M365.FM - Modern work, security, and productivity with Microsoft 365
Technology
About
Welcome to the M365.FM — your essential podcast for everything Microsoft 365, Azure, and beyond. Join us as we explore the latest developments across Power BI, Power Platform, Microsoft Teams, Viva, Fabric, Purview, Security, and the entire Microsoft ecosystem. Each episode delivers expert insights, real-world use cases, best practices, and interviews with industry leaders to help you stay ahead in the fast-moving world of cloud, collaboration, and data innovation. Whether you're an IT professional, business leader, developer, or data enthusiast, the M365.FM brings the knowledge, trends, and strategies you need to thrive in the modern digital workplace. Tune in, level up, and make the most of everything Microsoft has to offer. M365.FM is part of the M365-Show Network. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-fm-modern-work-security-and-productivity-with-microsoft-365--6704921/support .
Episodes
- Azure Policy Isn't Enough: The Secret to Real-Time Cloud Savings
Mirko Peters discusses why traditional FinOps models are ineffective in modern Azure environments. This episode explores how Azure Policy can be used as a real-time enforcement tool to prevent cloud spending and waste proactively.
- Stop Paying for Nothing: Build an Automated Azure Cleanup Engine
This episode of M365.FM features Mirko Peters, who explains how to build an automated Azure cleanup engine. The discussion focuses on identifying and removing cloud waste caused by forgotten infrastructure, abandoned projects, and idle res…
- The Truth About Microsoft Security and Copilot Readiness with Åsne Holtklimpen [MVP/MCT]
This episode of M365.FM features Mirko Peters and Åsne Holtklimpen discussing Microsoft Security and Copilot readiness. They explore data governance, the impact of AI on Microsoft 365 environments, and strategies for securing data before a…
- Building and deploying production grade AI agents with Microsoft Foundry with Edgar McOchieng [MVP]
Edgar McOchieng joins M365 FM to discuss building production-grade AI agents using Microsoft Foundry. The conversation covers enterprise AI architecture, cost optimization through hybrid AI models, and practical deployment challenges, high…
- Is Your Microservice Architecture a Ticking Time Bomb for Speed
This episode examines how microservice architectures, intended to increase deployment speed, can inadvertently create bottlenecks due to coordination overhead and runtime friction. It discusses how organizational and technical factors can…
- Why Your Microservices Are Turning the Cloud Toxic
This M365.FM episode explains how slow microservice dependencies can lead to cascading latency failures in cloud platforms, even when systems appear healthy. It details how this "toxic waiting" silently collapses capacity in .NET environme…
- From Figma design to the PowerApps with Lukas Pavelka [MVP]
Microsoft MVP Lukas Pavelka joins Mirko Peters to discuss the changing landscape of enterprise application development, focusing on the intersection of Figma, PowerApps, and AI-assisted coding. The episode explores how AI impacts developme…
- The Invisible Employee: Is Your Next Hire Actually an AI Agent
The M365 FM Podcast episode discusses how traditional help desk models struggle with the complexity of modern Microsoft 365 environments. It introduces the "invisible employee" model, featuring autonomous agents embedded in workflows for p…
- Digital Identity is Broken: How Entra External ID Fixes the Trust Gap
This M365.FM podcast episode discusses how digital identity has become a business growth and customer experience problem due to the death of the perimeter. It explains the shift from account-centric to claim-centric identity with Microsoft…
- Using PowerShell to automate all things Azure and Microsoft 365 with Matthew Dowst [MVP]
Matthew Dowst explains how PowerShell serves as a powerful tool for both developers and administrators, enabling automation from simple scripts to enterprise platforms. The discussion covers the evolution of PowerShell, the impact of Micro…
- Is Your Copilot Safe: Stop Prompt Injections with Azure Logic Apps
This episode of M365.FM discusses the security risks of prompt injection in AI models like Copilot. It explains that attackers can poison the context Copilot retrieves, leading to data exposure or manipulated outputs, and argues that Azure…
- Stop Deepfake BEC: The Verified ID Strategy
Traditional email security is insufficient against AI-driven deepfake Business Email Compromise (BEC). Attackers now use sophisticated AI to mimic executives and bypass technical checks. The episode advocates for a Zero Trust approach, mov…
- Why Managed Environments Fail: The Missing Pro-Dev Link
Managed Environments often fail because organizations apply governance models designed for citizen developers to enterprise-level workloads. This creates friction, unclear ownership, and slows delivery, causing pro-developers to seek alter…
- Why Translation Isn't Enough: Solving Cultural Nuance in 2026 Meetings
This episode discusses the critical role of cultural nuance in global team meetings, arguing that it presents a greater challenge than simple translation. It highlights how factors like tone, hierarchy, and indirect communication can lead…
- How to share business data with users outside of your organization with Nicholas Hayduk [MVP]
