The AI Frontier Playbook

The Hard Truth About Your AI Strategy | Pam Maynard, Microsoft Chief Transformation AI Officer

AI strategy stuck in pilot purgatory? In this episode of The AI Frontier Playbook, I sit down with Pam Maynard, Microsoft's first ever Chief AI Transformation Officer, on artificial intelligence adoption, organizational change, leadership, automation, and the future of work. Pam led Avanade as CEO across 60,000 employees before taking on this pioneering role at Microsoft. We unpack the four-layer metrics framework that prevents pilot purgatory, the Manulife $1 billion AI value example, why middle managers decide whether AI adoption sticks, and the McKinsey research showing companies with AI led from the top perform 3x higher than those without. A big thank you to ITI for sponsoring this episode. ITI is a proudly Canadian company that has spent over 30 years helping organizations bring their IT projects to life by making technology accessible, meaningful, and human. Whether you are a C-suite leader trying to scale AI across your enterprise or a manager closing the adoption gap on the ground, this episode delivers a practical framework you can put into action this quarter. Learn more about ITI: https://iti.ca/en/microsoft-365-copilot/ [https://iti.ca/en/microsoft-365-copilot/] 📌 Resources & Links Pam Maynard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pam-maynard/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/pam-maynard/] ITI Microsoft 365 Copilot solutions: https://iti.ca/en/microsoft-365-copilot/ [https://iti.ca/en/microsoft-365-copilot/] Episode with Meaghan Platt from ITI on AI, accessibility and inclusion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5ydmRrYXnQ [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5ydmRrYXnQ] 📬 Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to the AI Frontier Playbook Newsletter: https://samuelboulangerai.substack.com/ [https://samuelboulangerai.substack.com/] Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelboulanger/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelboulanger/] Visit my website: https://frontierplaybook.ai [https://frontierplaybook.ai] #ArtificialIntelligence #FutureOfWork #Leadership #EnterpriseAI #DigitalTransformation

The Shift Nobody's Talking About: AI and Human Independence | Meaghan Platt, ITI

Microsoft Copilot, AI accessibility, and dignity: what most GenAI conversations completely skip. Meaghan Platt from ITI joins The AI Frontier Playbook to explore what real inclusion looks like in the age of AI. Most people talk about AI and productivity. Meaghan Platt talks about AI and dignity. As a Copilot Sales and Adoption Specialist at ITI and a mom navigating the daily reality of raising a daughter with PCDH19, a condition that causes epilepsy, seizures, cognitive delays, and significant communication challenges, Meaghan sees GenAI through a lens most enterprise conversations never touch. We go deep on what most AI conversations completely skip: dignity. The moment a child realizes the world was not built for how she communicates. The confidence that erodes every time a tool fails her. And why Copilot, used intentionally, starts to flip that. We also talk about language barriers, neurodivergence, burnout, and what it actually means to lead AI adoption with people at the center. You'll learn: 1. Why dignity is the missing word in every accessibility and AI conversation 2. How GenAI removes friction that most of us never even notice but that stops others completely 3. What it looks like to build a custom voice model so a child can use speech-to-text in her own pronunciation 4. Why AI adoption fails when leaders treat it like a software rollout instead of a people strategy 5. How a trilingual team with no shared language built real collaboration using Microsoft Copilot 6. When AI shifts from adapting people to technology, to technology adapting to people 7. What parents and teachers can do right now to prepare kids for an AI-native world Whether you lead AI adoption at an enterprise level or you are a parent, educator, or anyone who navigates the world a little differently, this episode will change how you think about what inclusion actually means in the age of AI. Learn more about ITI: https://iti.ca/en/microsoft-365-copilot/ [https://iti.ca/en/microsoft-365-copilot/] 📌 Resources and Links Meaghan Platt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meaghanplatt/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/meaghanplatt/] 📬 Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to the AI Frontier Playbook newsletter: https://samuelboulangerai.substack.com/ [https://samuelboulangerai.substack.com/] Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelboulanger/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelboulanger/] Visit my website: https://frontierplaybook.ai [https://frontierplaybook.ai] #MicrosoftCopilot #AIAccessibility #FutureOfWork #ArtificialIntelligence #AIAdoption

Hands-On or Left behind : The new reality of AI fluency | Steve Gustavson, Microsoft CVP

What if the biggest obstacle to AI in your business isn't the technology, but the organizational structures built for humans to be the bottleneck? In this episode of the AI Frontier Playbook, I sit down with Steve Gustavson, CVP of Design and Research at Microsoft, leading the Business Apps and Agents division with a 350-person team spanning design, research, and content. We explore how organizational transformation, AI agents, and user experience converge to reshape how companies build and run their business processes. Steve brings 20+ years of experience from Adobe, ServiceNow, and now Microsoft, where he leads the design thinking behind Copilot Studio, Agent 365, and the broader agentic ecosystem. What makes this conversation different is how concrete it gets. We go deep on why rigid org charts become liabilities when AI teammates start handling workflows at scale, what it actually takes to evaluate agents beyond technical accuracy, and why generative UX is forcing a complete rethink of how business applications get built. If you want to understand where the future of work is heading across agent ecosystems, this is the conversation. What You'll Learn 1. Why organizational structures designed for human decision-making become liabilities in an AI-enabled workplace. 2. How generative agents are shifting Dynamics 365 and business applications from rigid tools to flexible, adaptive systems. 3. What it means to evaluate AI systems beyond technical accuracy to include human qualities like empathy and voice authenticity. 4. How the future of work requires flatter organizations with fluid project-based team assignments rather than static org charts. 5. Why user researchers and design leaders are becoming the primary voices defining what makes AI assistance trustworthy and effective. 6. What the ethical and transparency challenges are when deploying AI agents in organizations alongside human teams. 7. How to balance using cutting-edge AI tools daily while maintaining security and ethical boundaries around sensitive data. 8. Why the next generation of agents will be customizable by end users, PMs, and other non-engineers using plain-language markdown specifications. Whether you are an enterprise leader grappling with legacy systems or a designer thinking about human-centered AI, this episode challenges conventional thinking about how technology and people will work together. Sponsored by Talan Learn more about Talan's AI Commerce Agent for B2B Buyers: https://bit.ly/4kZRDTj [https://bit.ly/4kZRDTj] Resources & Links * Steve Gustavson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegustavson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegustavson/] * Microsoft Agent 365: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-agent-365 [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-agent-365] Enjoyed this episode? * Subscribe to the AI Frontier Playbook Newsletter: https://samuelboulangerai.substack.com/ [https://samuelboulangerai.substack.com/] * Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelboulanger/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelboulanger/] * Visit my website: https://samuelboulanger.com [https://samuelboulanger.com]

