Blog

Maximilian Kenfenheuer

Manager · Microsoft 365 & AI Transformation @ BearingPoint

Featured

#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 #Microsoft365Copilot

Adobe, Figma, monday.com in Copilot: Fewer Handoffs Between Tools

Monday, August 3, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

#Microsoft365Copilot #MicrosoftAI #AI #Copilot #EnterpriseAI

Since April, apps such as Adobe Express, Figma, Miro, monday.com, Box and Dynamics 365 can appear as interactive experiences directly inside Microsoft 365 Copilot. Users act in the conversation instead of switching to the next tool. The change is unspectacular, but it removes a daily source of friction: the step between knowing what to do and doing it. In this article, I look at the practical side of in-chat apps, what they mean for Microsoft's platform position and why governance through the admin center decides whether the model scales.

30 Million Copilot Seats: From AI Deployed to Work Transformed

Friday, July 31, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

#Microsoft365Copilot #MicrosoftAI #AITransformation #EnterpriseAI #Copilot #FutureOfWork

Microsoft 365 Copilot has passed 30 million paid seats. Weekly engagement is now on par with Outlook and Teams, and analysis accounts for 49 % of all tasks once multi-step workflows are counted. Microsoft now frames the next phase around "work transformed" instead of "AI deployed". Seat counts show adoption. They do not show whether work actually runs differently. In this article, I explain what the new figures reveal about how Copilot is used and which organizational questions follow from them.

Human Agency and the Work Trend Index: The Organization Sets the Limit

Thursday, July 30, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

#Microsoft365Copilot #MicrosoftAI #EnterpriseAI #AITransformation #FutureOfWork

Microsoft frames the next phase of AI at work around human agency: agents take over more execution, and people direct outcomes and priorities. The 2026 Work Trend Index supports this with data. 58 % of AI users produce work they could not have produced a year ago. Organizational factors explain 67 % of the reported AI impact, individual factors only 32 %. Only one in four AI users sees leadership aligned on AI. In this article, I explain why the organization, not the model, increasingly limits AI value, and which management questions leaders have to answer.

The Copilot Redesign: Speed, Structure and Progressive Disclosure

Wednesday, July 29, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

#Microsoft365Copilot #MicrosoftAI #EnterpriseAI #Copilot #DigitalWorkplace

On May 28, Microsoft introduced a new design for Microsoft 365 Copilot. According to reports, it loads twice as fast, delivers more structured responses and shows tools only when the prompt requires them. That sounds like a routine refresh. In enterprise deployments, however, adoption often depends on exactly these details: how fast the assistant responds, how clearly it presents results and how much it demands from the user. In this article, I explain why interface design becomes part of the adoption strategy and of governance.

Chat, Context, Tools, Workspaces: The Four Domains of the Work IQ APIs

Sunday, July 26, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

#Microsoft365Copilot #MicrosoftAI #AI #EnterpriseAI #CopilotStudio

The new Work IQ APIs look like a developer release. In practice, they show how Microsoft wants to scale enterprise agents: with a runtime that supplies context, tools and persistent state inside the Microsoft 365 tenant. The API surface covers four domains: Chat, Context, Tools and Workspaces. Billing runs on Copilot Credits with spending limits for admins. In this article, I walk through the four domains and explain what they mean for developers, partners and IT leaders.