Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Frontier is Microsoft’s early access program for the latest AI innovations in Microsoft 365 giving you hands-on access to experimental agents and Microsoft app features before they become generally available. Frontier empowers you to drive innovation and shape the future of AI at work and at home, all within the security and familiarity of your own Microsoft 365 environment.

Eligibility: Frontier features are available to all Microsoft 365 customers with a Copilot license. Your organization’s admin settings may determine who can access and use Frontier features. Additionally,
individuals with Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, or Premium subscriptions can also access and use Frontier features.

Please see instructions below for any other unique requirements:

• WHITEPAPER: Getting started with Frontier
  https://adoption.microsoft.com/files/copilot/Frontier_Getting-started-guide.pdf
• SITE: More about the Frontier Program for Microsoft 365 Copilot
  https://adoption.microsoft.com/en-us/copilot/frontier-program/

I was asked recently why a customer should implement “Azure Databricks” over “Databricks on AWS”.

This is a fun conversation because it’s quite straight-forward. “Azure Databricks” is a native, 1st party service (as in it’s a Microsoft SaaS service) running in Azure. Customers with existing Azure enrollments can set up Azure Databricks immediately. No additional licensing is required, no additional support & it delivers the best performance & scalability of any public cloud.

More importantly, just like Azure SQL or Azure CosmoDB or Oracle Database on Azure, Azure Databricks inherits all the benefits of being a native Azure service – including direct access to the richest AI services models, Power BI analytics, Power App & Automate connectivity, ultra-high performance access to Azure Data Lake Storage, native access control Entra ID authentication, and more “Azure-only” advantages.

Check out these blog posts from the Azure Data & AI & Azure Databricks teams at Microsoft:

• BLOG: Databricks runs best on Azure
  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-databricks-differentiated-synergy/
• BLOG: Azure Databricks: Differentiated synergy 
  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/databricks-runs-best-on-azure/

Interested in short, 5min recaps of some of the key areas highlighted at Microsoft Ignite 2025 this year?

• Opening keynote recap with Judson Althoff
• Powering Frontier partnerships
• Security in the agentic era – the core primitive
• Advancing accessible AI-learning experiences
• Microsoft Entra: what’s new in Secure Access on the AI Frontier
• How Copilot Transforms Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, and Excel
• Customized AI for your business with Copilot Tuning
• Real Copilot adoption journeys that worked
• Safe and scalable DevOps with AI agents on GitHub
• Inside Azure Innovations with Mark Russinovich ​
• Securing and governing low-code solutions ​
• Modernize your apps with AI agents in GitHub Copilot ​
• Create apps with M365 Copilot and App Builder ​

For a playlist of all the Microsoft Ignite 2025 Recaps: (5min)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLahhVEj9XNTfaUh3x5Gh2qrNbTyvh6zs_

For viewing of over 500+ breakout session recordings (~60min), visit:
https://ignite.microsoft.com/en-US/sessions

We’re introducing Audio Recap for Microsoft Teams, a new way to catch up on your meetings. With audio recap, your meeting recap is transformed into an audio experience you can listen to on the go. Whether you’re commuting, walking between meetings, or simply prefer listening, it’s a hands-free way to stay connected and informed. You can generate an audio recap for up to eight meetings at a time, and choose the delivery style that best fits how you want to listen.

Learn more about audio recap in Microsoft Teams: https://msft.it/6057tyO0Z

(A 3rd party overview for Audio Recap was done on m365scripts.com which I could never outdo, so I’m just posting it here for you to read. You’re welcome. 🙂 https://m365scripts.com/microsoft-teams/get-audio-recap-of-microsoft-teams-meetings/)

Wouldn’t it be great if you could automatically check if your Windows patch rollout will work on your clients *before* you begin?

INTRODUCING WINDOWS AUTOPATCH UPDATE READINESS
If you’re using Windows Autopatch, you now have preemptive checking, aka “Update Readiness” to anticipate issues before you even begin the rollout! Stop fixing issues after they happen.

Proactive checks help catch hidden prerequisites and safeguards before deployment. Administrators can review lists of devices that need remediation & address them up front. And proactive guidance is presented in a troubleshooting map – including actionable alerts driven by the audit logs that Windows Autopatch & Intune creates.

Read more about the new Update Readiness for Windows Autopatch on the blog:

• BLOG: Windows Autopatch — Elevate your update experience for modern work
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/windows-itpro-blog/windows-autopatch-%E2%80%94-elevate-your-update-experience-for-modern-work/4468111

With the recent announcement of Intune Remote Help’s coming inclusion with Microsoft 365 E3/G3, (and other SKUs) many customers are just discovering the capabilities of Intune Remote Help.

Remote Help is a cloud-based solution that securely connects help desk teams to users. It features permission-based access controls, device compliance checks, organizational login requirements, and incident management ticket tracking. IT administrators can use session reporting to identify support trends and recurring issues.

The three main benefits of using Remote Help are:

• Reduce security risks: Remote Help enables secure IT and worker connections, strengthening your Zero Trust architecture.
• Boost efficiency: IT and help desk teams can quickly and effectively address service issues.
• Support employees anywhere: Remote Help provides a simple and reliable way to connect workers with the technical assistance they need.

The Intune Remote Help interactive demo walks you through scenarios step-by-step with interactive annotations and navigation controls. The demo reviews:

• Setting up Remote Help
• Configure the Remote Help app
• Deploy the Remote Help app
• Integrate with ServiceNow
• End user: Remote Help experience for Windows
• End user: Streamlined web app experience for macOS
• End user: A native app experience on macOS

To start the Intune Remote Help interactive demo, visit:

• https://regale.cloud/Microsoft/viewer/1746/remote-help/index.html#/0/0

For more information about the recent announcement of Intune’s new capabilities included in Microsoft 365 E3/G3 & other SKUs, visit:

• https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoftintuneblog/microsoft-365-adds-advanced-microsoft-intune-solutions-at-scale/4474272

Do you schedule meetings for your team within Outlook?
How about this Copilot prompt:

“Find a time next week to schedule a meeting called “Discuss City of Los Angeles’ Automation Requirements” between myself, Anya Merkle & Zach Gretch for 1 hour before 5PM. Make this a Microsoft Teams meeting but also book a room in the Orange County office. Put the following agenda in the body: Review customer requirements, Outline upcoming meeting, Assign responsibilities to team members, Document next steps.”

Microsoft 365 Copilot can find available times across all of your attendee’s schedules and present them for you to select, the schedule the meeting on people’s calendars and include:

• Sending out the invite with a specific subject & body
• Microsoft Teams meeting
• Booking a room via Microsoft Places

Here’s the output of the above Copilot prompt:

For more information:

• Schedule a meeting using Copilot
  https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/schedule-a-meeting-using-copilot-72712d86-ae55-4f2a-95de-19bce2e1ec5b