Value 1.1 What Are Hybrid Models? Hybrid AI Models strategically combine locally-running Small Language Models (SLMs) with cloud-based Large Language Models (LLMs) within the same application, selecting the most appropriate model for each task based on its unique characteristics. Core Principles: Local Processing for Sensitive Data: Privacy-critical content analysis happens on-device Cloud for Value Creation: Complex reasoning and creative generation leverage cloud power Balancing Cost and Performance: High-frequency, simple tasks run locally to minimize API costs 1.2 Typical Hybrid Model Use Cases Use Case Local SLM Role Cloud LLM Role Value Proposition Intelligent Document Processing Text extraction, structural analysis Content refinement, format conversion Privacy protection + Professional output Code Development Assistant Syntax checking, code completion Complex refactoring, architecture advice Fast response + Deep insights Customer Service Systems Intent recognition, FAQ handling Complex issue resolution Reduced latency + Enhanced quality Content Creation Platforms Keyword extraction, outline generation Article writing, multilingual translation Cost control + Creative assurance 1.3 Why Choose Hybrid Models? Three Core Advantages: Privacy and Security Sensitive data never leaves local devices Compliant with GDPR, HIPAA, and other regulations Ideal for internal corporate documents and personal information Cost Optimization Reduces cloud API call frequency Local models have zero usage fees Predictable operational costs Performance and Reliability Local processing eliminates network latency Partial functionality in offline environments Cloud models ensure high-quality output 2. Core Technology Analysis 2.1 Large Language Models (LLMs): Cloud Intelligence Representatives What are LLMs? Large Language Models are deep learning-based natural language processing models, typically with billions to trillions of parameters. Through training on massive text datasets, they've acquired powerful language understanding and generation capabilities. Representative Models: Claude Sonnet 4.5: Anthropic's flagship model, excelling at long-context processing and complex reasoning GPT-5.2 Series: OpenAI's general-purpose language models Gemini: Google's multimodal large models LLM Advantages: ✅ Exceptional text generation quality ✅ Powerful contextual understanding ✅ Support for complex reasoning tasks ✅ Continuous model updates and optimization Typical Applications: Professional document writing (technical reports, business plans) Code generation and refactoring Multilingual translation Creative content creation 2.2 Small Language Models (SLMs) and Microsoft Foundry Local 2.2.1 SLM Characteristics Small Language Models typically have 1B-7B parameters, designed specifically for resource-constrained environments. Mainstream SLM Model Families: Microsoft Phi Family (Phi Family): Inference-optimized efficient models Alibaba Qwen Family (Qwen Family): Excellent Chinese language capabilities Mistral Series: Outstanding performance with small parameter counts SLM Advantages: ⚡ Low-latency response (millisecond-level) 💰 Zero API costs 🔒 Fully local, data stays on-device 📱 Suitable for edge device deployment 2.2.2 Microsoft Foundry Local: The Foundation of Local AI Foundry Local is Microsoft's local AI runtime tool, enabling developers to easily run SLMs on Windows or macOS devices. Core Features: OpenAI-Compatible API # Using Foundry Local is like using OpenAI API from openai import OpenAI from foundry_local import FoundryLocalManager manager = FoundryLocalManager("qwen2.5-7b-instruct") client = OpenAI( base_url=manager.endpoint, api_key=manager.api_key ) Hardware Acceleration Support CPU: General computing support GPU: NVIDIA, AMD, Intel graphics acceleration NPU: Qualcomm, Intel AI-specific chips Apple Silicon: Neural Engine optimization Based on ONNX Runtime Cross-platform compatibility Highly optimized inference performance Supports model quantization (INT4, INT8) Convenient Model Management # View available models foundry model list # Run a model foundry model run qwen2.5-7b-instruct-generic-cpu:4 # Check running status foundry service ps Foundry Local Application Value: 🎓 Educational Scenarios: Students can learn AI development without cloud subscriptions 🏢 Enterprise Environments: Process sensitive data while maintaining compliance 🧪 R&D Testing: Rapid prototyping without API cost concerns ✈️ Offline Environments: Works on planes, subways, and other no-network scenarios 2.3 GitHub Copilot SDK: The Express Lane from Agent to Business Value 2.3.1 What is GitHub Copilot SDK? GitHub Copilot SDK, released as a technical preview on January 22, 2026, is a game-changer for AI Agent development. Unlike other AI SDKs, Copilot SDK doesn't just provide API calling interfaces—it delivers a complete, production-grade Agent execution engine. Why is it revolutionary? Traditional AI application development requires you to build: ❌ Context management systems (multi-turn conversation state) ❌ Tool orchestration logic (deciding when to call which tool) ❌ Model routing mechanisms (switching between different LLMs) ❌ MCP server integration ❌ Permission and security boundaries ❌ Error handling and retry mechanisms Copilot SDK provides all of this out-of-the-box, letting you focus on business logic rather than underlying infrastructure. 2.3.2 Core Advantages: The Ultra-Short Path from Concept to Code Production-Grade Agent Engine: Battle-Tested Reliability Copilot SDK uses the same Agent core as GitHub Copilot CLI, which means: ✅ Validated in millions of real-world developer scenarios ✅ Capable of handling complex multi-step task orchestration ✅ Automatic task planning and execution ✅ Built-in error recovery mechanisms Real-World Example: In the GenGitHubRepoPPT project, we don't need to hand-write the "how to convert outline to PPT" logic—we simply tell Copilot SDK the goal, and it automatically: Analyzes outline structure Plans slide layouts Calls file creation tools Applies formatting logic Handles multilingual adaptation # Traditional approach: requires hundreds of lines of code for logic def create_ppt_traditional(outline): slides = parse_outline(outline) for slide in slides: layout = determine_layout(slide) content = format_content(slide) apply_styling(content, layout) # ... more manual logic return ppt_file # Copilot SDK approach: focus on business intent session = await client.create_session({ "model": "claude-sonnet-4.5", "streaming": True, "skill_directories": [skills_dir] }) session.send_and_wait({"prompt": prompt}, timeout=600) Custom Skills: Reusable Encapsulation of Business Knowledge This is one of Copilot SDK's most powerful features. In traditional AI development, you need to provide complete prompts and context with every call. Skills allow you to: Define once, reuse forever: # .copilot_skills/ppt/SKILL.md # PowerPoint Generation Expert Skill ## Expertise You are an expert in business presentation design, skilled at transforming technical content into easy-to-understand visual presentations. ## Workflow 1. **Structure Analysis** - Identify outline hierarchy (titles, subtitles, bullet points) - Determine topic and content density for each slide 2. **Layout Selection** - Title slide: Use large title + subtitle layout - Content slides: Choose single/dual column based on bullet count - Technical details: Use code block or table layouts 3. **Visual Optimization** - Apply professional color scheme (corporate blue + accent colors) - Ensure each slide has a visual focal point - Keep bullets to 5-7 items per page 4. **Multilingual Adaptation** - Choose appropriate fonts based on language (Chinese: Microsoft YaHei, English: Calibri) - Adapt text direction and layout conventions ## Output Requirements Generate .pptx files meeting these standards: - 16:9 widescreen ratio - Consistent visual style - Editable content (not images) - File size < 5MB Business Code Generation Capability This is the core value of this project. Unlike generic LLM APIs, Copilot SDK with Skills can generate truly executable business code. Comparison Example: Aspect Generic LLM API Copilot SDK + Skills Task Description Requires detailed prompt engineering Concise business intent suffices Output Quality May need multiple adjustments Professional-grade on first try Code Execution Usually example code Directly generates runnable programs Error Handling Manual implementation required Agent automatically handles and retries Multi-step Tasks Manual orchestration needed Automatic planning and execution Comparison of manual coding workload: Task Manual Coding Copilot SDK Processing logic code ~500 lines ~10 lines configuration Layout templates ~200 lines Declared in Skill Style definitions ~150 lines Declared in Skill Error handling ~100 lines Automatically handled Total ~950 lines ~10 lines + Skill file Tool Calling & MCP Integration: Connecting to the Real World Copilot SDK doesn't just generate code—it can directly execute operations: 🗃️ File System Operations: Create, read, modify files 🌐 Network Requests: Call external APIs 📊 Data Processing: Use pandas, numpy, and other libraries 🔧 Custom Tools: Integrate your business logic 3. GenGitHubRepoPPT Case Study 3.1 Project Overview GenGitHubRepoPPT is an innovative hybrid AI solution that combines local AI models with cloud-based AI agents to automatically generate professional PowerPoint presentations from GitHub repository README