Welcome to the AI Agent & Copilot Podcast, analyzing the latest AI Copilot and agent developments. In this episode, Tom Smith reviews last week’s Microsoft AI Tour in New York, and some key takeaways from agent and copilot customers.
Highlights
00:17 — Last week’s Microsoft AI Tour in New York City served up rich examples of financial industry giants going “All In” on AI. The most detailed account came from BNY and CIO Leigh-Ann Russell, who said the bank has 50,000+ employees with access to its AI assistant while 22,000 are fully trained and 50% of that latter number are sufficiently advanced in its usage that they are building agents. Thousands of employees building agents: that’s a real eye-opener. Plus, 80% of the bank’s software developers are using GitHub Copilot daily.
AI Agent & Copilot Summit is an AI-first event to define opportunities, impact, and outcomes with Microsoft Copilot and agents. Building on its 2025 success, the 2026 event takes place March 17-19 in San Diego. Get more details.
02:06 — Another speaker was Angie Ruan, CTO, capital access platforms at Nasdaq, who laid out her firm’s five pillars for AI initiatives. They include: data management, cloud, security, governance, and cultural transformation
While Ruan called out data management as the “most fundamental” priority, she, BNY’s Russell and others strongly emphasized the role of culture and the need to actively pursue organizational change management to realize success. These insights set the stage nicely for AI Agent and Copilot Summit taking place March 17-19.
