Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Microsoft-in-a-Day series of workshops are all-day, “no cost”, virtual learning events, designed to teach users – in online, one-day trainings led by an instructor – how they can quickly & effectively address business challenges.  Workshops include:

• App in a Day
• Dashboard in a Day
• Agent in a Day
• Fabric Analyst in a Day
• Real-Time Intelligence in a Day

Take advantage of these online workshops to get a jumpstart on any of these technologies. For more information on Microsoft-in-a-Day workshops & available registration dates, visit: 

• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/training-workshops

The following Microsoft-sponsored conferences are coming in 2026 so budget, register & block the times on your calendars now for these events.

Keep in mind that it’s not just about getting a registration, it’s about getting a HOTEL ROOM. Lodging is often the most difficult thing to secure so remember that – especially for the coveted “conference block” of discounted rooms – hotel reservations are “first come, first served”.

• Fabric Community Conference 2026
  • Fabric conference – https://fabriccon.com/
  • March 16-20, 2026 – Georgia World Congress Center – Atlanta, GA
  • Discount code: MSCUST ($150 off)

• SQLCon 2026
  • SQL Server conference – https://sqlcon.us/
  • March 16-20, 2026 – Georgia World Congress Center – Atlanta, GA
  • Discount code: MSCUST ($150 off)

• Visual Studio Live!
  • VSLive! Las Vegas 2026
    Developer Training conference – https://vslive.com/events/las-vegas-2026/home.aspx
    March 16-20, 2026 – Planet Hollywood – Las Vegas, NV
    Discount code: VSSOFFER ($900 off for Visual Studio subscribers)
  • VSLive! Microsoft HQ 2026
    Developer Training conference – https://vslive.com/events/microsofthq-2026/home.aspx
    July 27-31,2026 – Microsoft Conference Center – Redmond, WA
    Discount code: VSSOFFER ($900 off for Visual Studio subscribers)
  • VSLive!/Live!360 TechCon 2026
    IT pros, dev, data & security – https://live360events.com/events/orlando-2026/home.aspx
    Royal Pacific Resort, Universal – Orlando, FL – Nov 15-20, 2026
    Discount code: VSSOFFER ($900 off for Visual Studio subscribers)

• Agent & Copilot Summit North America
  • AI Business Solutions conference – https://copilot.summitna.com/
  • March 17-19, 2026
  • Hilton La Jolla – Torrey Pines, CA
  • Discount codes:
    • Local residents: Local599 ($600 off All Access), Tuesday299 ($500 off Tues-Wed Pass), Wednesday99 ($300 off Wednesday Pass)
    • Group, military, students: Contact joann@dynamiccommunities.com 

• Microsoft 365 Community Conference 2026
  • Microsoft 365 conference – https://m365conf.com/
  • April 21 – 23, 2026
  • Loews Sapphire Falls Resort/Royal Pacific Resort -Orlando, FL
  • Discount code: MSCUST ($150 off)

• NerdioCon 2026
  • Conference for Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, Intune, Microsoft 365 – https://nerdiocon.com
  • May 4–6, 2026
  • La Quinta Resort & Spa – Palm Springs, CA
  • Discount code: $200 early bird discount until December 31st, 2025

• Microsoft Build 2026
  • Developer’s conference – https://build.microsoft.com/
  • Next: TBD
    (see “Microsoft is moving its Build conference out of Seattle for 2026” – The Verge)
  • Discount code: TBD

• TechMentor & Cybersecurity Live! 2026
  • Cybersecurity conference – https://techmentorevents.com/events/
    microsofthq-2026/
  • August 3-7, 2026
  • Microsoft HQ Conference Center (B33) – Redmond, WA
  • Discount code: NIT ($600 off full price registration, 4 day min)
    (Additionally, employees of a national, federal, state, or local government entity as well as full-time students & faculty of accreditied universities are eligible for special discounts by verifying government employment at sross@converge360.com or 949-296-9840. I believe this requires a .EDU or .GOV email address.)

• TechCon365/DataCon/PWRCon
  • IT Professional’s conference – https://techcon365.com/Seattle
  • August 24-28, 2026
  • Seattle Convention Center – Seattle, WA
  • Discount code: LOCALGOV (18% discount for employees of city, county or regional agencies including public educational institutions. I believe this requires a .EDU or .GOV email address.)