files in under 5 minutes. Technical Architecture: 3.2 Why Adopt a Hybrid Model? Stage 1: Local SLM Processes Sensitive Data Task: Analyze GitHub README, extract key information, generate structured outline Reasons for choosing Qwen-2.5-7B + Foundry Local: Privacy Protection README may contain internal project information Local processing ensures data doesn't leave the device Complies with data compliance requirements Cost Effectiveness Each analysis processes thousands of tokens Cloud API costs are significant in high-frequency scenarios Local models have zero additional fees Performance Qwen-2.5-7B excels at text analysis tasks Outstanding Chinese support Acceptable CPU inference latency (typically 2-3 seconds) Stage 2: Cloud LLM + Copilot SDK Creates Business Value Task: Create well-formatted PowerPoint files based on outline Reasons for choosing Claude Sonnet 4.5 + Copilot SDK: Automated Business Code Generation Traditional approach pain points: Need to hand-write 500+ lines of code for PPT layout logic Require deep knowledge of python-pptx library APIs Style and formatting code is error-prone Multilingual support requires additional conditional logic Copilot SDK solution: Declare business rules and best practices through Skills Agent automatically generates and executes required code Zero-code implementation of complex layout logic Development time reduced from 2-3 days to 2-3 hours Ultra-Short Path from Intent to Execution Comparison: Different ways to implement "Generate professional PPT" 3. Production-Grade Reliability and Quality Assurance Battle-tested Agent engine: Uses the same core as GitHub Copilot CLI Validated in millions of real-world scenarios Automatically handles edge cases and errors Consistent output quality: Professional standards ensured through Skills Automatic validation of generated files Built-in retry and error recovery mechanisms 4. Rapid Iteration and Optimization Capability Scenario: Client requests PPT style adjustment The GitHub Repo https://github.com/kinfey/GenGitHubRepoPPT 4. Summary 4.1 Core Value of Hybrid Models + Copilot SDK The GenGitHubRepoPPT project demonstrates how combining hybrid models with Copilot SDK creates a new paradigm for AI application development. Privacy and Cost Balance The hybrid approach allows sensitive README analysis to happen locally using Qwen-2.5-7B, ensuring data never leaves the device while incurring zero API costs. Meanwhile, the value-creating work—generating professional PowerPoint presentations—leverages Claude Sonnet 4.5 through Copilot SDK, delivering quality that justifies the per-use cost. From Code to Intent Traditional AI development required writing hundreds of lines of code to handle PPT generation logic, layout selection, style application, and error handling. With Copilot SDK and Skills, developers describe what they want in natural language, and the Agent automatically generates and executes the necessary code. What once took 3-5 days now takes 3-4 hours, with 95% less code to maintain. Automated Business Code Generation Copilot SDK doesn't just provide code examples—it generates complete, executable business logic. When you request a multilingual PPT, the Agent understands the requirement, selects appropriate fonts, generates the implementation code, executes it with error handling, validates the output, and returns a ready-to-use file. Developers focus on business intent rather than implementation details. 4.2 Technology Trends The Shift to Intent-Driven Development We're witnessing a fundamental change in how developers work. Rather than mastering every programming language detail and framework API, developers are increasingly defining what they want through declarative Skills. Copilot SDK represents this future: you describe capabilities in natural language, and AI Agents handle the code generation and execution automatically. Edge AI and Cloud AI Integration The evolution from pure cloud LLMs (powerful but privacy-concerning) to pure local SLMs (private but limited) has led to today's hybrid architectures. GenGitHubRepoPPT exemplifies this trend: local models handle data analysis and structuring, while cloud models tackle complex reasoning and professional output generation. This combination delivers fast, secure, and professional results. Democratization of Agent Development Copilot SDK dramatically lowers the barrier to building AI applications. Senior engineers see 10-20x productivity gains. Mid-level engineers can now build sophisticated agents that were previously beyond their reach. Even junior engineers and business experts can participate by writing Skills that capture domain knowledge without deep technical expertise. The future isn't about whether we can build AI applications—it's about how quickly we can turn ideas into reality. References Projects and Code GenGitHubRepoPPT GitHub Repository - Case study project Microsoft Foundry Local - Local AI runtime GitHub Copilot SDK - Agent development SDK Copilot SDK Getting Started Tutorial - Official quick start Deep Dive: Copilot SDK Build an Agent into Any App with GitHub Copilot SDK - Official announcement GitHub Copilot SDK Cookbook - Practical examples Copilot CLI Official Documentation - CLI tool documentation Learning Resources Edge AI for Beginners - Edge AI introductory course Azure AI Foundry Documentation - Azure AI documentation GitHub Copilot Extensions Guide - Extension development guideUnleashing the power of agents in Microsoft Planner
In today's fast-paced world, AI has become an essential tool for enhancing productivity and efficiency. We are committed to empowering our users with innovative solutions that simplify their work processes, and we’re thrilled to introduce the latest updates to Microsoft Planner, designed to leverage the power of Copilot and agents to streamline project management and task organization. With the recent announcement of Project Manager agent, rolling out in public preview in the Planner app in Microsoft Teams, and the rollout of the new Planner for the web, we are bringing you a comprehensive suite of tools to help you and your team achieve more with less effort. We invite you to explore these exciting new features and discover how they can transform the way you work. Introducing Project Manager agent Project Manager agent is a new AI-powered agent designed to enhance your planning experience by acting as a virtual project manager within your plans. Project Manager agent is built to streamline your planning process, empowering you to focus on the strategic aspects of your work while it handles some of the tasks on your behalf. It is the latest development in enhancing and transforming team collaboration with AI in Planner. Earlier this year, we introduced Copilot in Planner (preview) as a personal companion experience designed to work alongside your planner workflow. With Project Manager agent, we’re now bringing AI capabilities directly into your plans, allowing you to interact with the agent as an integral part of your plan. Project Manager agent takes your goals and automatically breaks them down into actionable tasks. But it doesn’t stop there, it can also execute these tasks on your behalf. By managing the plan and executing tasks, the agent enables you to focus on impactful decisions while it contributes directly to the success of your project. When you start a plan with Project Manager agent, it guides you to define a goal you want to achieve (for example, conducting research on a specific topic). The agent will then generate all the necessary tasks for the research topic. Assign these tasks to the agent, and it will execute on them, providing detailed output that is automatically captured in a Loop page embedded within each task. All members of the plan can collaborate directly within the Loop page, exchanging comments and feedback with the Project Manager agent. Upon selecting Regenerate, the agent incorporates the feedback and generates a refined response, improving the task outcomes. At any point, if Project Manager agent does not have adequate information to generate necessary output, it will even ask clarifying questions that will allow it to provide better responses. You will notice that Project Manager agent is capable of contributing at every step of your plan, delivering value throughout the process. This comes with a new Project Manager View in Planner—your hub for setting goals, generating tasks, and showcasing the execution status. This intuitive interface lets you set your project goals and generate tasks, assign tasks to team members or the agent for execution and track progress and statuses in real time. Additionally, in the board view, you can also group tasks by Project Manager, which shows all the Project manager tasks and status in the appropriate buckets. At its core, the Project Manager agent runs on the Multi-Agent Runtime Service (MARS), a platform built on Microsoft Autogen. MARS leverages specialized agents with unique expertise, enabling the Project Manager agent to perform effectively across diverse scenarios. See the blog post to learn more about how Project Manager agent and MARS function. To help you get started, we’ve provided predefined, customizable templates on various topics, allowing you to quickly kickstart a Project Manager plan and easily tailor it to meet your specific goals. Once you’ve selected a template, you can modify the plan to align with your specific needs and goals, ensuring