How to Run Discovery Sessions for Copilot Studio Agents | EP 04
Most agent projects do not fail in the build. They fail in the first two weeks, when a request comes in, everyone agrees it sounds clear, and the team goes straight into Copilot Studio. Months later the agent works exactly as designed and almost nobody uses it, because the thing in the request was never the thing people actually struggled with.
Discovery is what closes that gap. In this episode, Microsoft MVPs Dani Kahil and Hamish Sheild join David Lorenzo Lopez and me for 80 minutes on how they scope Copilot Studio projects before anyone starts building.
What we cover
Why discovery matters. Solving the right problem, getting stakeholders aligned, and delivering outcomes people care about.
What discovery actually is. Structured co-design sessions, not open-ended chats and not separate interviews stitched together. Who belongs in the room: sponsors, SMEs, end users, IT, security, compliance, and the build team.
Finding the right use case. The signals that show an idea fits AI — high volume, repetitive, mostly about finding information rather than deciding, and where a wrong answer is annoying rather than catastrophic. Also the signals to walk away from: anything needing deterministic accuracy, or where the knowledge only lives in people's heads.
Scoping the solution. The knowledge audit, guardrails for sensitive data, security and cost, how the agent fits into the flow of human work, and what "production ready" really means.
Where discovery goes wrong. Stakeholders in silos, no agreed definition of success, no named owner, and trying to solve too much with one agent.
From discovery to build. Why the best handover is no handover, and how to capture context, decisions and risks as a knowledge base that both people and AI can use.
Plus two live demos: a customer journey map, and a requirements management app that turns workshop output into structured project knowledge.
Who this is for
AI engineers, business analysts, solution architects, and consultants working with Copilot Studio and Power Platform. Discovery is the least technical part of agent development, and it decides whether the rest of it matters.
Guests
Dani Kahil — Microsoft MVP, Kahil Consulting · LinkedIn
