Welcome to Episode 417 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, Jay Leask joins Ben once more as the two of them recap their experience at Workplace Ninjas US in Dallas, Texas. They discuss conference highlights, the unique hackathon, engaging sessions, the Clippy Bucks system, and the importance of community and inclusion. The conversation also covers upcoming events, memorable attendee interactions, and new traditions for future conferences.

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Show Notes

• Jay Leask on LinkedIn
• Workplace Ninja’s US
• Follow Workplace Ninjas US on LinkedIn
• Workplace Ninja’s US
• Microsoft Zero Trust Guidance Center
• Microsoft Zero Trust Assessment Tool
• Conditional Access
• Ben’s YouTube video on Authentication Context and Conditional Access

About the sponsors

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Welcome to Episode 416 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this week’s episode, Ben finally has a chance to sit down with Henrik Wojcik. Henrik has been a long-time listener as well as a fellow Microsoft MVP in Security and we finally had the chance to sit down and record an episode together, something we’ve talked about doing for years.

As they sit down and enjoy a sunny afternoon in at Microsoft Ignite in San Francisco they discuss security in the financial sector, EU regulations (N2 and DORA), integrating Data Lake with Sentinel, optimizing log analytics, and the latest on Security Copilot and E5 licensing. They also spend some time chatting about some of their conference highlights, assisting as proctors in the hands-on labs, and the unique experience of Ignite in San Francisco.

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Show Notes

• Microsoft Ignite (with sessions on demand)
• Microsoft Ignite Book of News
• Catch up on Microsoft Security sessions and announcements from Ignite 2025
• Microsoft Sentinel benefit for Microsoft 365 E5, A5, F5, and G5 customers
• Learn about Security Copilot inclusion in Microsoft 365 E5 subscription
• Microsoft Sentinel data lake: Unify signals, cut costs, and power agentic AI
• What is Microsoft Sentinel data lake?
• KQL and the Microsoft Sentinel data lake

Henrik F. Wojcik

Henrik has worked in the IT industry since 2003. He’s always had a passion for learning new technologies and expanding his knowledge through various means such as online courses, webinars, and reading up on the latest developments in the industry.

Throughout his career, he’s gained experience in various areas of IT, making him a true jack of all trades. However, his latest interests lie in the security space, modern workplace and management in Azure, with a particular focus on cyber security. He has experience working with products such as Defender for Endpoint, Defender for Identity, Defender for Cloud Apps, Defender for Office 365, Conditional Access, Microsoft Sentinel, and Microsof t Entra ID.

His primary focus is on security on Azure workloads and identity (Entra ID). He prioritizes security awareness and believe that learning never stops, which is why He’s always eager to expand my knowledge and skillset.

In the past, He’s also worked with various tools and technologies such as Cisco, Citrix, Dynamics AX, Exchange, ITIL, Azure, SCCM & SCOM, Scrum & Kanban, VMware, Windows Servers, and Windows Desktops.

About the sponsors

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Welcome to Episode 415 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. Ben and Scott discuss the major announcements from Microsoft Ignite 2025, focusing on the dominant themes of AI agents and security. The conversation centers on three key areas: Security Copilot updates, Agent 365 for governance, and the broader security and management implications for IT professionals. Key Discussion Topics

1. Security Copilot Expansion to E5 Customers
   • 12 new Security Copilot agents coming to Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview
   • 30+ partner agents being added to the ecosystem
   • Major announcement: Security Copilot will now be available to all Microsoft 365 E5 customers
   • Rollout begins with Frontier program (Microsoft’s insider ring for Copilot)
   • Expanding in coming months to all E5 customers
   • Security Copilot spans four pillars:
     • Security Operations (Defender + Sentinel)
     • Data Security (Purview)
     • Identity & Access (Entra)
     • Endpoint Management (Intune)
2. Microsoft Agent 365 – The Control Plane for Agents
   • Addresses the critical problem of agent sprawl and governance
   • Think of it as “Entra ID for AI agents”
   • Core capabilities:
     • Registry: Complete inventory of all agents (registered, unregistered, and shadow agents
     • Access Control: Conditional access policies and risk-based policies for agents
     • Monitoring: Real-time visibility into agent behavior, performance, and organizational impact
     • Security Integration: Defender protection, Purview data governance
   • Key governance features:
     • Approve pending agent requests
     • Identify ownerless agents
     • Apply DLP policies to agents
     • Conditional access for agents
     • Secure score for agents
     • Available now through Frontier program in Microsoft 365 admin center
3. Overarching Themes
   • Agent security is the new frontier: All major product announcements (Purview, Entra, Defender) are focused on agent governance
   • 100 trillion daily signals inform Microsoft’s threat intelligence
   • Ignite’s evolution: Less about big product launches, more about storytelling and connecting features released throughout the year
   • IT Pro focus: Understanding, managing, and securing AI agents is becoming a core competency
4. Key Observations
   • Ignite 2025 is heavily focused on AI and security – limited announcements for traditional products like SharePoint, Teams, or Loop
   • The shift reflects Microsoft’s rapid release cadence in the cloud era
   • Agent sprawl is real and Microsoft is proactively addressing governance needs
   • IT professionals need to embrace this change: “The only way out is through”