it meets your unique requirements while leveraging the agent’s capabilities for streamlined execution. From idea, to plan, to done, the Project Manager agent is your trusted partner, ensuring every aspect of your plan is managed seamlessly. We’re also introducing the Microsoft Whiteboard canvas in Planner! This new feature allows you and your team to brainstorm directly within the context of your plan. Upon creating a new plan with the Project Manager agent, you will now see a Whiteboard tab in the plan. Whiteboard offers a dynamic and collaborative canvas within Planner, allowing users to easily convert ideas into tasks and streamline workflow from ideation to action. In the canvas, you and your team can engage in real-time collaboration using inking, sticky notes, and templates. With the Planner integration, you can quickly convert your notes to tasks in one click, directly adding them to your plan. We’re excited to bring these powerful tools to your planning experience, and we can’t wait to see the impact of the Project Manager agent in your daily workflows! The new Project Manager agent will be rolling out to public preview in the Planner app in Teams in the coming weeks. To explore these capabilities, customers are required to have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license and also need to ensure their current Microsoft 365 licensing allows them access to Microsoft Loop. As this is a preview release, please note that the features may evolve based on user feedback and ongoing improvements. Initially, Project Manager agent will support English language as the interaction medium, and other languages in the future. We’d love for you to try it out and share your thoughts to help shape its future development! Please select the thumbs up or thumbs down button in the Project Manager view or in the Task details to share what you think about the experience. In addition, we are announcing two more capabilities that will be coming soon to Microsoft Planner: 1. Copilot in My Tasks view: This feature brings AI-powered organization and prioritization to your tasks, helping users effectively manage their backlog and enabling them to stay on top of what matters most. 2. Automated status report emails: Provides the capability to automatically generate a status email from your plans, streamlining the process of sharing weekly updates so you can spend less time on emails and more time moving projects forward. We expect these features to be available for our customers to try early 2025. Join us at Microsoft Ignite to learn more about Project Manager agent in our breakout session, "Boost productivity with Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps." Try Planner for the web today! The new Planner for the web is now available! This marks another major milestone in the Planner journey that we announced last November at Ignite. In April, we launched the new Planner app in Microsoft Teams, and now we've completed the rollout with Planner for the web. Planner for the web now brings together the simplicity of Microsoft To Do, the collaboration of Planner, the power of Project for the web, and the intelligence of Microsoft 365 Copilot into a simple, familiar experience. Discover a new way to manage tasks for individual plans, team initiatives, and larger scale project management aligned to goals and key strategic objectives. We’re excited for you to try it out and share your thoughts. Thanks to your ongoing feedback, we’re continuing to roll out bug fixes and new enhancements regularly to both Planner in Teams and Planner for the Web. We have more exciting updates coming soon including the availability of Planner for the web in GCC, a new board view in the My Tasks view, an updated experience for the Planner app in Teams channels, and more. Check in regularly on the roadmap to learn about what’s coming. Explore the new Portfolios feature The frequently requested Portfolios feature is also rolling out in the Planner app in Teams and will start rolling out in the new Planner for the web app in the coming weeks! This powerful addition is designed to help you effortlessly manage and track progress across multiple plans. With Portfolios, you can now get a consolidated view of all your premium plans and tasks, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks. Whether you're coordinating between teams or looking for a top-down perspective, Portfolios in Planner makes it all possible in one location, streamlining workflows and enhancing collaboration. Join our session at Microsoft Ignite We are eager to share more details about these exciting updates during our session at Microsoft Ignite! Join us as we dive deeper into the new features and capabilities of Planner, and learn how they can elevate your teamwork. Don't miss this opportunity to connect with our team and get a firsthand look at what's new. Share your feedback Your feedback helps inform our feature updates and we look forward to hearing from you as you try out the new Planner! Provide feedback by using the Feedback button in the top right corner of the Planner app. We also encourage you to share any features you want to see in the app by adding it to our Planner Feedback Portal. Learn more Check out the recently refreshed Planner adoption page. Sign up to receive future communication about Planner. Check out the Microsoft 365 roadmap for feature descriptions and estimated release dates for Planner. Watch Planner demos for inspiration on how to get the most out of the new Planner app in Microsoft Teams. Watch the recording from September's What’s New and What’s Coming Next + AMA about the new Planner. Visit the Planner help page to learn more about the capabilities in the new Planner.Turn Enterprise Knowledge into Answers with Copilot Studio and Azure AI Search
From the Field: Why This Integration Works As an experienced AI Cloud Solution Architect working in Greater China Region (GCR), I’ve seen one emerging pattern that delivers quick wins for some of my customers: combining Microsoft Copilot Studio with an existing Azure AI Search index. Teams choose this approach because it delivers two outcomes immediately: business users get grounded, reliable answers, and enterprises avoid re-building pipelines or re-platforming knowledge stores. This guide shows exactly how to connect Copilot Studio to an Azure AI Search index that is already live, so your copilot can answer confidently using your enterprise documents. What We Assume Is Already Ready To stay focused on the integration step, we assume: You have an Azure AI Search service deployed You have an index containing vectorized content (manuals, PDFs, policies, FAQs) Your platform/data team already handled ingestion, embeddings, and indexing In short, your Azure AI Search endpoint and admin key are ready, and the index already contains chunked content with embeddings. Step 1 - Collect Your Azure AI Search Connection Details From the Azure AI Search resource: Endpoint URL Azure AI Search → Overview → Url: https://<your-search-service>.search.windows.net Admin Key Azure AI Search → Keys Use either the primary or secondary key. Governance tip: For production, rotate keys regularly and use managed identities when possible. Step 2 - Add Azure AI Search as Knowledge Inside Copilot Studio Open your Copilot Studio agent Go to the Knowledge tab Select Add knowledge, choose Azure AI Search Provide: Endpoint URL Admin key Create or select the connection Choose your existing index from the dropdown Select Add to agent Step 3 - Test a Grounded Response Open the Test copilot pane and ask a question your indexed content can answer, such as: “What are the different licensing options available for Power Platform?” Verify that: The Activity Map shows Azure AI Search being invoked The answer reflects the correct document in your index Citations or references appear where applicable Conclusion Business value: You can activate grounded, explainable answers in Copilot Studio immediately by reusing your existing Azure AI Search index - no re-platforming, no new pipelines. Team model: Data/Platform teams own ingestion, enrichment, and vectorization. Business teams build and refine the copilot experience in Copilot Studio. Scale and governance: All components stay inside Azure, with enterprise-grade security, RBAC, and operational monitoring, while enabling low‑code agility for makers. For the full end-to-end lab (storage setup, embeddings, index creation), see: 🔗 https://github.com/Azure/Copilot-Studio-and-Azure (Lab 1.4). Acknowledgements This tutorial builds on foundational work by my EMEA colleague Pablo Carceller, whose GitHub repo on Copilot Studio and Azure has helped teams worldwide accelerate real customer implementations. 👉 GitHub - Copilot Studio and Azure: https://github.com/Azure/Copilot-Studio-and-Azure I would also like to thank the broader Cloud Accelerate Factory GCR team for their contributions, insights, and active collaboration in validating this pattern across customer engagements. Special appreciation to our AI Architects Dr. Longyu Qi, Jian (Jason) Shao, Lei (Leo) Ma, and Ethan Tseng, as well as our PM partners Yunxi (Rayne) Jin and Emma Wang, whose feedback and field experiences helped shape and refine this guide. Image credits: demo visuals adapted from materials by Pablo Carceller (GitHub Lab 1.4).Microsoft 365 & Power Platform product updates call
