In my previous post, Personal AI Agents Are Having a Moment, I explored a topic that continues to attract my attention: AI that moves beyond answering questions and starts helping us get things done. Google’s latest announcement gives us another reason to pay attention. On October 8, Google introduced the Gemini agent at its Gemini…
Before adding AI to a workflow, evaluate predictability, complexity, and risk. Not every business problem needs AI. Sometimes the right answer is a database query. Sometimes it is a script, a clearer process, or a better way to apply rules you already understand. The question is not, “Can AI do this?” It is, “Is AI…
The recent surge is real. Whether it becomes a lasting shift depends on what happens after the launch. Over the past three weeks, personal AI agents have seemed to appear everywhere. New products, major funding announcements, and moves by established platforms have converged into a remarkably concentrated wave. The impression of acceleration is not simply…
Microsoft Copilot is changing again. But the important story is not simply a better chatbot or another feature inside Word. Bottom line: Microsoft Copilot: More Capabilities, Two Ways to Pay The changes announced across August and September 2026 point toward something bigger: a unified place to ask questions, delegate work, build applications, and run proactive…
For the last few years, much of the AI conversation has focused on models. Which model is smartest? Which one has the largest context window? Which one is fastest? Which model is best for coding, reasoning, images, research, or writing? Those questions still matter, but I think we may be entering a stage where another…
The chatbot was only our introduction. The real transformation begins when AI becomes a partner in our everyday work. For the past several years, nearly every major AI conversation has revolved around intelligence. Those questions still matter, but I increasingly believe they are no longer the most important ones. The more interesting question is: How…
I’ve been talking quite a bit about Microsoft’s massive effort to make Copilot a more usable and coherent platform. Piece by piece, Microsoft is bringing together agents, identity, security, governance, and management into a more consistent enterprise framework. The latest move is the rollout of self-service migration for existing Copilot Studio agents to Microsoft Entra…
Microsoft announced it is moving to Copilot Credits for consumption, marking a significant shift in how organizations power their AI transformation. This isn’t just a new feature for a single product; it is a unified currency designed to act as the metering layer for nearly the entire Microsoft AI stack. – Please see the Microsoft…
The “agentic” era has officially arrived. For the last year, we’ve watched a wave of AI tools—from Claude’s Computer Use to power-user frameworks like Agent Zero and persistent learners like Hermes—promise to handle our digital labor. But as the space gets crowded, one thing is becoming clear: “AI Agent” is not a one-size-fits-all term. We are moving away from monolithic tools…
Many people only scratch the surface of Microsoft Copilot—using it for basic email drafts or quick grammar fixes. However, recent features across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem turn Copilot into a powerful proactive engine capable of running complex, multi-step workflows. Here is a breakdown of what I think are valuable features to understand in the latest…
At first glance, the July 2026 Windows 11 update looks like another routine Patch Tuesday release focused on security fixes and system maintenance. Look a little closer, however, and it becomes clear that Microsoft is continuing to transform Windows into an AI-first development platform. While everyday users will appreciate improved reliability, recovery options, and performance,…
The enterprise AI boom has hit a bit of a financial wall. What began as an exciting race to adopt generative AI tools across organizations has rapidly morphed into a budgeting headache. As companies expand from basic chat interfaces to autonomous agents and automated workflows, the underlying compute costs are proving unsustainable. Here is a…
There is a quiet revolution happening right under our noses—or more accurately, right inside our pockets. For years, the narrative around Artificial Intelligence was “bigger is better.” Tech giants raced to build models with hundreds of billions of parameters, requiring massive server farms and nuclear-levels of electricity to run. But in early 2026, the pendulum…
It’s a Saturday evening, and I am sitting with my laptop watching a new agent I am launching to help with one of my requests. It responds politely, but something feels off—like watching someone wear your jacket that doesn’t quite fit. The responses are technically correct but lack the nuance, warmth, and judgment that make…
If you’re like me, always on the lookout for insights that challenge conventional thinking and offer fresh perspectives, then the latest episode from Gartner ThinkCast is a a great one that talks about reshape your understanding of AI in the corporate world, you don’t want to miss. Podcast Episode: “The Core Premise: Moving Past the…
