Today's Practical AI Lesson: PowerPoint Edition — Let Me Count the Ways

I found seven (!!!) different ways to create PowerPoint presentations using Copilot. Yes seven, and yes they all created different outputs.

Two live inside PowerPoint itself. Five can be found/created inside Copilot on the Web. The outputs ranged from unusable to what I will officially rate as “not bad.” The best results inside the PowerPoint app itself came from using “New Slide with Copilot” button in the toolbar (pictured below). The worst output across all seven options came from clicking the Copilot icon on the toolbar in PowerPoint and asking for a full presentation in the chat window sidebar, weird, right?

The very best results came from a new PowerPoint agent currently in beta. If you have early access, go to the web version of Copilot, click Frontier (left side , and look for PowerPoint Presentation. You need the paid version of Copilot and may need to speak to your O365 administrator to turn this on. This Powerpoint agent asked clarifying questions, planned the structure, and only then generated slides. Same prompt. Same underlying AI. Completely different outcomes.

This is why giving teams Copilot licenses does not automatically improve processes. Interface choices matter. Planning matters. Training matters.

If you want to go deeper into how to actually use Copilot in real workflows, join me on February 27th for my all-day Copilot program with Fisher College of Business Executive Education program where we dive into this and more!!

#ArtificialIntelligence #MicrosoftCopilot #Copilot #AITraining #AIInBusiness #OSU HappyAIPath

#GenerativeAI #AIProductivity #DigitalTransformation

#ExecutiveEducation #BusinessAnalytics #FutureOfWork

Brands Are Building ChatGPT Apps — And I Told You They Would

Today’s practical post: an “I told you so” moment.

Two months ago, I wrote that brands should start building apps for ChatGPT. I thought it would take longer to matter — but on that point, I was wrong.

In just a few weeks, major companies have launched ChatGPT apps that let consumers interact directly with their products and services through AI. This isn’t theory anymore — it’s happening:

• Target — ChatGPT app live. Discuss design preferences and see results.
• Zillow — find homes through AI.
• Instacart — plan groceries by conversation.
• Uber — book rides via ChatGPT.
• StubHub — discover events directly inside chat.

What brand do you think should build a ChatGPT app next? The shift is happening faster than most expected, and it’s reshaping how people interact with brands.

According to new research from PYMNTS.com, based on a survey of ~2,100 consumers:

• Over 60% of consumers used a dedicated AI platform in the past year — AI is mainstream.
• More than one-third of Gen Z and “Power Users” now start their personal tasks in AI, not search.
• 42% of those users rely on traditional search engines less often.

This isn’t a gimmick. Forget “SEO for AI.”

Integration into AI — with customizable, frictionless, conversational transaction enablement (phew, what a phrase 😄) — will be the expected starting point for consumer engagement in less than a year.

People are talking to AI and expect brands to talk back.

Follow HappyAIPath for more practical AI insights on how it’s reshaping the way companies work — in real time.

P.S. All dashes were made of my own free will 🤣

Microsoft Ignite 2025: Copilot Becomes the Manager

Microsoft used Ignite 2025 to make one thing clear. AI is moving from the background to the center of how we work.

Copilot is no longer an add-on. It is the system. In 2026, about 80% of Office 365 enhancements will involve Copilot. That means AI will not just draft your email or summarize a meeting. It will schedule your calls, manage your inbox, and prioritize your day before you even open your laptop.

Agent 365 ties it all together. It gives every AI agent an identity and guardrails so companies can trust automation without losing control.

The message from Microsoft is simple. You will not just work with AI. You will work through it.

Labels: AI, Microsoft, Ignite 2025, Copilot, Office 365, AI Agents, Productivity

Teaching Practical AI: Building a Custom GPT to Fix Documentation Chaos

This week, I helped a colleague tackle a familiar headache. Their documentation was scattered across formats, styles, and half-filled templates. Everyone had created own version, and every revision meant hours of reformatting. I showed them how to create a custom GPT that could collect and structure the information automatically for every new document that needed to be created.