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Show Notes

About the sponsors

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Welcome to Episode 414 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast.This episode covers the major cloud service disruptions that impacted both AWS and Azure in October 2025. Even the biggest cloud providers face operational challenges. Learn what happened, how it was resolved, and what IT pros should keep in mind for future resilience planning.

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Show Notes

• Back to the Future: 40th Anniversary in IMAX
• [RESOLVED] Increased Error Rates and Latencies
• Azure Status History
• All Changes to Azure Frondoor Configuration are blocked currently.

About the sponsors

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Welcome to Episode 413 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. Microsoft has introduced a new file share-centric management model for Azure Files, aiming to eliminate the complexity of managing storage accounts. This model treats file shares as top-level Azure resources, allowing for easier automation, granular access control, and independent scaling. It also simplifies billing with transparent pricing and supports up to 1,000 file shares per subscription per region in the current preview.

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Show Notes

• Simplifying file share management and control for Azure Files
• Plan to deploy Azure Files
• Create an Azure file share with Microsoft.FileShares (preview)
• Scalability and performance targets for Azure Files
• Understand Azure Files billing models
• More questions? Reach out to [email protected]

About our guest

 

• Connect with Will Gries on LinkedIn

 

About the sponsors

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Welcome to Episode 412 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we explore three announcements from Microsoft that are reshaping how security teams work with Sentinel. From a reimagined data architecture to AI integration and new visualization capabilities, Microsoft is doubling down on making security operations more intelligent, efficient, and accessible. Whether you’re a seasoned SOC analyst or just getting started with cloud security, these updates offer powerful new ways to detect threats, investigate incidents, and understand your security posture.

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Show Notes

• Logitech MX Master 4, Ergonomic Wireless Mouse with Advanced Performance Haptic Feedback, Ultra-Fast Scrolling, USB-C Charging, Bluetooth, Windows, MacOS – Graphite
• Microsoft Sentinel data lake is now generally available
• Announcing Microsoft Sentinel Model Context Protocol (MCP) server – Public Preview
• What is Microsoft Sentinel’s support for Model Context Protocol (MCP)?
• Add Microsoft Sentinel’s collection of MCP tools
• Introducing Microsoft Sentinel graph (Public Preview)
• Graph models overview (preview)

About the sponsors

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Welcome back to another episode of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast! In this episode, we dive deep into one of Microsoft Purview’s AI monitoring and protection capabilities: Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI – your secret weapon for monitoring and securing AI usage across your organization.

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Show Notes

• • Learn about Data Security Posture Management
  • Learn about Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI
  • Governing AI Shadow IT with the Microsoft Purview Browser Extension
  • Get started with the Microsoft Purview extension for Chrome
  • Considerations for DSPM for AI to manage data security and compliance protections for AI interactions
  • Learn about Microsoft Purview billing models
  • List of AI sites supported by Microsoft Purview Data Security Posture Management for AI

About the sponsors

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Welcome to Episode 410 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast where hosts Jay Leask and Joy Apple are joined by special guest Ben Stegink for a discussion recorded live from the North American Cloud and Collaboration Summit in Branson. In this episode we focus on how organizations must adapt their change management approaches for the Microsoft 365 cloud environment.We discuss the fundamental shift from traditional IT operations, where organizations controlled software update timing, to cloud-based services with continuous updates outside of their control. Jay and Joy emphasize that successful modern IT requires cross-functional teams where IT partners closely with business units, communications, and training departments rather than operating in isolation. We then talk about the need for a shift in governance models to empower business users while requiring IT to balance user control with necessary oversight.Key themes include the importance of ongoing communication and adoption strategies, using tools like Viva Engage communities for peer-to-peer support, and adopting a “yes, and” approach to business requests rather than defaulting to “no.” The episode emphasizes treating technology deployment as an ongoing service relationship rather than a one-time project, which is essential for success in the rapidly evolving cloud environment.

