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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.

Latest posts

Model Choice in Copilot Cowork: From AI Access to a Model Portfolio

Saturday, August 8, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

#Microsoft365Copilot #MicrosoftAI #AI #CopilotStudio #EnterpriseAI

Copilot Cowork now offers several models, depending on what the organization allows: Auto, Claude Sonnet 5, Claude Opus 4.8, GPT 5.5 (Frontier) and a paired Sonnet + Opus Advisor mode. A quick meeting summary needs different capabilities than a high-stakes research synthesis. Microsoft makes this choice available inside enterprise controls, with visible retention notices and admin settings per model family. In this article, I explain why enterprises move from AI access to managing a model portfolio and what IT leaders should watch.

Domain Exclusion: Defining Which Web Sources Copilot Must Not Use

Friday, August 7, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

#Microsoft365Copilot #MicrosoftAI #AIGovernance #EnterpriseAI #Copilot #ResponsibleAI

Admins can now exclude up to 1,000 domains from web grounding in Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat. Configuration runs via a PowerShell script, optionally including subpages. The feature looks like a configuration detail. It shows, however, where enterprise AI is heading: organizations want to define which sources Copilot must not use, not only extend what it can see. In this article, I explain the feature, its current limits and why administrative precision should weigh more in platform decisions.

Data, Memory, Inference: The Three Layers of Work IQ

Thursday, August 6, 2026 · Maximilian Kenfenheuer

#Microsoft365Copilot #MicrosoftAI #Copilot #AI #EnterpriseAI #CopilotStudio

An excellent model with thin enterprise context still produces generic output. The advantage lies with the platform that provides context. Work IQ builds this context in three layers: data from Microsoft 365 and business systems, memory about how teams work, and inference for reasoning and action. Microsoft offers it via REST, agent-to-agent and a remote MCP server, on a consumption basis and independent of Copilot licensing. In this article, I explain why this context infrastructure may become more durable than any assistant interface.

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.