This episode of M365.FM features Nicholas Hayduk discussing how to securely share business data with external users using Microsoft Power Pages. It covers the purpose of Power Pages as an external-facing layer of the Power Platform connect…
- Stop Building Dashboards: The Proactive Notification Blueprint
This episode argues that dashboards fail because they rely on users remembering to check them, leading to delays in action. It proposes a shift from pull-based dashboards to push-based notification systems that deliver insights proactively…
- Engineering Self-Healing Automation: The Telemetry-Driven Logic Layer
This episode discusses the evolution of automation from static, deterministic logic to intelligent, self-healing systems. It highlights the limitations of traditional automation at scale and introduces the concept of a telemetry-driven log…
- Legacy Power Apps Portals: The Silent Budget Killer
This episode discusses the hidden costs and risks associated with legacy Power Apps portals. It explains how "shadow logic" in Liquid templates and JavaScript injections create governance and security vulnerabilities, contrasting them with…
- Shadow IT vs. Governance: How to Rebuild the Power Platform Bridge
The episode discusses the growing conflict between IT control and Maker innovation within Microsoft Power Platform, highlighting how traditional governance models fail to scale. It suggests environment routing as a solution to provide Make…
- Stop Using Custom Connectors: The Architect's Guide to Scaling Logic Apps
This episode discusses the drawbacks of custom connectors in Logic Apps, highlighting issues with scalability, governance, security, and cost. It advocates for a shift towards Logic Apps Standard as a more robust foundation for enterprise…
- Vector Search Is Not a Strategy: The New Standard for Copilot Accuracy
The episode discusses how pure vector search often leads to inaccurate AI responses in enterprise settings, attributing this to the difference between mathematical similarity and business relevance. It introduces hybrid retrieval, combinin…
- The Hard-Coding Trap: Why Low-Code Is the New Enterprise Standard
The episode argues that traditional hard-coded development is an economic liability due to long cycles and waiting times. It posits that low-code solutions offer speed, proximity, and cost advantages, empowering 'Citizen Architects' and ev…
- Your Sensitivity Labels Are A Lie: The Collaborative AI Silo Crisis
The episode discusses the 'Collaborative AI Silo Crisis,' where AI tools like Copilot expose existing data permission and sensitivity labeling problems. Instead of being a failure, a spike in Data Loss Prevention events indicates visibilit…
- The Silent Tax on Your Enterprise: The End of Legacy Middleware
This episode discusses the 'silent tax' imposed by legacy middleware, which creates data latency and hidden costs in modern enterprises. It explains how "eventually correct data" impacts operations and AI performance, introducing the Laten…
- The Death of Best-of-Breed: Why Integrated Ecosystems Win in 2026
The episode discusses the decline of the best-of-breed software model due to integration costs and complexities, arguing that integrated ecosystems offer greater operational fluidity and AI reliability. It highlights how fragmented systems…
- Building Resilient Azure Architectures: That Survive Regional Cloud Service Provider Outage Scenarios
This episode challenges the assumption that multi-region deployment guarantees resilience, revealing how many organizations face distributed single points of failure. It highlights risks associated with global entry points like Azure Front…
- Beyond The Dashboard: How Advanced Sentiment Analysis Redefines Executive Leadership Reporting
Many executive dashboards display activity rather than progress, creating a disconnect from employee reality. This episode discusses how analyzing unstructured data, like Teams chats and meeting transcripts, using AI can reveal true organi…
- Why Your Enterprise AI is Blind: The Case for Graph Connectors
This episode of M365.FM explains that enterprise AI often fails not due to bad models, but because the AI cannot access crucial data residing in systems like CRMs, ERPs, and ticketing platforms. The discussion highlights how Microsoft Grap…
- I Audited 10 Power Platform CoEs: Here’s Why They Fail
This episode analyzes why most Power Platform Centers of Excellence fail. The core issue is attempting to govern a high-speed platform with slow, manual processes and outdated assumptions about human oversight, leading to bottlenecks and s…
- Stop Being a Gatekeeper: The Death of the Admin
The admin role is evolving from a gatekeeper focused on manual approvals to an architect designing automated systems. This shift is necessary as manual governance creates delays and drives users to risky workarounds like Shadow IT and Shad…
- How To Stop Power Automate From Scaling Your Business Chaos
This M365FM Podcast episode discusses the risks of implementing Power Automate without proper architecture, leading to the acceleration of broken business processes and hidden technical debt. It explores concepts like "paving the cow path"…
- Stop Searching for Files: The Copilot "Cowork Engine" Strategy
The episode discusses the inefficiency of traditional file search in organizations, labeling it the "Search Tax." It proposes shifting from a reactive AI assistant model to a proactive "Cowork Engine" approach using Microsoft 365 Copilot,…
- Beyond Prompting: The Copilot Coworker Architecture Microsoft Isn't Talking About