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Show Notes

Joy Apple

Joy is a Microsoft MVP and Director of Success and Enablement at Orchestry. With years of experience as an information technologist, I’m dedicated to helping organizations implement technology with a purpose-driven, “human-first” approach, ensuring tools like Microsoft 365 empower people to do their best work.

Teaching and knowledge-sharing are at the heart of what I do. Whether it’s through volunteering in the Microsoft Community, speaking at events, or writing as the “Joy of SharePoint,” I’m passionate about helping others unlock their potential with modern workplace solutions.
Im also a cohost of the Guardians of M365 Governance podcast, where I explore the challenges and rewards of governance, and a columnist for She is Tulsa, a quarterly magazine celebrating impactful stories from my local community.

Outside of work, you’ll often find me enjoying live music or discovering new spots in Tulsa, Oklahoma, combining my love of connection and creativity wherever I go.

Jay Leask

Jay is a Principal Technical Architect at the Washington DC Microsoft Innovation Hub specializing in Modern Work. Jay facilitates discussions on modern IT practices, using 20 years of IT experience to engage customers in solutions design with a focus on increased the value and decreased risk within collaboration investments. His focus over the last 15 years has been on public sector organizations including state, local, and Federal government, as well as education institutions.

Links

• Joy Apple on LinkedIn
• Connect with Jay
• Microsoft 365 Change Guide
• Stay on top of changes in Microsoft 365
• Microsoft 365 Roadmap

About the sponsors

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Welcome to Episode 409 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, Ben and Scott explore the configuration decisions tenant administrators face when preparing their Microsoft 365 environment for Copilot deployment. They dive into the key questions every IT professional should be asking: How do you identify and remediate oversharing in SharePoint sites before Copilot can access that content? What governance controls should be in place to prevent sensitive data from being discoverable through organization-wide search? The hosts examine practical tools for identifying high-risk sites and content, how to control which sites appear in Copilot results, and other configuration options that allow you to optimize how Copilot processes organizational content.

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Show Notes

• Data, Privacy, and Security for Microsoft 365 Copilot
• Apply principles of Zero Trust to Microsoft 365 Copilot
• Get started with data explorer
• Data access governance reports for SharePoint sites
• Semantic indexing for Microsoft 365 Copilot
• Restrict discovery of SharePoint sites and content
• A glimpse into the future of file sharing in Microsoft 365

About the sponsors

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Welcome to Episode 408 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. Part two of our exploration into Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers continues our hands-on discussion about finding, implementing, and getting the most out of MCP servers in your daily workflows.

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Show Notes

• Silicon Valley: Gilfoyle Made A Bot (Season 6 Episode 1 Clip) | HBO
• Lokka
• What is the Azure MCP Server (Preview)?
• Microsoft Learn Docs MCP Server overview
• Notion MCP
• Introducing Slack MCP Support
• Model Context Protocol servers
• Docker MCP Catalog

About the sponsors

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Welcome to Episode 407 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we dive deep into the Model Context Protocol (MCP) – a game-changing specification that’s extending the capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) and creating exciting new possibilities for IT professionals working with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365. MCP represents a significant shift toward more extensible and domain-specific AI interactions. Instead of being limited to pre-trained knowledge, you can now connect your AI tools directly to live data sources, APIs, and services that matter to your specific role and organization. Whether you’re managing Azure infrastructure, creating content, or developing solutions, MCP provides a framework to make your AI interactions more powerful and contextually relevant to your daily workflows.

Your support makes this show possible! Please consider becoming a premium member for access to live shows and more. Check out our membership options.

Show Notes

• Introducing the Model Context Protocol
• Understanding MCP server concepts
• Understanding MCP client concepts
• A list of applications that support MCP integrations

About the sponsors

Would you like to become the irreplaceable Microsoft 365 resource for your organization? Let us know!