Copilot 2.0: From AI Hype to Practical ROI. Watch the Full Webinar Recording

On June 16, Midnight Blue CEO Larry Schwartz and Copilot Expert Julie Hodges from Microsoft cut through the noise on Microsoft 365 Copilot. They skipped the vendor pitches and product demos, delivering a straightforward conversation about what actually worked, what went wrong, and how Pittsburgh-area firms started using AI securely.

The recording and slide deck are available for you:

Watch the full webinar recording: Copilot 2.0 – From AI Hype to Practical ROI.

Download the slide deck below.

Both are free. No form required.

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Key Webinar Takeaways

The webinar covered six critical areas of AI readiness:

• Measurable Results: What real ROI looked like in business environments and which roles benefited most from Copilot.
• Security & Permissions: The essential step most firms missed. Larry explained how to structure permissions correctly to prevent exposure before activating Copilot.
• Copilot Agents vs. Base Experience: Understanding the differences and the governance needed before integrating data sources.
• Immediate Improvements: Practical techniques for better results, common mistakes to avoid, and effective team training strategies.
• Realistic Rollouts: How to sequence a deployment without a dedicated IT project manager.
• Open Q&A: Insights on security baselines, licensing costs, and managing staff already using consumer AI tools.

“In order to use Copilot, you really want to build out that baseline security first. We market it as being Copilot-ready, but the bulk of the work is really on the infrastructure and the security. People don’t always realize how important that foundation is until something goes wrong.”
— Larry Schwartz, CEO, Midnight Blue Technology Services

Who Benefited Most from This Session?

This session proved invaluable for firms facing these challenges:

• Uncertainty about starting with Copilot despite leadership interest.
• Stalled adoption after purchasing licenses.
• Concerns about staff using consumer AI tools on company data.
• Need for a realistic picture of Copilot’s costs and returns.

Larry Schwartz, CEO of Midnight Blue Technology Services, has over 20 years of experience managing Microsoft environments for Pittsburgh-area professional services firms.

Julie Hodges brought a ground-level view of Copilot deployments and agent building.

Next Step: Complimentary AI Readiness Assessment

Are you ready to move from hype to practical ROI? Many attendees left with specific questions about their firm’s readiness.

We offer a Complimentary AI Readiness Assessment to review your current setup, identify security gaps, and outline a realistic path forward. No deck, no pitch, just a direct conversation about your firm’s specific needs.

Not ready to talk yet? The blogs below cover the questions that came up most often about Copilot adoption.

• What Does Strategic AI Implementation Actually Cost? (And What Does It Save?) 
• Beyond the Hype: What the Best AI-Adopting Companies Actually Do Differently
• Managed Copilot vs. Consumer AI Tools: An Honest Comparison for Professional Services Firms