💡Microsoft 365 & Power Platform product updates call concentrates on the different use cases and features within the Microsoft 365 and in Power Platform. Call includes topics like Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, Microsoft Teams, Power Platform, Microsoft Graph, Microsoft Viva, Microsoft Search, Microsoft Lists, SharePoint, Power Automate, Power Apps and more. 👏 Weekly Tuesday call is for all community members to see Microsoft PMs, engineering and Cloud Advocates showcasing the art of possible with Microsoft 365 and Power Platform. 📅 On the 7th of April we'll have following agenda: News and updates from Microsoft Together mode group photo Sébastien Levert – Connecting agents in Copilot Chat - Composing an agent ecosystem Zach Rosenfield – Introduction to custom AI Skills in SharePoint Paolo Pialorsi – Connect Declarative Agent to OAuth-Protected MCP Server 📞 & 📺 Join the Microsoft Teams meeting live at https://aka.ms/community/ms-speakers-call-join 🗓️ Download recurrent invite for this weekly call from https://aka.ms/community/ms-speakers-call-invite 👋 See you in the call! 💡 Building something cool for Microsoft 365 or Power Platform (Copilot, SharePoint, Power Apps, etc)? We are always looking for presenters - Volunteer for a community call demo at https://aka.ms/community/request/demo 📖 Resources: Previous community call recordings and demos from the Microsoft Community Learning YouTube channel at https://aka.ms/community/youtube Microsoft 365 & Power Platform samples from Microsoft and community - https://aka.ms/community/samples Microsoft 365 & Power Platform community details - https://aka.ms/community/home 🧡 Sharing is caring!Your guide to the Microsoft 365 Community Conference
Register now and save your spot for the chance to ask questions and share feedback with hundreds of Microsoft executives, engineers, and product leaders. By making your voice heard, your feedback will help shape the technologies that you and countless others use every day. Plus, you’ll hear from icons of Intelligent Work during inspiring keynotes, sessions, and AMAs, including: Jeff Teper, President, Microsoft 365 Collaborative Apps & Platforms, Microsoft Ryan Cunningham, Corporate Vice President, Power Platform Vasu Jakkal, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Security Rohan Kumar, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Security, Purview & Trust Dr. Jaime Teevan, Chief Scientist & Technical Fellow, Microsoft View full speaker list > What: Microsoft 365 Community Conference 2025 Register today | Note: Use the SAVE150 discount code to save $150 USD. Content snapshot: 5 Microsoft keynotes + 1 Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA) | 200+ overall sessions Microsoft-led sessions | 21 full-day workshops (pre-day and post) Microsoft is sending over 150+ product makers to present and engage. Review all sessions, workshops, and speakers. When & where: April 21-23, 2026 In-person: Loews Sapphire Falls and Loews Royal Pacific Resorts in Orlando, Florida Pre-day workshops on Sunday, April 19 and Monday, April 20. Details: Twitter & hashtag: @M365CONF | #M365Con Follow us on LinkedIn: M365Community Conference LinkedIn Company Page Cost: $1,850- full conference (Includes 3 continental breakfasts, 3 lunches, a T-shirt, and backpack (additional costs for full-day workshops). Please visit the M365 Community Conference for full pricing. Microsoft Customer Discount: Use CODE: SAVE150 for $150 USD off registration. Why attend? Stay Ahead of Innovation: Gain exclusive insights into the latest advancements in AI and Microsoft’s Product Roadmap. Empowering you to drive transformation within your organization and stay at the forefront of technology. Hands-On Learning: Participate in practical sessions and workshops that provide actionable strategies and skills to optimize workflows, enhance productivity, and achieve business success. Connect with Experts: Build invaluable connections with Microsoft product makers, MVPs, industry leaders, and a global community of like-minded professionals who share your passion for technology. Transform Your Impact: Leave with a deeper understanding of Microsoft tools, clear strategies for leveraging AI in your work, and a roadmap for achieving your goals and enhancing your team's success. Build Community: Build community by connecting with others, sharing experiences, and forming meaningful relationships. Check out Jeff Teper's awesome statement on The ultimate Microsoft 365 community event is back| Microsoft 365 Blog. FUN: Join us in our community lounge for networking, hanging out, meet and greets with Microsoft and Community All-Stars, surprise and delight treats, stickers and raffles to win grand prizes! Are you in? Register today! Don't miss your chance to join the largest M365 focused conference of the year. Ways to save: Use CODE: SAVE150 for $150 USD off registration. M365CON26 Grant Program (For Non-profits & Small Business) See if you qualify for a deep discount or free pass for Microsoft 365 Community Conference. Small Businesses & Non-profits are eligible to apply for a free pass grant (government organizations do not quality). Read on for more details about what to expect, and we hope to see you there! High-level conference schedule *subject to change – check back for updates Sunday, April 19, 2026 – Workshop Day 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM Workshops Monday, April 20, 2026 – Workshop Day 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM Workshops Tuesday, April 21, 2026 –Conference Session Day 7:00 AM- 8:15 AM Continental Breakfast 8:30 AM- 5:00 PM Keynotes and Sessions 5:00 PM- 6:30 PM Conference Opening Recep7on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 – Conference Session Day 7:00 AM- 8:00 AM Continental Breakfast 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Keynotes and Sessions 5:00 PM - 6:15 PM Networking and T-shirt pick up in Expo Hall 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM Attendee Party Universal Islands of Adventure Thursday April 23, 2026 – Conference Session Day 7:30 AM– 8:45 AM Continental Breakfast 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM Keynotes and Sessions Friday April 24, 2026 – Workshop Day 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM Workshops Check out the keynotes and speakers Catch the speakers and sessions that matter most to you, and your customers. Keynote: Building for the Future: Microsoft 365, Agents and AI, What's New and What's Next Jeff Teper, President, Collaborative Apps and Platforms, Microsoft Tuesday, April 21, 8:30-9:30 AM Keynote: Business Apps and Agents Ryan Cunningham, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Tuesday, April 21, 9:30-10:20 AM Keynote: Securing AI: Building Trust in the Era of AI Vasu Jakkal, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Security Business Rohan Kumar, Corporate Vice President, Security Purview and Trust, Microsoft Wednesday, April 22, 8:00-9:15 AM Keynote: The Future of Work Fireside Keynote Jamie Teevan, Ph.D., Chief Scientist and Technical Fellow, Microsoft Thursday, April 23, 2:15-3:15 PM Keynote: From Momentum to Movement: Where Community Goes Next Karuana Gatimu, Director of Customer Advocacy, AI and Collaboration, Microsoft Heather Cook, Principal PM Manager, Global Community Evangelism and Events Customer Advocacy Group, Microsoft 365 Thursday, April 23, 3:15-4:15 PM Full session list 200+ sessions and workshops If you’re interested in learning how Microsoft is shaping the future of work—there’s a session for you. Join Microsoft experts, MVPs, and community leaders as you find out about the latest product innovations and AI-powered tools. Discover what’s new with Microsoft 365 Copilot, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Copilot Studio, and much more. Check out the full catalog > Explore sessions by day: Tuesday, April 21, 2026 – Conference Session Day 10:55 AM - 11:15 AM | Building AI Agents for Communities: How Viva Engage + Copilot Supercharge Organizational Insight Speaker: Spencer Perry and Ramya Rajasekhar 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Featured Session: Your Guide What’s New in Teams: Collaboration, Communication, and Copilot Speaker: Chandra Chivukula and Ilya Bukshteyn 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Breaking In, Leveling Up: Navigating Tech Careers with Community Speaker: Heather Cook and Nisaini Rexach (CELA) 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | OneDrive: Your Hub for Productivity and Collaboration Excellence Speaker: Carter Green and Arvind Mishra 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | From Chaos to AI-Ready in 30 Days: Meet the SharePoint Admin Agent Speaker: Dieter Jansen and Dave Minasyan 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Leveraging SQL database in Fabric to implement RAG patterns using Vector search Speaker: Sukhwant Kaur 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | How Microsoft Actually Builds Copilot Agents Speaker: Kristina Marko and Clint Williams 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Copilot Studio Governance for Public Sector Speaker: William McLendon and Richie Wallace 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | AI-Powered Collaboration: Unlocking Your Employee Knowledge Base in Engage Speaker: Allison Michels and Ramya Rajasekhar 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | From Data to Decisions: How Copilot in VS Code Empowers