by Scott | Nov 20, 2025 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:05 — 20.7MB)
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Welcome to Episode 415 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. Ben and Scott discuss the major announcements from Microsoft Ignite 2025, focusing on the dominant themes of AI agents and security. The conversation centers on three key areas: Security Copilot updates, Agent 365 for governance, and the broader security and management implications for IT professionals.
Key Discussion Topics
- Security Copilot Expansion to E5 Customers
- 12 new Security Copilot agents coming to Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview
- 30+ partner agents being added to the ecosystem
- Major announcement: Security Copilot will now be available to all Microsoft 365 E5 customers
- Rollout begins with Frontier program (Microsoft’s insider ring for Copilot)
- Expanding in coming months to all E5 customers
- Security Copilot spans four pillars:
- Security Operations (Defender + Sentinel)
- Data Security (Purview)
- Identity & Access (Entra)
- Endpoint Management (Intune)
- Microsoft Agent 365 – The Control Plane for Agents
- Addresses the critical problem of agent sprawl and governance
- Think of it as “Entra ID for AI agents”
- Core capabilities:
- Registry: Complete inventory of all agents (registered, unregistered, and shadow agents
- Access Control: Conditional access policies and risk-based policies for agents
- Monitoring: Real-time visibility into agent behavior, performance, and organizational impact
- Security Integration: Defender protection, Purview data governance
- Key governance features:
- Approve pending agent requests
- Identify ownerless agents
- Apply DLP policies to agents
- Conditional access for agents
- Secure score for agents
- Available now through Frontier program in Microsoft 365 admin center
- Overarching Themes
- Agent security is the new frontier: All major product announcements (Purview, Entra, Defender) are focused on agent governance
- 100 trillion daily signals inform Microsoft’s threat intelligence
- Ignite’s evolution: Less about big product launches, more about storytelling and connecting features released throughout the year
- IT Pro focus: Understanding, managing, and securing AI agents is becoming a core competency
- Key Observations
- Ignite 2025 is heavily focused on AI and security – limited announcements for traditional products like SharePoint, Teams, or Loop
- The shift reflects Microsoft’s rapid release cadence in the cloud era
- Agent sprawl is real and Microsoft is proactively addressing governance needs
- IT professionals need to embrace this change: “The only way out is through”
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by Scott | Dec 5, 2024 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:13 — 12.5MB)
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Welcome to Episode 390 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, live from Microsoft Ignite 2024! In this episode Ben sits down for a chat with Melissa Grant, head of product marketing for Windows 11 Enterprise, Windows 365, and Azure Virtual Desktop at Microsoft. Melissa discusses her tenure at Microsoft and the evolution of cloud-based Windows offerings, starting with the launch of Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) five years ago and transitioning into Windows 365. They also discuss Windows 365 Link, Microsoft’s new dedicated endpoint device, designed for seamless, secure connections Windows 365 Cloud PCs. This device reduces the need for extensive IT management and resources by simplifying deployment process, and providing security benefits based on feedback from some of Microsoft’s customers.
Melissa Grant
Melissa Grant leads product marketing for Windows Enterprise, Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop within Microsoft Modern Work. She and her team are dedicated to delivering secure, productive and efficient commercial solutions so customers can do their best work with Windows.
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Melissa on LinkedIn
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by Scott | Nov 21, 2024 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:59 — 24.7MB)
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Welcome to Episode 389 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this special episode, we recap the game-changing announcements from Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft’s premier conference unveiling innovations across Microsoft 365 and Azure.We explore advancements in Agentic AI and multi-modal models that seamlessly accept and produce text, voice, and graphics. Discover how Copilot is evolving with features like reasoning over on-screen content (coming to Teams in CY25) and enhanced capabilities in tools like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel—bringing automated summaries, dynamic graphics, and effortless data analysis to the forefront.
Learn how Copilot Pages enable collaborative editing, while Copilot Extensibility and Agents allow businesses to create customized AI-powered helpers with ease. Imagine every SharePoint site having a built-in agent by default, making tasks more intuitive than ever.
We also cover new updates in edge AI—a “distributed computing fabric” blending Azure Local bare-metal solutions and Windows 365 Link thin clients. Innovations in AI-ready silicon underpin these transformative changes.
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by Scott | Nov 30, 2023 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:15 — 31.8MB)
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In Episode 362, Ben and Scott get sidetracked with some of the announcements coming out of Microsoft Ignite.
It’s also the season of giving and we’re raising money for Girls Who Code. Donate today at https://give.girlswhocode.com/msclouditpro!
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by Scott | Sep 28, 2023 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:40 — 31.4MB)
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In Episode 353, Scott talks to Ben about how he’s using Portainer for container management on his home network and some tips and tricks for managing apps on your Mac (sorry Windows users). Then they pivot to Microsoft’s largest conference of the year – Microsoft Ignite – coming Nov 14-17, 2023 for in-person attendees and November 15-16, 2023 for virtual attendees.
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