Episode 94: Managed Operations (w/ Austin Laugesen)

Welcome to the governance glow-up. Zohar Raz breaks down what’s new in Managed Governance and how the Power Platform Admin Center is making life easier for admins across the board. We talk green zones, guardrails, and how to let employees build with freedom without opening the floodgates. Plus, what it really means to manage agents, apps, flows, and costs at scale (and why SharePoint permissions might be your best friend). 

Pizza puffs, pipelines, and Power Platform. This one’s got it all. We’re joined by Austin Laugesen to talk Managed Operations. What is it? Why does it matter? And how can it help admins and makers work smarter without stepping on each other’s toes? From test automation to deployment flexibility to observability (yes, it’s different from visibility), Austin breaks down how Managed Ops. helps you monitor, improve, and scale with confidence. We also cover how Power Platform plays nice with Azure DevOps and GitHub, how alerts and metrics are evolving, and why the pizza puff deserves more hype.

Licensing is hot topic, but we’ve got the experts to cool it down. In this episode, we’re joined by Principal Product Managers Amiya Patra and Isha Sahni to break down how Microsoft Copilot licensing works. From free trials to PAYGO to full licenses, they unpack what you need to know about billing models, usage tracking, and upcoming tools that make it easier to manage. Whether you're just getting started or scaling enterprise-wide, this episode has the clarity you’ve been waiting for to understand Copilot cost controls. Want to try out the cost estimator? https://microsoft.github.io/copilot-studio-estimator/

Customer Zero 2: This Time it's Personal! Well, actually it's agents. Aisha Hasan joins the podcast to talk about how Microsoft Digital (Microsoft IT) manages Microsoft Power Platform and agents. This episode provides great insights in how Microsoft governs agents at scale and what steps we took to lead and grow innovation with incredible governance features and strategies across Microsoft. 

In this episode we chat with Wendy Haddad and Jon Butler to dive deep into the practical realities of adopting Microsoft Copilot across organizations. Drawing from their field experience with Microsoft customers, they discuss what actually works when helping your organization adopt Microsoft Copilot and common pitfalls to avoid. Listeners will gain insights into: How to teach others to use Copilot/AI The role that executive sponsors play in Copilot adoption How to think like a prompt-engineer and best practices to get more from Copilot How to troubleshoot when you don't get the result you expect Adoption resources for a successful rollout.

Yay! The whole gang is here for this one! Wendy is back. Where was she? What was she doing? How did we ever manage without Wendy? This episode is special as it relates to workers learning how to incorporate generative AI into their workflows. This time, Wendy explains how she kept up and managed to get ahead with Microsoft Copilot and agents while she was away. 

Want to make your data more meaningful with Copilot and agents? What are some of the patterns that organizations are using to find success when using agents? Find out the answers to these questions and more with Julie Koesmarno, Groups Program/Project(?) Manager as Julie joins the show to talk about why Dataverse is the one of the major keys to getting the most out of your agents going forward. 

Data is a key component to the agentic future of organizations and there is so much learn and understand in order for solution developers, admins, CIOs, CEOs, and CTOs, to have a successful deployment. Luckily, Nirav Shah, CVP of BAC (the org formerly known as Dataverse) joins the podcast to talk about how agents play a critical role in how organizations run, how customers can solve their business problems with Microsoft Copilot and agents, and what is an expert agent.  Nirav and former guest, James Olenik, spoke at Microsoft Build about this very topic! Check it out here: https://build.microsoft.com/en-US/sessions/BRK129?source=sessions   Also check out:  aka.ms/2025brk132 aka.ms/2025od817 aka.ms/2025brk125 aka.ms/2025brk159

Microsoft Build is right around the corner and is the best place to learn about all the news around professional development. But the title of this show doesn't really scream 'PRO CODE', so what does Microsoft Power Platform have to offer pro code developers? Dave Milton joins the show to talk about the pro code development and the shift in mindset for developers to take on low code. 

In this episode of The Low Code Approach, hosts Sean Fiene and Jocelyn Panchal sit down with Christy Jefson to explore the evolving landscape of automation through desktop flows and the integration of generative AI. Together, they unpack how Power Automate is transforming repetitive tasks, what’s new in the world of RPA, and how generative AI is reshaping the way we build and optimize low-code solutions. Whether you're a seasoned maker or just getting started, this conversation offers practical insights and forward-looking perspectives on building smarter, faster, and more intuitive automation experiences.