• Power Platform Community Conference 2026
  • Power Platform & Copilot Studio conference – https://powerplatformconf.com/
  • October 27-29, 2026
  • MGM Grand – Las Vegas, NV
  • Discount code: MSCUST ($100 off)
    (Also 50OFF provides a 50% discount for 2025 conference attendees)

• Microsoft Ignite 2026
  • IT Professional’s conference – https://ignite.microsoft.com
  • November 17–20, 2026
  • Moscone Center – San Francisco, CA
  • Discount code: TBD

Imagine your team spending less time on manual tasks and more time serving your mission. PubSec.ai guides you every step of the way:

• Clear guidance for Executives, IT Administrators, Developers, and Frontline staff
• No-code templates to speed up rollout
• Governance strategies that keep you compliant

PubSec.ai features:

• Monthly Copilot community calls for government customers using GCC licensed environments (4th Tuesday of each month) – Including archives of past topics
• Foundational videos & quick how-to demonstrations
• A curated view of Microsoft’s official roadmap for coming GCC features
• Documents & other resources for GCC customers in the Public Sector including:
  • AI Era Essentials – A comprehensive guide to understanding the essentials of AI in the public sector (.PDF)
  • The Value Of Copilot For Microsoft 365 On Public Sector Organizations (.PDF)
  • Copilot Chat User Training Guide (GCCv2) – User training guide for Copilot Chat, available in both PPTX and PDF formats for the GCC environment (.PPTX, .PDF)
  • Designing an AI Strategy – Slide Deck. Delivered by Kevin Tupper to AI Government Leadership Program (.PDF)

Join the community at:

• Public Sector AI – Secure, compliant AI that frees time and improves outcomes for government
  https://pubsec.ai/

Looking for a review of the Security Copilot announcements made at Microsoft Ignite 2025?

You’re in luck! We have a 1 1/2 hour overview coming on December 4th, 2025 (8-9AM) that’s just for you, delivered by Microsoft’s Security Engineering team.

DECEMBER 4 (8:00 AM – 9:30 AM) Security Copilot Skilling Series | Discussion of Ignite Announcements

Ignite 2025 is all about driving impact in the era of AI—and security is at the center of it. In this session, we’ll unpack the biggest Security Copilot announcements from Ignite on agents and discuss how Copilot capabilities across Intune, Entra, Purview, and Defender deliver end-to-end protection.

And in case you hadn’t heard: Security Copilot is now INCLUDED in the subscription for organizations licensed for Microsoft 365 E5. (And also coming for G5 as well!) Read this post below for more information:

At Microsoft Ignite 2025, we announced the general availability of SQL Server 2025. This marks the latest milestone in the more than 30-year history of SQL Server. It is also a key part of our commitment to the one consistent SQL promise, delivering consistent experience across on-premises, cloud, and SaaS environments, with one engine and one unified platform.

SQL Server 2025 features:

• Built-in AI and developer-first enhancements, all with the T-SQL you already know.
• Access AI models of your choice—hosted locally or in the cloud—and securely use your data to fit your business needs.
• Simplify data processing with native JSON support, built-in REST APIs, and change event streaming.
• Get near real-time analytics by replicating SQL Server data to Microsoft OneLake using database mirroring in Microsoft Fabric.
• Best-in-class security, performance, and availability
  • Boost performance and reliability with enhanced query optimization, optimized locking, and improved failover for better uptime and concurrency.
  • Strengthen security with Microsoft Entra ID authentication through Azure Arc, reducing potential vulnerabilities.
• SQL Server 2025 on Linux
• SQL Server 2025 on Azure Virtual Machines – Optimized for
• Increase productivity with GitHub Copilot integration in Visual Studio Code and SQL Server Management Studio 22.
• Develop faster using the new Microsoft Python driver for SQL Server (mssql-python) for a seamless experience across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

For a full run down of the announcement, visit:

• BLOG: SQL Server 2025 is Now Generally Available
  https://aka.ms/sqlserver2025blog

I keep hearing Work IQ & the Microsoft Graph conflated.