The Fable 5 situation represents a significant moment in the ongoing discourse around AI safety and vulnerabilities. Beyond highlighting the challenges of preventing sophisticated jailbreaks, it intensified discussions among AI developers, security researchers, and policymakers about balancing powerful AI capabilities with effective safeguards. I needed to understand this move, so I researched it a bit…
The “Fable 5 Incident” refers to a major, unprecedented national security intervention by the US government that forced AI lab Anthropic to abruptly pull its most advanced artificial intelligence models, Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5, from public and commercial access. The event marked the first time a Western government directly intervened to shut…
When most of us think about Artificial Intelligence, we picture a single, all-knowing brain. We type a question into a chatbot, and a massive, incredibly smart engine spits out an answer. It’s easy to assume that the secret to a great AI application is simply finding the biggest, smartest, most powerful AI model on the…
Copilot isn’t a single product or a single price — it’s a whole family. Free Copilot is exactly that: free. For personal Microsoft 365 apps, Microsoft 365 Premium is the consumer AI plan (it replaced Copilot Pro in late 2025). For workplace data and enterprise context, Microsoft 365 Copilot runs at $30/user/month. If you’re building…
The AI landscape has shifted from a race for sheer size to a race for deep reasoning. In this new era, one model stands alone as an absolute financial and computational outlier: OpenAI’s o1-Pro. As of June 2026, priced at a “reasonable” – just kidding – an astronomical $150.00 per million input tokens and $600.00…
If you have used a standard AI chat interface, you are probably familiar with traditional prompting. You type a question, wait a few seconds, and get an answer. If the answer is wrong, you type another prompt to fix it. This is called “single-shot” prompting, and while it feels magical at first, it has a…
For the last few years, our relationship with AI has been strictly transactional. You write a prompt, you hit enter, and you wait for a response. If you want a multi-step task done, you have to baby-sit the chatbot through every single turn. That era is officially over. We are witnessing a massive structural shift…
Time to revisit The Rise of the Enterprise Token Broker blog post The AI Gateway—the centralized “Token Broker”. I’ll be honest: writing this post feels a little like breaking up with someone you genuinely like. OpenRouter has been part of my daily workflow for two and a half years. It solved a real problem, it…
For the past few years, most people have thought of AI as a chatbot. You ask a question, receive an answer, and the interaction ends there. A new category of technology is changing that model entirely. I have been writing about this for a while — I think my frst post was back in December…
The AI landscape is constantly evolving, and at the forefront of this revolution is the MiniMax series, a family of powerful, efficiency-focused large language models developed by MiniMax, a Shanghai-based AI company. MiniMax models are engineered specifically to excel at high-throughput agentic workflows, long-context comprehension, and complex software engineering tasks. I have been testing MiniMax…
How I Bypassed Ollama and LM studio Limitations on my Ryzen AI NPU to Hit 50+ TPS If you recently purchased a modern AI-PC, you bought into a promising vision: a dedicated, cutting-edge Neural Processing Unit (NPU) sitting right inside your silicon, designed to stream large language models (LLMs) smoothly without draining your battery or…
The next generation of AI-capable laptops is being shaped by a new set of requirements. Users increasingly expect thin-and-light systems to handle demanding workloads such as local AI assistants, content creation, software development, and advanced productivity applications without sacrificing battery life or portability. Intel’s upcoming Panther Lake platform, expected to launch as part of the…
Everything You Need to Know About Massive Gemini Overhaul If you’ve been treating AI like a highly advanced search engine or a neat copyeditor, Google just drew a massive line in the sand. At Google I/O 2026 (May 19 through May 20, 2026), the narrative completely shifted. The era of passive, text-in, text-out chatbots is…
Google’s annual developer conference has always been a stage for change, but Google I/O 2026 delivered something most marketers were not prepared for: the complete restructuring of how search visibility works. The search giant has made it official: the era of optimizing solely for blue links is over. What Actually Changed at Google I/O Google…
Nvidia’s dominance in the AI hardware market is not solely due to its high-performance GPUs. The company’s real strength lies in its comprehensive ecosystem, centered around its proprietary Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA). Over the past decade, CUDA has evolved from a programming framework into the foundation of modern AI development, creating a powerful network…