Research and Enterprise Teams Speaker: Semir Sarajlic and Olesya Sarajlic, PhD 1:40 PM - 2:00 PM | Deep dive into Agent insights and content governance across SharePoint and Microsoft 365 Speaker: Nikita Bandyopadhyay 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Agent Lifecycle Management and Governance leveraging FastTrack Speaker: Pratik Bhusal and Azharullah Meer 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Evolving channels to be the hub for collaboration in M365 Speakers: Roshin Lal Ramesan and Derek Snook 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Employee Voice Reinvented: Gathering Insights with Next-Gen Feedback Agents Speaker: Caribay Garcia and Alisa Liddle 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Fireside Chat: Being an Effective Leader with AI Speaker: Karuana Gatimu 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Inside Microsoft: Reclaiming Engineering Time with AI in Azure DevOps Speaker: Apoorv Gupta and Gopal Panigrahy 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Featured Session: OneDrive in Action: Transforming Industries, Empowering Success Speaker: Vishal Lodha, Arwa Tyebkhan, and Jason Moore 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Demystifying Copilot and AI experiences on Windows Speaker: Anupam Pattnaik 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Work IQ fundamentals Speaker: Ben Summers 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Copilot "Employee Agents" Speaker: Kyle Von Haden 2:30 PM - 2:50 PM | FastTrack your M365 Deployment Speaker: Pratik Bhusal and Jeffrey Manning 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Protect and govern agents with Microsoft Purview Speaker: Nishan DeSilva and Shilpa Ranganathan 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Mission Readiness - Cybersecurity and Copilot in the Public Sector Speaker: Karuana Gatimu 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | A New Way of Building! Child Agents, Instructions, and Descriptions Speaker: Dewain Robinson and Grant Gieszler 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Start your adoption journey with adoption.microsoft.com Speaker: Jessie Hwang 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Copilot readiness & resiliency with M365 Backup & Archive Speaker: Sree Lakshmi and Eshita Priyadarshini 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Protection in Teams as Modern Threats Evolve Speaker: Srisudha Mahadevan and Harshal Gautam 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Meet AI in SharePoint Speaker: Cory Newton-Smith and Julie Seto 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Featured Session: Engage everywhere: communities, events, and storylines in Teams, powered by AI Speaker: Jeanette Vikbacka Castaing, Jason Mayans, Steve Nguyen, and Murali Sitaram 3:30 PM - 3:50 PM | From Slack to Teams: What’s New and How We Make the Move Easy Speaker: Roshin Lal Ramesan and Arun Das 3:55 PM - 4:15 PM | How Microsoft Digital adopted Baseline Security Mode to improve Microsoft's security posture Speaker: Adriana Wood 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Featured Session: Agent 365: The control plane for all Agents Speaker: Nikita Bandyopadhyay and Sesha Mani 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Customer/Partner spotlight: Microsoft 365 Backup Speaker: Saumitra Bhide and Brad Gussin 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Demystifying Multiagent (Child / Connected) and Component Collection Speaker: Bobby Chang and Dewain Robinson 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Turning AI Potential into High-Impact AI Business Cases and ROI Speaker: April Delsing and Olga Gordon 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Leading Workforce Transformation: The Art and Science of Skilling Your People Speaker: Karuana Gatimu 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Seamless External Collaboration for all customer engagements Speaker: Nitesh Golchha 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Leading Workforce Transformation: The Art and Science of Skilling Your People Speaker: Jessie Hwang 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Community in the Age of AI—Humans at the Center of Copilot Adoption Speaker: Sarah Lundy, Allison Michels, and Alex Snyder 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | What's new with Copilot and Office: Word, Excel, Power Point Agent Mode and Agents Speakers: Trevor O'Brien and Dan Parish 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Understanding Work IQ API Speaker: Paolo Pialorsi Wednesday, April 22, 2026 – Conference Session Day 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM | Building for the future: Microsoft 365, Agents and AI, what's new and what's next Speaker: Jeff Teper 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM | Business Apps & Agents Keynote Speaker: Ryan Cunningham 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM | Empowering Community Builders: Join MGCI & CommunityDays.org Speaker: Heather Cook, Bryan Hart and Emily Hove 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM | The Communicator’s Guide to Viva Engage: Making Comms Relevant in Your AI Transformation Speaker: Najla Dadmand, Sarah Lundy, and Dan Mulcahey 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM | Top Wins - Copilot and Agents for Non Profit Speaker: Karuana Gatimu 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM | Empowering Community Builders: Join MGCI & CommunityDays.org Speaker: Heather Cook, Bryan Hart and Emily Hove 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM | The Communicator’s Guide to Viva Engage: Making Comms Relevant in Your AI Transformation Speaker: Najla Dadmand, Sarah Lundy, and Dan Mulcahey 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM | From Chaos to Clarity: Hyper automation That Actually Works Speaker: Danielle Moon 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM | The Communicator’s Guide to Viva Engage: Making Comms Relevant in Your AI Transformation Speaker: Najla Dadmand, Sarah Lundy, and Dan Mulcahey 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM | Supercharge Your Agents with Computer Use in Copilot Studio Speaker: Sravani Seethi and Phi-Lay Nguyen 10:55 AM - 11:15 AM | Building AI Agents for Communities: How Viva Engage + Copilot Supercharge Organizational Insight Speaker: Spencer Perry and Ramya Rajasekhar 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Featured Session: Your Guide What’s New in Teams: Collaboration, Communication, and Copilot Speaker: Chandra Chivukula and Ilya Bukshteyn 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Breaking In, Leveling Up: Navigating Tech Careers with Community Speaker: Heather Cook and Nisaini Rexach (CELA) 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | OneDrive: Your Hub for Productivity and Collaboration Excellence Speaker: Carter Green and Arvind Mishra 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | From Chaos to AI-Ready in 30 Days: Meet the SharePoint Admin Agent Speaker: Dieter Jansen and Dave Minasyan 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Leveraging SQL database in Fabric to implement RAG patterns using Vector search Speaker: Sukhwant Kaur 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | How Microsoft Actually Builds Copilot Agents Speaker: Kristina Marko and Clint Williams 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Copilot Studio Governance for Public Sector Speaker: William McLendon and Richie Wallace 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | AI-Powered Collaboration: Unlocking Your Employee Knowledge Base in Engage Speaker: Ramya Rajasekhar and Allison Michels 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | From Chaos to AI-Ready in 30 Days: Meet the SharePoint Admin Agent Speaker: Dieter Jansen and Dave Minasyan 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | AI-Powered Collaboration: Unlocking Your Employee Knowledge Base in Engage Speaker: Ramya Rajasekhar and Allison Michels 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | From Data to Decisions: How Copilot in VS Code Empowers Research and Enterprise Teams Speaker: Semir Sarajlic and Olesya Sarajlic, PhD 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | How Microsoft Actually Builds Copilot Agents Speaker: Kristina Marko and Clint Williams 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM | An AI Powered Communication and Operational Efficiency Blueprint for Frontline Teams Speaker: Vishal Anil and Amarjit Prasad 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM | Connected Collaboration: The Future of Sharing in M365 Speaker: Miceile Barrett and Phaneendra Sai Sristi 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM | Use data, insights, and employee listening to build your comms strategy Speaker: Amy Morris, Paula Wellings, and John Cirone 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM | The Power Apps Builder’s Guide for Choosing the Right Path Speaker: April Dunnam 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM | What's new in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app: Your starting place for AI at work Speaker: Andrea Lum and Constance Gervais 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM | The Future of SharePoint Extensibility: What's New, What's Next Speaker: Alex Terentiev and Vesa Juvonen 