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Maximilian Kenfenheuer

Manager · Microsoft 365 & AI Transformation @ BearingPoint

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#Microsoft365Copilot #MicrosoftAI #Copilot #AITransformation #FutureOfWork

Measuring Completed Work: Baselines, Assisted Hours and Business Outcomes

Thursday, September 10, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

A team can generate thousands of prompts without improving a single core process. Another uses AI rarely but saves hours in contract review. Microsoft increasingly measures Copilot value by completed work and assisted hours instead of activity. Its internal guidance recommends baselines for painful processes before the rollout. In this article, I describe a three-layer measurement model of adoption signals, time and effort indicators and business outcomes, and explain why role-based deployment makes value measurable.

Power BI Grounding: Copilot Reasons Over Semantic Models

Wednesday, September 9, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

Since the August 2026 update, Microsoft 365 Copilot reasons over Power BI reports and semantic models in Chat and Cowork. Copilot thus works with governed business definitions: how revenue is defined, how margin is calculated, which KPIs leadership uses and who may see which numbers. At the same time, a poorly defined KPI now spreads faster. In this article, I explain why semantic models become the foundation for trustworthy AI answers and how organizations can prepare their analytics layer.

From Draft to Deliverable: Agentic Copilot in the Core Apps

Saturday, September 5, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

On April 22, Microsoft made agentic capabilities in Word, Excel and PowerPoint generally available and brought business apps into Copilot via agents. AI moves to where proposals are written, financial models built and board decks assembled. At the same time, human judgment gains weight: a polished deck is not automatically a sound strategy, and a well-structured spreadsheet is not automatically a correct model. In this article, I explain what changes when AI participates in the work and which five readiness questions organizations should answer.

Posts tagged #Microsoft365

Synced or Federated: Connecting Business Apps to Copilot

Thursday, August 20, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

#Microsoft365 #Copilot #MicrosoftAI #AI #EnterpriseAI

A useful Copilot answer appears in seconds. Afterwards, the user often still opens another application, finds the record and carries the work forward by hand. Connected apps such as Adobe Express, Figma, Dynamics 365, Box, monday.com and Miro now appear directly inside Microsoft 365 Copilot. Copilot connectors link more than 100 external sources, either synced into Microsoft Graph or federated in real time. In this article, I explain the difference between synced and federated connectors and which four questions leaders should answer before connecting more systems.

The Copilot Interface as a Governance Surface

Wednesday, August 19, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

#Microsoft365 #MicrosoftCopilot #AI #EnterpriseAI #MicrosoftAI #DigitalTransformation

With the May update, Microsoft redesigned how Copilot appears across Microsoft 365. As Copilot takes on more actions, the interface has to show what the AI does, which context it uses and what requires human review. The interface thus becomes a governance surface as well as a productivity surface. In this article, I explain why workflow fit belongs in adoption planning and why change management should target concrete moments of work instead of features.

Agentic Copilot in Word, Excel and PowerPoint: Action Under User Control

Sunday, August 16, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

#Microsoft365 #Copilot #MicrosoftAI #AI #EnterpriseAI

Agentic capabilities in Word, Excel and PowerPoint are now generally available. Copilot takes action inside the document, the spreadsheet or the deck while the user stays in control. Proposals, forecasts, business cases and board presentations originate in these three applications. When AI works directly in these artifacts, the gap between advice and finished work shrinks. In this article, I explain where in-app AI action creates value, where human review remains mandatory and how organizations should measure the benefit.

App-Native AI: How Copilot Adapts to Word, Excel and PowerPoint

Wednesday, August 5, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

#Microsoft365 #Copilot #MicrosoftAI #AI #EnterpriseAI

In April, Microsoft brought agentic capabilities into Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Copilot now behaves differently in each application: it works on argument and structure in Word, on formulas and model integrity in Excel and on narrative and layout in PowerPoint. For enterprises, this matters more than it seems. Employees do not have to learn a new tool, and the AI follows the logic of the document they are already working on. In this article, I explain why app-native AI eases adoption and which governance and skills questions it raises.

Microsoft Scout: From Episodic Prompts to Continuous Support

Tuesday, August 4, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

#Microsoft365 #Copilot #AI #EnterpriseAI #Microsoft

Most AI experiences at work are episodic. The user asks, the system answers, and the user carries the continuity: remembering the next step, reopening the file, rebuilding the context. With Microsoft Scout, introduced in June 2026, Microsoft adds an always-on personal agent integrated across the Microsoft 365 apps. In this article, I explain why persistent support can reduce the cost of restarting work, which governance questions arise and how Scout fits the sequence from answers to actions to presence.