Why AI Agents Will End the Attention Economy | David Rothschild, Microsoft Research

What if the real battle for AI isn't about productivity, but about who controls the market when your agent is the one doing the shopping? In this episode of Mastering AI with the Experts, I sit down with David Rothschild, Economist at Microsoft Research and lead author of the paper "The Agentic Economy." We explore a shift most people aren't asking about yet: what happens to competition, discovery, and consumer welfare when AI agents, not humans, become the primary interface between buyers and businesses? David brings over a decade of research in market design and information flows to explain our transition from an attention economy to a preference economy. We discuss whether we are headed for tighter walled gardens or if open protocols will finally level the playing field for small businesses and consumers alike. The choices being made right now by developers and regulators will shape the next decade of global commerce. You'll Learn: 1. The Preference Economy: Why marketing dollars are shifting from catching eyes to satisfying automated agent criteria. 2. Breaking Platform Lock-in: How AI agents could virtually eliminate switching costs for consumers. 3. Stage One vs. True Transformation: The difference between AI-assisted tasks and AI-first autonomous workflows. 4. The Small Business Advantage: How an open agent ecosystem allows companies to compete on product quality and fit instead of massive ad spends. 5. Zero Friction: Why a drop in communication friction is more disruptive to the economy than raw processing power. 6. Walled Gardens vs. Web of Agents: The high stakes of closed ecosystems for future innovation. 7. The ACP Protocol: Why businesses may soon have to rebuild their digital presence to be readable by every major agent platform. Whether you are a business leader preparing for the next wave of disruption or a consumer curious about your future shopping experience, this episode provides a research-backed framework to position yourself on the right side of the agentic shift. 📌 Resources & Links David Rothschild on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davmicrot/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/davmicrot/] David Rothschild at Microsoft Research: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/davidmr/ [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/davidmr/] The Agentic Economy paper: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/the-agentic-economy/ [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/the-agentic-economy/] 📬 Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to Mastering AI for Productivity: https://samuelboulangerai.substack.com/ [https://samuelboulangerai.substack.com/] Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelboulanger/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelboulanger/] Visit my website: https://samuelboulanger.com [https://samuelboulanger.com] #AI #FutureOfWork #AgenticEconomy #MicrosoftResearch #AIAgents

Microsoft's Future of Work Report 2025: What Leaders Need to Know | Dr. Jenna Butler, Microsoft

We gave people AI and no user manual. That's the problem Microsoft researcher Dr. Jenna Butler sees playing out in every organization right now. In this episode of Mastering AI with the Experts, I sit down with Dr. Jenna Butler, Principal Applied Research Scientist at Microsoft and one of the editors behind the New Future of Work Report 2025. Jenna has spent years studying what actually happens to humans when the tools around them change, from cancer biology simulations to developer productivity to the AI wave reshaping every workspace today. We dig into what AI literacy really means for non-technical people, why the shift from creating content to evaluating it changes everything about how we work, and what the productivity pressure paradox is doing to teams that were told to "go be more productive" without a roadmap. Jenna also shares why she thinks technology never removes toil, it just shifts it, and what leaders can do this week to change the conversation. You'll learn: 1. Why most people don't understand that AI is a probability engine, not a search engine, and why that distinction matters2. How the shift from content creation to content evaluation is redefining what "doing your job" looks like3. What the productivity pressure paradox is and how it's quietly backfiring inside organizations4. Why AI models carry deep cultural and gender biases that most users never notice5. How one researcher fell for a complete AI fabrication while writing a paper about AI hallucinations6. What minimum viable AI literacy looks like for a non-technical employee in 20267. Why leaders should reframe AI adoption as a chance to experiment, not a mandate to perform8. How Jenna builds her own custom tools with AI when existing software falls short Whether you are a leader trying to drive AI adoption without burning out your team, or a professional figuring out how to use these tools effectively, this episode gives you a research-backed framework for navigating the shift. 📌 Resources & Links Dr. Jenna Butler on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-jenna-butler [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jenna-butler-44209a3b/] Dr. Jenna Butler at Microsoft Research: microsoft.com/research/people/jennbu [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/jennbu/] Microsoft New Future of Work Report 2025: microsoft.com/research/the-new-future-of-work [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/the-new-future-of-work/] 📬 Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to Mastering AI for Productivity: samuelboulangerai.substack.com [https://samuelboulangerai.substack.com/] Connect with me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/samuelboulanger [https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelboulanger/] Visit my website: samuelboulanger.com [https://samuelboulanger.com] #AI #FutureOfWork #AILiteracy #MicrosoftResearch #ProductivityParadox