The episode argues that prompt engineering is a temporary fix for AI, emphasizing that true success with tools like Copilot depends on robust organizational architecture and data management rather than just clever phrasing. It highlights i…
- The Copilot Coworker: Why Your AI Strategy is Building Digital Debt
This episode discusses the "3x Productivity Trap" where AI tools like Copilot Coworker triple output but erode trust, leading to the rapid accumulation of unverified work and "Invisible Digital Debt". It explores how treating AI as a tool…
- The Architect Move: Why Managers are Failing the Copilot Coworker Transition
The transition to AI coworkers like Copilot is stalling because managers treat AI as a junior assistant, leading to accelerated broken workflows and minimal productivity gains. Success requires shifting from supervising outputs to architec…
- The Global Admin is Your Real CEO: The Architecture of Power in M365
The episode discusses how Microsoft 365 Global Admins hold the real power within an organization, exceeding the authority of traditional executive roles. It highlights the risks associated with numerous Global Admins, leading to potential…
- Beyond Governance: How To Build A Self-Healing Microsoft 365 Architecture For Scale
This episode discusses the limitations of traditional governance models in rapidly growing Microsoft 365 tenants. It introduces the concept of a self-healing architecture that uses runtime systems for continuous detection and remediation,…
- Your Fabric Bill Is Skyrocketing. And It’s Not The Data.
Microsoft Fabric costs are driven by compute usage and workload behavior, not data volume. The platform operates on shared Capacity Units, meaning all activities like reports, refreshes, and queries consume from a single pool. Inefficient…
- The AI Profit Engine: How Upskilling Unlocks Massive ROI
This episode discusses the failure of traditional AI training metrics to demonstrate ROI, arguing that focusing on task-based behavior changes and reclaimed time is key to unlocking AI's profit potential. It introduces the Reclaimed Minute…
- Digitizing Chaos: The Psychological Trap of Frictionless Automation
This M365.FM episode discusses how frictionless automation, despite seeming like progress, can scale organizational chaos. It argues that the ease of building with low-code and AI tools reduces scrutiny, leading to fragmented logic and wea…
- Stop Selling Security: How to Pitch a Strategic Business Asset
This episode discusses the common failure of security pitches that focus on technical details instead of business value. It argues that security should be positioned as a strategic business asset, linked to ROI, faster decision-making, and…
- Why Your Copilot Rollout is a Security Nightmare: The Microsoft Purview Strategy
Microsoft 365 Copilot can expose sensitive data by retrieving information employees already have access to, turning poor data governance into a security risk. The Microsoft Purview strategy, specifically its focus on data visibility and go…
- Stop Building Workflows- The New Way to Orchestrate Business Logic
This M365.FM episode argues that traditional workflow models create automation debt due to their focus on steps rather than time. It explains that modern business requires event-driven orchestration to reduce decision latency, contrasting…
- The Notification Trap: Why Your M365 Setup Is Killing Focus
This episode of M365.FM discusses how Microsoft 365’s default notification settings create a "trap" that hinders focus and productivity. It argues that the system often rewards responsiveness over actual progress, leading to fragmented att…
- The Multi-Tenant Copilot Trap: Mastering Global AI Governance
This episode discusses the multi-tenant Copilot trap, where AI operates within tenant boundaries while risks cross them. It highlights how Copilot exposes differences in fragmented governance systems across tenants, making unified AI contr…
- Your First Power App: From Idea to Working Solution
This episode explains the importance of a first Power App, emphasizing that its value comes from redesigning work entry points and structuring processes for clarity and visibility, not just creating an app with screens and features.
- Dataverse Explained: The Foundation Your Apps Depend On
This M365.FM episode reframes Dataverse as a business operating model, not just storage. It details how Dataverse enforces structure, relationships, and consistency, leading to more efficient and scalable processes within Microsoft 365, co…
- The Power Platform Explained- Choosing the Right Tool (Before You Build Anything)
This M365.FM episode discusses common Power Platform solution failures, attributing them to defining a solution before understanding the problem. It details the distinct layers of the Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, P…
- The Excel Shadow-System — Why Your Process Architecture is Failing
This episode explains that operational risks are often hidden within an organization's process architecture, not its tools. It details how Excel-based shadow systems create instability and argues that governance, rather than just tools, is…
- The Governance Dividend: Why Your Compliance Strategy is Your Only Real Competitive Advantage
This episode explains why governance strategies focused on policy and oversight often fail due to workflow friction. It argues that scalable organizations embed control into their architecture for automatic, correct behavior, rather than r…