The workplace is moving beyond chatbots and into a new category of software: digital coworkers. These are AI systems that do more than answer questions; they can execute background tasks, manage files, coordinate workflows, and keep working on complex jobs with less step-by-step prompting. What makes this shift important is simple: instead of asking AI…
I have been selling, managing and doing technology consulting for years, and I have to confess this term makes me tickle a little… “Forward Deployment Engineer” sounds like the kind of title invented in a meeting where someone wanted to make consulting sound cooler, newer, and more tactical. But behind the buzzword, there is a…
Back in 2024 I wrote a blog post: How Much Does It Cost to Operate AI ChatBots? As we move into the new era of the token economy, the conversations, about tokens costs and power are very much part of the story. A useful model must account for real model pricing, utilization, infrastructure, performance, and…
Starting with the May 2026 security update, any developer can register AI agents via Windows.UI.Shell.Tasks API to appear alongside Copilot. Users invoke with “@” in search, monitor chain-of-thought via hover. This positions Windows as the OS for agents, not just AI features. In a move bigger than another Copilot tweak, Microsoft is turning Windows 11…
I love that Workplace AI is finally getting the attention it deserves. For years, most conversations focused on experimentation, novelty, and chat interfaces. Meanwhile, a quieter shift was already underway: intelligence moving closer to the user, the device, and the workflow itself. Please see Small Local Models: Why Tiny AI Is Having a Big Moment…
The narrative around artificial intelligence has long been dominated by bigger equals better. Models with trillions of parameters, trained on internet-scale datasets, powered by massive GPU clusters—these were the benchmarks of progress. But something interesting is happening at the other end of the spectrum. Small models—measured in billions, not trillions of parameters—are proving they can…
In the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence, the narrative is shifting. We are moving away from a speculative era shaped by fears of total job replacement and existential risk, and into a more pragmatic phase where the real costs, physical constraints, and human complexities of AI are coming into focus. The End of the AI…
It is funny how things change… a couple of days ago I posted about: Microsoft Copilot Growing Up – How to remove Copilot from your Device , and today… At a recent showcase in Sydney, Microsoft unveiled a glimpse into the next evolution of productivity: Agentic AI. This isn’t just about a chatbot answering questions;…
My own relationship with Microsoft Copilot started with high hopes, followed by the “trough of disillusionment.” Like many, I grudgingly launched it yesterday only because I needed to handle confidential data within our enterprise security layer. I went through my standard procedure to manually override the default—and then I saw it: Claude Opus in the…
For the past year, Microsoft Copilot has felt like the uninvited guest that wouldn’t leave. Forced onto taskbars and integrated into nearly every corner of Windows 11, the AI assistant was met with mixed reviews—and significant pushback from enterprise IT departments concerned about data privacy and “AI bloat.” Following the April 2026 Patch Tuesday update,…
For the last few months, I’ve been working on a new book series called AI: Don’t Just Chat. I wrote it because the pace of AI has become exhausting for a lot of people. The tools change constantly. The advice shifts. What worked a few months ago can already feel outdated. Even people who are deep…
In a previous post, we looked at how AI was used to manufacture a fake persona for clout. Although I love the sound and lyrics, it did felt cold because the intent was to deceive. I wanted to follow up with a story that is far more real, deeply creative, and, honestly, much more positive….
How the End of Information Scarcity is Redefining Human Value. It’s Not About Technical Skills Anymore A couple of days ago I wrote a blog post called The Economics of Free and Infinite Knowledge This one is follow-up to that one. For decades, the IT consulting world operated on a simple premise: bring the smartest…
Exploring GLM 5.1, the new open-source frontier AI model from Z.AI that challenges proprietary systems with 1,700-step autonomous agent capabilities.
How the End of Information Scarcity is Redefining Human Value. For centuries, progress has been driven by closing gaps—between effort and output, knowledge and decision, intention and execution. But a new dynamic is emerging: Artificial Intelligence isn’t just erasing the gap in what we know; it’s erasing the gap in what we can do. We’ve…
Exploring GLM 5.1, the new open-source frontier AI model from Z.AI that challenges proprietary systems with 1,700-step autonomous agent capabilities.