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM | Using SharePoint AI to solve Business Processes Speaker: Kristen Kamath, Nate Tennant, and Alexander Spitsyn 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM | The Future of SharePoint: AI ready to discover, publish and build. Speaker: Kripal Kavi and Sarah Mathurin 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM | Secure and Govern Microsoft 365 Copilot - What Every IT Pro Needs to Know Speaker: Sophie Ke 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM | What's new in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app: Your starting place for AI at work Speaker: Andrea Lum and Constance Gervais 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM | An AI Powered Communication and Operational Efficiency Blueprint for Frontline Teams Speaker: Vishal Anil and Amarjit Prasad 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM | The Future of SharePoint Extensibility: What's New, What's Next Speaker: Alex Terentiev and Vesa Juvonen 1:35 PM - 1:55 PM | Modernizing Federal Security for the AI Era: Deploying Copilot in GCC High and DoW Speaker: William McLendon and Richie Wallace 1:40 PM - 2:00 PM | Deep dive into Agent insights and content governance across SharePoint and Microsoft 365 Speaker: Nikita Bandyopadhyay 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Agent Lifecycle Management and Governance leveraging FastTrack Speaker: Pratik Bhusal and Azharullah Meer 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Evolving channels to be the hub for collaboration in M365 Speaker: Chandra Chivukula, Roshin Lal Ramesan, and Chandrika Duggirala 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Employee Voice Reinvented: Gathering Insights with Next-Gen Feedback Agents Speaker: Caribay Garcia and Alisa Liddle 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Fireside Chat: Being an Effective Leader with AI Speaker: Karuana Gatimu 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Inside Microsoft: Reclaiming Engineering Time with AI in Azure DevOps Speaker: Apoorv Gupta and Gopal Panigrahy 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Featured Session: OneDrive in Action: Transforming Industries, Empowering Success Speaker: Vishal Lodha, Jason Moore, and Arwa Tyebkhan 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Work IQ fundamentals Speaker: Ben Summers 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Copilot "Employee Agents" Speaker: Kyle Von Haden 2:30 PM - 2:50 PM | FastTrack your M365 Deployment Speaker: Pratik Bhusal and Jeffrey Manning 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Protect and govern agents with Microsoft Purview Speaker: Nishan DeSilva, Shilpa Ranganathan 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Mission Readiness - Cybersecurity and Copilot in the Public Sector Speaker: Karuana Gatimu 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | A New Way of Building! Child Agents, Instructions, and Descriptions Speaker: Dewain Robinson and Grant Gieszler 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Start your adoption journey with adoption.microsoft.com Speaker: Jessie Hwang 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Copilot readiness & resiliency with M365 Backup & Archive Speaker: Sree Lakshmi and Eshita Priyadarshini 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Protection in Teams as Modern Threats Evolve Speaker: Srisudha Mahadevan and Harshal Hautam 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Featured Session: Engage everywhere: communities, events, and storylines in Teams, powered by AI Speaker: Jeanette Vikbacka Castaing, Jason Mayans, Steve Nguyen, and Murali Sitaram 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Meet AI in SharePoint Speaker: Cory Newton-Smith and Julie Seto 3:30 PM - 3:50 PM | From Slack to Teams: What’s New and How We Make the Move Easy Speaker: R Roshin Lal Ramesan and Arun Das 3:55 PM - 4:15 PM | How Microsoft Digital adopted Baseline Security Mode to improve Microsoft's security posture Speaker: Adriana Wood 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Featured Session: Agent 365: The control plane for all Agents Speaker: Nikita Bandyopadhyay and Sesha Mani 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Demystifying Multiagent (Child / Connected) and Component Collection Speaker: Bobby Chang and Dewain Robinson 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Turning AI Potential into High-Impact AI Business Cases and ROI Speaker: April Delsing and Olga Gordon 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Leading Workforce Transformation: The Art and Science of Skilling Your People Speaker: Karuana Gatimu 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Seamless External Collaboration for all customer engagements Speaker: Nitesh Golchha 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Customer/Partner spotlight: Microsoft 365 Backup Speaker: Brad Gussin and Saumitra Bhide 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Leading Workforce Transformation: The Art and Science of Skilling Your People Speaker: Jessie Hwang 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Community in the Age of AI—Humans at the Center of Copilot Adoption Speaker: Sarah Lundy, Allison Michels, and Alex Snyder 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | What's new with Copilot and Office: Word, Excel, Power Point Agent Mode and Agents Speaker: Trevor O'Brien and Dan Parish 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Understanding Work IQ API Speaker: Paolo Pialorsi Thursday April 23, 2026 – Conference Session Day 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM | Microsoft Lists Speaker: Mitalee Mulpuru and Arjun Tomar 10:55 AM - 11:15 AM | Building AI Agents for Communities: How Viva Engage + Copilot Supercharge Organizational Insight Speakers: Spencer Perry and Ramya Rajasekhar 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Featured Session: Your Guide What’s New in Teams: Collaboration, Communication, and Copilot Speakers: Ilya Bukshteyn and Chandra Chivukula 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Breaking In, Leveling Up: Navigating Tech Careers with Community Speaker: Heather Cook 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | OneDrive: Your Hub for Productivity and Collaboration Excellence Speaker: Carter Green and Arvind Mishra 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | From Chaos to AI-Ready in 30 Days: Meet the SharePoint Admin Agent Speaker: Dieter Jansen and Dave Minasyan 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Leveraging SQL database in Fabric to implement RAG patterns using Vector search Speaker: Sukhwant Kaur 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | How Microsoft Actually Builds Copilot Agents Speaker: Kristina Marko and Clint Williams 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | AI-Powered Collaboration: Unlocking Your Employee Knowledge Base in Engage Speaker: Ramya Rajasekhar and Allison Michels 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | From Chaos to AI-Ready in 30 Days: Meet the SharePoint Admin Agent Speaker: Dieter Jansen and Dave Minasyan 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | From Data to Decisions: How Copilot in VS Code Empowers Research and Enterprise Teams Speaker: Semir Sarajlic and Olesya Sarajlic, PhD 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Copilot Studio Governance for Public Sector Speaker: William McLendon and Richie Wallace 1:40 PM - 2:00 PM | Deep dive into Agent insights and content governance across SharePoint and Microsoft 365 Speaker: Nikita Bandyopadhyay 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Agent Lifecycle Management and Governance leveraging FastTrack Speaker: Pratik Bhusal and Azharullah Meer 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Evolving channels to be the hub for collaboration in M365 Speakers: Roshin Lal Ramesan and Derek Snook 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Employee Voice Reinvented: Gathering Insights with Next-Gen Feedback Agents Speaker: Caribay Garcia and Alisa Liddle 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Fireside Chat: Being an Effective Leader with AI Speaker: Karuana Gatimu 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Inside Microsoft: Reclaiming Engineering Time with AI in Azure DevOps Speaker: Apoorv Gupta and Gopal Panigrahy 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Featured Session: OneDrive in Action: Transforming Industries, Empowering Success Speaker: Vishal Lodha, Jason Moore, and Arwa Tyebkhan 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Work IQ fundamentals Speaker: Ben Summers 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Copilot "Employee Agents" Speaker: Kyle Von Haden 2:30 PM - 2:50 PM | FastTrack your M365 Deployment Speaker: Pratik Bhusal and Jeffrey Manning 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Protect and govern agents with Microsoft Purview Speaker: Nishan DeSilva and Shilpa Ranganathan 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Mission Readiness - Cybersecurity and Copilot in the Public Sector Speaker: Karuana Gatimu 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | A New Way of Building! Child Agents, Instructions, and Descriptions Speaker: Dewain Robinson and Grant Gieszler 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Start your adoption