INTRODUCING “WORKIQ” FOR MICROSOFT 365 COPILOT & AGENTS
At Microsoft Ignite 2025, we introduced Work IQ—an intelligence layer that powers Microsoft 365 Copilot and custom agents with deep contextual reasoning. It learns how you work, who you collaborate with, and the content you use, enabling smarter, more personalized AI experiences.

Microsoft Graph, on the other hand, is the backbone API that provides secure, unified access to Microsoft 365 data—users, files, emails, calendars, and more. It’s the gateway for developers to build apps and automations.

How do they complement each other?

• Graph = Data Access Layer
  Microsoft Graph ensures secure, permission-aware access to enterprise data.
  
• Work IQ = Intelligence Layer
  Work IQ enhances Copilot with memory, organizational signals, and predictive insights.

Together, they deliver personalized, compliant, and context-aware productivity experiences.

For more information visit:

• BLOG: Microsoft Ignite 2025: Copilot and agents built to power the Frontier Firm:
  “Microsoft 365 Copilot with Work IQ: AI built for work”
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2025/11/18/microsoft-ignite-2025-copilot-and-agents-built-to-power-the-frontier-firm/?user_id=68e8a7d4fb2ae10d2ec0b9d3&sn_type=LINKEDIN&cpost_id=6924108ad7be072746d72cdd&post_id=100009073835184&asset_id=ADVOCACY_205_691f984a4c8e362644ab99b8#microsoft-365-copilot-with-work-iq-ai-built-for-work

Agent readiness looks different for every organization but this framework provides principals and best practices across people, process and platform, giving you the ability to design, deploy and integrate agents effectively and at scale, relative to your enterprise objectives!

The Agent Readiness Framework, announced at Microsoft Ignite 2025, integrates both strategic vision and operational execution across 5key pillars:

• Business & AI strategy alignment: align agents to business priorities to support relevance and enable potential impact.
• Business Process Mapping: document and contextualize workflows to help agents operate within defined parameters and support business goals.
• Technology & data foundation: assess data readiness, integration patterns, and platform choices to enable agentic AI use cases
• Organization readiness & culture: reimagine team structures and invest in workforce skills to support responsible integration of agentic AI systems
• Security and Governance: establish controls and accountability to help promote safe, secure, and responsible use of agentic AI systems.

Why should you care? Organizations that self-identified as having higher agentic AI readiness reported scaling AI and agents at a 2.5x faster pace than those less prepared in the Agent Readiness survey!

Check out the eBook to learn why it’s important to:

• Strategically align agent-based projects with core business objectives
• Enhance transparency and value by mapping out business processes
• Build a secure, scalable technology and data foundation
• Prepare people, structures and culture to develop trust
• Embed responsible AI governance early to support safe adoption

Download it here:

• WHITEPAPER: Agent Readiness Framework – Pillars and Practices
  https://info.microsoft.com/ww-landing-ai-agent-assessment.html
  .

We’re honored to share that Microsoft has again been recognized as a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM). We believe this recognition reinforces Microsoft Sentinel‘s position as an industry-leading, cloud and AI-powered SIEM—designed to solve SOC challenges head-on and streamline modern security operations.

To review the announcement & download the report, visit:

• INFO: Microsoft named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for SIEM
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2025/10/16/microsoft-named-a-leader-in-the-2025-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-siem/?msockid=06377db5fd83631014c06baefce96218

Turn raw spreadsheet data into actionable insights, visual dashboards, and KPIs in minutes with native Microsoft 365 Copilot integration in Excel:

• NEW Agent Mode in Excel automates complex analysis, creates pivot tables, and builds interactive dashboards without manual setup. Streamline text analysis, formula generation, and complex calculations right inside Excel
• NEW COPILOT function for Excel categorizes feedback, scores sentiment, or automates repetitive tasks directly within Excel cells
• NEW Formula AI Autocomplete in Excel helps you find the most suitable functions based on context or your own natural language descriptions & generates accurate formulas from plain language prompts

Watch Microsoft 365 Director Jeremy Chapman demonstrate all 3 of these new AI innovations, made available ONLY through Microsoft 365 Copilot:

For more videos on Microsoft 365 Copilot from Microsoft Mechanics, visit:

• Microsoft Copilot Mechanics – Jeremy Chapman
  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXtHYVsvn_b8MTl8mD8FBJIB_cSGkEaT9