I just posted yesterday Local AI Sovereignty: Deploying Ollama, Gemma 4, OpenWebUI, and n8n and I used Gemma 4 locally on Ollama. Someone asked me a good question: What and Why Gemma 4 Large language models (LLMs) have rapidly evolved from research concepts into foundational tools for modern work. Gemma 4 represents one of the…
I just posted yesterday Local AI Sovereignty: Deploying Ollama, Gemma 4, OpenWebUI, and n8n and I used Gemma 4 locally on Ollama. Someone asked me a good question: What size computer (Windows PC) do I need tor it? What size computer do you need for Gemma 4? Google’s April 2026 release of Gemma 4 changed…
With 64GB of RAM and the latest Ryzen AI silicon, you are no longer a mere consumer of AI—you are a host. This setup leverages AMD’s XDNA architecture to run Gemma 4 and / or and Qwen 3.5 locally, ensuring your data never leaves your machine while providing a professional-grade automation suite via Docker. This…
The Milestone: I Published My Book. Now What? – There is no feeling quite like seeing your book live on Amazon. But as soon as my eBook and print versions were available, the same suggestion kept popping up: “Where is the audiobook?” In today’s fast-paced world, readers are often actually “listeners.” They consume stories during…
AI agents are moving fast from demos to real workflows. Two names that keep coming up are OpenClaw and NemoClaw, and they are often mentioned together because NemoClaw is built as a security-focused layer around OpenClaw. What is OpenClaw? OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent framework that runs on your own hardware and connects AI…
Imagine having an intelligent assistant that doesn’t just answer questions, but understands the full context of your projects, your OneNote files. synthesizes information across sources, and helps you brainstorm, draft, and visualize ideas. Microsoft 365 Copilot Notebooks is designed to do exactly that. This new capability, integrated into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, represents a major…
Summary: March 2026 Microsoft’s Copilot Reorg: What It Means for Microsoft 365 Copilot and Power Platform On March 17, 2026, Microsoft announced a significant reorganization of its Copilot efforts, aimed at turning Copilot from a collection of related features into a coherent, end‑to‑end AI system across consumer and enterprise products. For technical audiences working with…
A few weeks ago, I stared at my old, underutilized mini-PC. It sports a modest Quad-Core 2.0GHz Intel CPU (Family 6, Model 9c) paired with 8GB of RAM. Under Windows 11, the machine was usable but slow. The operating overhead were choking the hardware before I could even launch an application. I wanted to repurpose…
If you’ve been shopping for a new laptop, smartphone, or gaming rig lately, you’ve likely noticed a trend that hurts the wallet: prices are climbing. While we often blame inflation or “new features” for these hikes, a massive portion of these costs is tied to the invisible, incredibly complex world of memory manufacturing the demand…
Learning from others is the fastest way to realize what can be done. Instead of reinventing the wheel every time you sit down to work, you can stand on the shoulders of those who have already tested the ropes. This collection brings together GitHub repositories, video tutorials, and community forums so you can skip the…
For months, I’ve been refining my local AI lab. I had the hardware dialed in—my AMD Ryzen AI processor, 128GB of RAM, running Ollama and Open WebUI like a dream. But I kept hitting the “invisible wall.” Every time I asked my local agents for the morning’s technical headlines or a deep dive into a…
I started an experiment today… We’ve all seen the flashy trading bots promising “1000% returns,” but usually, those come with a hefty subscription fee and a black box where your data goes to die. If you’re already running a local agent (via Ollama, LM Studio, AgentZero or a custom build one), you’re sitting on untapped…
OpenClaw was first introduced in November 2025 by Austrian developer Peter Steinberger, who originally published it under the name Clawdbot before later rebranding it. Since then, it has grown into one of the fastest-rising open-source AI agent projects, with coverage reporting massive GitHub growth, heavy traffic, and broad developer interest. What is OpenClaw? OpenClaw is…
In an era of information overload, finding the right home for your thoughts is more important than ever. Whether you are building a Second Brain, managing complex projects, or simply looking to organize your digital life, the market is flooded with options. I have been trying to organize information since the dawn of time, testing…
To understand how to build a truly effective AI agent, you must first acknowledge the core constraint of the Large Language Model (LLM) itself. “LLMs are ‘frozen’ in time as of their training data (The Training Cut-off).” Think of an LLM as a massive, read-only database. During its “training” phase, it reads a significant portion…
When you hear about the latest large language models (LLMs)—like GPT-4, Claude, or Gemini—it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by their sheer scale. These models contain billions, sometimes trillions, of parameters. This incredible size is what gives them their broad capabilities—from writing code and summarizing texts to answering complex questions and creating poetry. But that scale…
I love to experiment, tear things apart, and figure out exactly how things work under the hood. For me, the best way to truly understand a technology is by doing—which is why I prefer developing my own custom tools rather than just relying on pre-built software. While some polished front-end interfaces already have built-in memory…
As we continue to witness the rapid transformation of industries through the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), it becomes increasingly critical for professionals to adopt new skills. This shift not only improves efficiency but also drives us toward higher value activities by reducing time spent on “work about work.” It’s a journey towards specialization, where…