journey with adoption.microsoft.com Speaker: Jessie Hwang 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Copilot readiness & resiliency with M365 Backup & Archive Speaker: Sree Lakshmi and Eshita Priyadarshini 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Protection in Teams as Modern Threats Evolve Speaker: Srisudha Mahadevan and Harshal Gautam 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Meet AI in SharePoint Speaker: Cory Newton-Smith and Julie Seto 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Featured Session: Engage everywhere: communities, events, and storylines in Teams, powered by AI Speaker: Jeanette Vikbacka Castaing, Jason Mayans, Steve Nguyen, and Murali Sitaram 3:30 PM - 4:15 PM | Keynote: From Momentum to Movement: Where Community Goes Next Speakers: Heather Cook and Karuana Gatimu Friday, April 24, 2026 – Workshop Day 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM | Deepening customer connections for your SMB through Teams Speakers: Angela Chin and Prem Mathiyalagan 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM | Cultivating Trust and Leadership Excellence: Strategies for Respect and Empathy in the Workplace Speaker: Heather Cook 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM | Planner, Copilot and Agents: AI Assisted Projects with Work IQ Speakers: Howard Crow and Robyn Guarriello 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM | Microsoft 365 Mergers & Acquisitions Speaker: Vaibhav Gaddam and Subham Dang 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM | Top Wins - Copilot and Agents for Retail Speaker: Karuana Gatimu 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM | Agents are joining the team - build collaborative agents for Microsoft Teams Speaker: Carter Gilliam and Saira Shariff 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM | Prompt to Profit: How Finance Teams Win with M365 Copilot & AI Agents Speaker: Melanie Mayo 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM | Top Wins - Copilot and Agents for Retail Speaker: Danielle Moon and Karuana Gatimu 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM | Microsoft Purview: AI‑-Powered Data Security for Microsoft 365 Speaker: Aashish Ramdas Level up your AI skills and shape the future of your business with Featured Sessions Develop the skills needed to thrive as a Frontier Firm through sessions led by innovators, builders, designers, Microsoft product teams, and MVPs shaping collaboration. Featured Session: Engage everywhere: communities, events, and storylines in Teams, powered by AI with Murali Sitaram, Steve Nguyen, Jason Mayans, and Jeanette Vikbacka Castaing Featured Session: Your Guide What’s New in Teams: Collaboration, Communication, and Copilot with Ilya Bukshteyn and Chandra Chivukula Planner, Copilot and Agents: AI Assisted Projects with WorkIQ with Howard Crow and Robyn Guarriello Lightning Talks: Lightning Talks are fast‑paced, 15‑minute sessions happening live at the Microsoft Booth that are designed to deliver practical insights, real‑world tips, and quick wins you can take back to your team right away. Stop by throughout the day to learn something new, get inspired, and catch a few surprises along the way. You can check the event agenda for session details. Onsite experiences Demo Stations: Visit the demo stations in the Microsoft Booth for guided, live walkthroughs led by Microsoft experts who can answer your questions in real time. Each station is designed to support scenario‑based conversations and hands‑on exploration, so you can dive deeper into the tools and solutions that matter most to your organization. The Microsoft Booth will be open anytime the expo hall is open. Mini LEGO figurines: Build a mini-LEGO figurine as a takeaway after walking through a demo scenario. It is a quick hands-on moment that adds some play and personality to your conference experience and lets you take some fun swag home. Celebrate 25 years of SharePoint Tuesday, April 21, 12:30PM – 1:30PM Celebrate the SharePoint community with the premiere of a new documentary short film at the conference, complete with a true movie‑premiere experience. Designed to honor the impact of SharePoint and Microsoft 365, this special event brings the community together to capture and celebrate the moment in person. Tuesday, April 21, 5PM – 6:30PM Microsoft Booth Join a live panel celebrating 25 years of SharePoint and what is next for the platform and community. Expect reflections, stories, and forward-looking conversations tied to the broader SharePoint at 25 celebration. Surface + Global Skilling Bar: Get hands on with Surface devices while exploring skilling resources designed to help you level up. This activation is being built to connect Surface experiences with AI skilling guidance, including the AI Skills Navigator. Attendees can experience this hands-on learning in the Microsoft booth during expo hall hours. Surface giveaways from raffle: Enter the raffle for a chance to win Surface giveaways and other prizes during the event. Winners are selected as part of the community giveaway experience, so check posted instructions onsite and make sure you enter. Each raffle will take place at the close of expo hall hours at the Microsoft Booth Bring your spirit wear game! We’re bringing the fun to the show floor with themed Costume Spirit Days all week long! Come by the booth in your best look, show off your costume, and score an extra raffle ticket for our daily prize drawing. Product Roundtable Discussions Microsoft wants to hear from you! The Microsoft User Experience Research team is hosting a series of interactive sessions focused on AI-powered experiences across Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, Planner, and Viva Engage. We invite you to join us to share your perspectives, explore emerging ideas, and influence what’s next. Customer feedback is at the heart of our innovation process. Your participation helps ensure that the experiences we are building are useful, intuitive, and grounded in real organizational needs. “At Microsoft, learning from our customers is a privilege and a vital part of our customer-driven innovation process. By sharing your perspectives, you enable us to create solutions that truly meet your needs and enhance your overall experience with Microsoft products.” – Marcella Silva, Partner Director of User Experience Research What you can expect: Interactive Sessions: Participate in hands-on activities and guided discussions with the Microsoft User Experience Research and Product teams. Expert Insights: Learn directly from the teams shaping the experiences you use every day. Exclusive Previews: Get early visibility into current explorations and future directions. Meaningful Connections: Engage with peers and Microsoft teams in a collaborative environment. How to sign up: Stay tuned! The sign-up form and detailed session descriptions will be available soon. Don’t miss this opportunity to make a difference in the future of Microsoft 365! Community meetups Community meetups are informal, connection‑first gatherings where attendees can meet others who share a role, interest, or identity. Whether you're looking to exchange ideas, grow your network, or find your people within the Microsoft 365 community, these sessions create space for meaningful conversations and authentic connection beyond the conference sessions. Women in Tech and Allies Lunch Discussion Grab your lunch and network with peers, discuss progress, and focus on how we can continue to make the Microsoft ecosystem the best in the world for supporting women. All individuals are welcome regardless of gender for an open and compassionate conversation on allyship and inclusiveness. The discussion will be hosted by Heather Cook, Principal Customer Experience PM and distinguished panelists including: Vasu Jakkal, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Security Business Jaime Teevan, Chief Scientist & Technical Fellow Lan Ye, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Teams Sumi Singh, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Teams Karuana Gatimu, Director, Customer Advocacy - AI & Collaboration, Microsoft Kate Faaland, Program Manager of Data and AI, AvePoint Get the MVP experience—and don’t forget the photo op! Microsoft MVPs will be on hand throughout the event to share their real-world experience and practitioner insight directly to you. During sessions, our MVPs will share thoughts and brainstorm solutions to challenges as they share practical, scenario‑driven guidance drawn from hands‑on work with Microsoft 365. And of course, the program isn’t over without the annual MVP photo! Register Today! You’ll find all this and more at Microsoft 365 Community Conference, April 21–23 in Orlando. Register today and don't miss your chance for the largest M365 focused conference of the year. and don't miss your chance for the largest M365 focused conference of the year. Ways to save: Use CODE: SAVE150 for $150 USD off registration. M365CON26 Grant Program (For Non-profits & Small Business) See if you qualify for a deep discount or free pass for Microsoft 365 Community Conference. Small Businesses & Non-profits are eligible to apply for a free pass grant at www.change3e.com/grants (government organizations do not quality). Learn more Visit M365Conf.com and follow the action on: X/Twitter: @M365Conf / #M365Con, @Microsoft365, @MSFTCopilot, @SharePoint, @OneDrive, @MicrosoftTeams, @MSPowerPlat, @Microsoft365Dev, and @MSFTAdoption. And on our Microsoft Community LinkedIn and Learning YouTube channel. Want more information? Check out our library of blogs on topics, speakers, community activities and more: The ultimate Microsoft 365 community event returns with Jeff Teper 5 reasons to attend this year’s event What’s new in Microsoft Teams What to expect from the Copilot & AI sessions MVP experiences Get your company engagement up with Viva Engage Women in Tech at M365 Community Conference Level up your data security Keynotes highlight We hope you will join us in Orlando for an unforgettable week of innovation, inspiration, and community! Get ready to dive into the action with passionate MVPs, Microsoft product leaders, and an incredible lineup of tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Copilot Studio, Power Platform, Planner, and so much more. Let us make memories and shape the future together!How Do We Know AI Isn’t Lying? The Art of Evaluating LLMs in RAG Systems