We built it step by step. First, we defined what “good documentation” meant for their team. Then, we created a prompt framework that guided the GPT to ask for information in a clear, consistent way. Each response fed into a standard structure that produced a clean draft for review. The human stayed in control, approving and refining the content before publishing.

The result was more than time saved. The team gained a repeatable process that ensured accuracy and consistency without removing human oversight. Now every question needed to produce publishable documentation was being answered, in the same order, with the same level of detail. The GPT became a collaborator, handling the structure and input while people focused on communicating the necessary information.

This experience reinforced an important lesson. The most useful AI applications start small, with one clear pain point and a cheap, fast, reliable custom solution built around it. Teaching people how to frame prompts and design their own GPTs gives them independence. It turns AI from a black box into a practical tool they can shape to fit their work.

Should We Let AI "Dream" Its Way to Discoveries?

Should We Let AI Dream Its Way to Discoveries? 

 As large language models grow, researchers are noticing dream-like behavior when they run unsupervised. This sparks a bigger conversation: what should society do with this emerging capacity? On one hand, letting AI explore freely could reveal new patterns and even novel insights. On the other, we must ask whether such experiments are safe and responsible. 

Should we encourage AI to turn this creative energy toward medical breakthroughs or complex social challenges? The possibility that AI could stumble upon discoveries on its own makes these questions urgent. Instead of only testing what AI can do, we need to decide what we want it to do and how to guide its growth responsibly. 

Read the full article here

Labels: AI ethics, AI discovery, LLMs, AI safety

How Microsoft Copilot Replaced 40 Hours of Work in Just 5 Minutes

How Microsoft Copilot Replaced 40 Hours of Work in Just 5 Minutes 

A client of mine had a real challenge. They were managing 95 corporate policies written over different years by various departments. Some policies even contradicted each other. It was a compliance risk, but no one had time to read through thousands of pages. 

They asked, can #Microsoft Copilot help? It turns out it could. We took these steps.

1. Open Microsoft Copilot Pro's Research Agent 
2. Connected it to their SharePoint folder where all the policies were stored.
3. I gave it a single prompt: 
• Search all policies and identify where any two contradict each other. Return a table with this content: 
• Column A: Policy A include the sharepoint file link + summary description 
• Column B: Policy B include the sharepoint file link + summary description 
• Column C: The issue or contradiction found 
• Column D: Provide a recommended action based on industry and policy best practices.”

In about five minutes, Copilot returned a full table. It highlighted conflicts, provided file links, and suggested next steps based on best practices. It was not perfect, but it was a powerful starting point compared to spending 40 hours on manual review.  Now the team scheduled this prompt to run monthly. Copilot scans new or updated policies and highlights issues automatically. Once they trusted the output, they shared the Agent with others across the company to keep policy management clear and fast. 

 Lesson: You do not need a huge budget to save serious time. Teach your team how to think with AI and real value will show up in everyday work. So what has your team done with AI this week?

Your Phone Is About to Get Its Own AI

Title: Your Phone will Get Its Own AI

A new article from Harvard Business Review, The Case for Using Small Language Models, highlights an important shift. Instead of relying on large cloud-based AI systems, we are moving toward smaller, faster models that can eventually run directly on your phone.

These are called small language models, or SLMs. They are simplified versions of the AI behind tools like ChatGPT, but built to run locally. That means they respond quickly, protect your privacy, and do not need a constant internet connection.

This shift is possible because hardware is catching up. Companies like NVIDIA are building powerful AI systems small enough to fit in edge devices like phones and wearables.

The result is a future where your phone could have its own private AI assistant. One that understands your habits, communicates in your style, and keeps your data on your device.

It is not here yet, but it is coming. And it is going to change how we interact with technology.

Read the full article here: The Case for Using Small Language Models