Summary originally generated with Microsoft Copilot As AI agents become more common in the workplace, especially within Microsoft 365, it’s crucial to manage them securely and effectively. AI agents are transforming how we work—automating tasks, improving decision-making, and enhancing collaboration. But with great power comes great responsibility. The recently published (last week) Microsoft’s Agent Governance…
In May of 2025 Microsoft released a BUNCH of enhancements to their Copilot family of products. Absolutely amazing. I have been keeping track of this and the last time I wrote an update was in November 2024 under the blog The World of Microsoft Copilot Products – Update Nov 2024. You can also see my…
Written with the help of Research assisstant: Perplexity.ai Epic Week for AI! Microsoft Build 2025 took place from May 19 to May 22, 2025, at the Seattle Convention Center while Google I/O 2025 was held concurrently, starting on May 19, 2025, in Mountain View, California. Both Microsoft Build 2025 and Google I/O 2025 showcased major…
Ollama, Open WebUI and n8n on Windows Hosting your own AI models is no longer just for Linux gurus. With Docker Desktop on Windows, you can run a professional-grade automation and chat suite—n8n, Ollama, and Open WebUI—all on your own hardware. In this guide, we will set up a “Generic” configuration that makes it easy…
As many organizations are engaging in Implementing Microsoft Copilot, a question I often get asked which I thought I would document for reference. Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 is a powerful tool that leverages AI to assist users in various tasks. However, there might be instances where you want to exclude certain files or documents…
Great session yesterday at Ignite 2024 — Here are the announcements mentioned in the Microsoft Ignite 2024 session with Satya Nadella. Just two words: impressive work – so many things to deep dive into! Security: Microsoft 365 Copilot: Windows: Azure: Full Keynote at:
Microsoft is enhancing its Copilot AI to function more like virtual employees, capable of proactive task automation. This includes monitoring emails, automating data entry, and performing a series of tasks autonomously, showcasing a shift from reactive to proactive AI assistance. Please view the updated blog post I wrote early this month The World of Microsoft…
In today’s fast-paced world, productivity and efficiency are more important than ever. Microsoft has developed a suite of Copilot products, each designed to help you get the most out of your workday. Let’s take a closer look at these offerings. This is an update to the blog post I wrote about a year ago: Making…
Microsoft Copilot continues to stand out as a powerful assistant designed to enhance productivity and collaboration. I am loving the speed, accuracy and how well it integrated with the M365 suite of applications it is. It has saves me TONS of time and I am especially thankful for meeting summaries! One can say I am…
Large Language Models (LLMs) have revolutionized the field of natural language processing and artificial intelligence. These powerful models enable applications like language translation, text summarization, and content generation. The world of Large Language Models (LLMs) can be intimidating, especially with the associated costs. However, there are plenty of free and low-cost options available for those…
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming industries worldwide, enabling individuals and organizations to gain a competitive edge through enhanced efficiency, data-driven insights, and personalized experiences. As people and businesses navigate this AI-driven landscape, it’s crucial to understand the value proposition of AI services and effectively communicate their benefits to potential customers. Any services sales /…
There is a lot of misconceptions / questions about the security around the Microsoft Copilot products. understandably, it is usually one of the first question that comes-up when companies are considering Copilot use within their organizations. (the elephant in the room!) Let’s quickly put some misconceptions to bed right away: Per Microsoft Documentation: Understanding how…
Updates added on 6/13/2024 This is an update to the post: Making Sense of Microsoft’s Copilot brand as it has changed A LOT since! Time flies when you are having fun! And when it comes to AI – the last 6 months represents YEARS of progress! No other company has embraced and embedded Artificial Intelligence…
Microsoft Copilot Studio is a robust platform that allows you to customize and extend Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365. With a low-code approach, you can create and publish plugins directly to Copilot, tailoring them to your specific needs. The comprehensive authoring canvas within Copilot Studio empowers you to design, test, and deploy conversational AI solutions. Explore this innovative platform…
Have to say I find this strange, but in the past couple of weeks I’ve received several inquiries from customers as to how to turn off Copilot First let me say that the first thing I want to clarify is that they are talking about the Copilot for Edge which is the “sometimes annoying” default…
It seems like Microsoft has named “everything” that has to do with Artificial Intelligence fall into the Copilot brand. Copilot is an AI feature that allows you describe what you need in plain English. Please refer to the updated Update Blog post: Microsoft Copilot Evolution – November 2024. Also you can see all Copilot related topics…
Last week Microsoft announced OneDrive 3.0 Lots of excellent updated to an already great product. they are calling it The Future of File Management and it includes AI capabilities! ( OneDrive with Copilot ) to help quickly search, organize and extract information from your files. Although not every featured mentioned is there, some are already…
Interest in AI related topics: check out my AI Series Learnings Page Today Microsoft announced that in the next Windows release 23H2 on September 26 will contain Windows Copilot baked in.. During the same event they announced that Microsoft 365 Copilot will be generally available starting November 1, 2023. This will get interesting now… Announcing…
A few weeks back I wrote about how ChatGPT has reignited AI . See also Keeping up with AI Resources below Everyone learns different. Some require more formal processes than others. Some requirement payment others are free. Some give you a certificate others not. For me, most of my “learnings” come from YouTube where people…