🔍 1. Why Evaluating LLM Responses is Hard In classical programming, correctness is binary. Input Expected Result 2 + 2 4 ✔ Correct 2 + 2 5 ✘ Wrong Software is deterministic — same input → same output. LLMs are probabilistic. They generate one of many valid word combinations, like forming sentences from multiple possible synonyms and sentence structures. Example: Prompt: "Explain gravity like I'm 10" Possible responses: Response A Response B Gravity is a force that pulls everything to Earth. Gravity bends space-time causing objects to attract. Both are correct. Which is better? Depends on audience. So evaluation needs to look beyond text similarity. We must check: ✔ Is the answer meaningful? ✔ Is it correct? ✔ Is it easy to understand? ✔ Does it follow prompt intent? Testing LLMs is like grading essays — not checking numeric outputs. 🧠 2. Why RAG Evaluation is Even Harder RAG introduces an additional layer — retrieval. The model no longer answers from memory; it must first read context, then summarise it. Evaluation now has multi-dimensions: Evaluation Layer What we must verify Retrieval Did we fetch the right documents? Understanding Did the model interpret context correctly? Grounding Is the answer based on retrieved data? Generation Quality Is final response complete & clear? A simple story makes this intuitive: Teacher asks student to explain Photosynthesis. Student goes to library → selects a book → reads → writes explanation. We must evaluate: Did they pick the right book? → Retrieval Did they understand the topic? → Reasoning Did they copy facts correctly without inventing? → Faithfulness Is written explanation clear enough for another child to learn from? → Answer Quality One failure → total failure. 🧩 3. Two Types of Evaluation 🔹 Intrinsic Evaluation — Quality of the Response Itself Here we judge the answer, ignoring real-world impact. We check: ✔ Grammar & coherence ✔ Completeness of explanation ✔ No hallucination ✔ Logic flow & clarity ✔ Semantic correctness This is similar to checking how well the essay is written. Even if the result did not solve the real problem, the answer could still look good — that’s why intrinsic alone is not enough. 🔹 Extrinsic Evaluation — Did It Achieve the Goal? This measures task success. If a customer support bot writes a beautifully worded paragraph, but the user still doesn’t get their refund — it failed extrinsically. Examples: System Type Extrinsic Goal Banking RAG Bot Did user get correct KYC procedure? Medical RAG Was advice safe & factual? Legal search assistant Did it return the right section of the law? Technical summariser Did summary capture key meaning? Intrinsic = writing quality. Extrinsic = impact quality. A production-grade RAG system must satisfy both. 📏 4. Core RAG Evaluation Metrics (Explained with Very Simple Analogies) Metric Meaning Analogy Relevance Does answer match question? Ask who invented C++? → model talks about Java ❌ Faithfulness No invented facts Book says started 2004, response says 1990 ❌ Groundedness Answer traceable to sources Claims facts that don’t exist in context ❌ Completeness Covers all parts of question User asks Windows vs Linux → only explains Windows Context Recall / Precision Correct docs retrieved & used Student opens wrong chapter Hallucination Rate Degree of made-up info “Taj Mahal is in London” 😱 Semantic Similarity Meaning-level match “Engine died” = “Car stopped running” 💡 Good evaluation doesn’t check exact wording. It checks meaning + truth + usefulness. 🛠 5. Tools for RAG Evaluation 🔹 1. RAGAS — Foundation for RAG Scoring RAGAS evaluates responses based on: ✔ Faithfulness ✔ Relevance ✔ Context recall ✔ Answer similarity Think of RAGAS as a teacher grading with a rubric. It reads both answer + source documents, then scores based on truthfulness & alignment. 🔹 2. LangChain Evaluators LangChain offers multiple evaluation types: Type What it checks String or regex Basic keyword presence Embedding based Meaning similarity, not text match LLM-as-a-Judge AI evaluates AI (deep reasoning) LangChain = testing toolbox RAGAS = grading framework Together they form a complete QA ecosystem. 🔹 3. PyTest + CI for Automated LLM Testing Instead of manually validating outputs, we automate: Feed preset questions to RAG Capture answers Run RAGAS/LangChain scoring Fail test if hallucination > threshold This brings AI closer to software-engineering discipline. RAG systems stop being experiments — they become testable, trackable, production-grade products. 🚀 6. The Future: LLM-as-a-Judge The future of evaluation is simple: LLMs will evaluate other LLMs. One model writes an answer. Another model checks: ✔ Was it truthful? ✔ Was it relevant? ✔ Did it follow context? This enables: Benefit Why it matters Scalable evaluation No humans needed for every query Continuous improvement Model learns from mistakes Real-time scoring Detect errors before user sees them This is like autopilot for AI systems — not only navigating, but self-correcting mid-flight. And that is where enterprise AI is headed. 🎯 Final Summary Evaluating LLM responses is not checking if strings match. It is checking if the machine: ✔ Understood the question ✔ Retrieved relevant knowledge ✔ Avoided hallucination ✔ Provided complete, meaningful reasoning ✔ Grounded answer in real source text RAG evaluation demands multi-layer validation — retrieval, reasoning, grounding, semantics, safety. Frameworks like RAGAS + LangChain evaluators + PyTest pipelines are shaping the discipline of measurable, reliable AI — pushing LLM-powered RAG from cool demo → trustworthy enterprise intelligence. Useful Resources What is Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) : https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/resources/cloud-computing-dictionary/what-is-retrieval-augmented-generation-rag/ Retrieval-Augmented Generation concepts (Azure AI) : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/concepts/retrieval-augmented-generation RAG with Azure AI Search – Overview : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/search/retrieval-augmented-generation-overview Evaluate Generative AI Applications (Microsoft Learn – Learning Path) : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/paths/evaluate-generative-ai-apps/ Evaluate Generative AI Models in Microsoft Foundry Portal : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/modules/evaluate-models-azure-ai-studio/ RAG Evaluation Metrics (Relevance, Groundedness, Faithfulness) : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-foundry/concepts/evaluation-evaluators/rag-evaluators RAGAS – Evaluation Framework for RAG Systems : https://docs.ragas.io/Microsoft 365 & Power Platform Community call
💡 Microsoft 365 & Power Platform Development bi-weekly community call focuses on different use cases and features within the Microsoft 365 and Power Platform - across Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, SharePoint, Power Apps and more. 👏 Looking to catch up on the latest news and updates, including cool community demos, this call is for you! 📅 On 9th of April we'll have following agenda: Copilot prompt of the week CommunityDays.org update Microsoft 365 Maturity model Latest on PnP Framework and Core SDK extension Latest on PnP PowerShell Latest on script samples Latest Copilot pro dev samples Latest on Power Platform samples Picture time with the Together Mode! Fabian Hutzli (die Mobiliar) – How to govern Sites.Selected Access Ejaz Hussain (Advania UK) – How to trigger an authenticated Power Automate flow from a SharePoint document library Nello d’Andrea (die Mobiliar) – Making SPFx upgrades smooth and easy with Claude Code 📅 Download recurrent invite from https://aka.ms/community/m365-powerplat-dev-call-invite 📞 & 📺 Join the Microsoft Teams meeting live at https://aka.ms/community/m365-powerplat-dev-call-join 👋 See you in the call! 💡 Building something cool for Microsoft 365 or Power Platform (Copilot, SharePoint, Power Apps, etc)? We are always looking for presenters - Volunteer for a community call demo at https://aka.ms/community/request/demo 📖 Resources: Previous community call recordings and demos from the Microsoft Community Learning YouTube channel at https://aka.ms/community/youtube Microsoft 365 & Power Platform samples from Microsoft and community - https://aka.ms/community/samples Microsoft 365 & Power Platform community details - https://aka.ms/community/home 🧡 Sharing is caring!
