Solution Brief Source Pack

Generated: 2026-06-11 Problem: 72IRLD0VPrRlNAyZT8TZx Recommendation index: 1 Working title: Check Your Copilot Demo Still Works Before You Teach It

Reader and Decision Context

The reader teaches or demos Copilot from prepared materials. They may have a deck, prompt guide, walkthrough, or official Microsoft resource open on screen. Their problem is simple and awkward: the product can change between the day the material was made and the moment they teach from it.

Key terms:

• UI claim: anything in the material that says or shows what the product looks like or how it behaves today. Examples: screenshots, button names, click paths, panel names, feature statements, and demo prompts.
• Pre-session check: a short check before teaching that verifies today's visible screens and demo steps in the real tenant.
• Fallback: the line or route you use when the demo does not match the material.
• Release cadence: the rhythm of Microsoft 365 and Copilot changes. The exact timing varies by app, tenant, channel, and organisation settings, so the safe habit is to verify before the session.

Briefing Contract

Final reader artifact: a completed pre-session check sheet for one real session. Every UI claim in that session is marked pass, fail, cut, or unknown, and every failed or unknown claim has a fallback line.

The Briefing is deliberately smaller than the companion course. It does not redesign the training kit or build a monthly asset register. It gives the reader a fast pre-flight check that works with the deck they already have.

What Matters

The check must use sources and access the reader can realistically reach. A non-admin champion can usually open the public Microsoft 365 Copilot release notes, the Microsoft 365 roadmap, and the actual tenant they teach from. They may not have Message center access unless an admin gives them the Message center reader role or forwards relevant notes.

The check must be short. It should not turn into a full deck rebuild. The reader lists only the UI claims that appear in today's session, verifies each one, and writes a fallback for anything that fails.

The check must not over-promise. Microsoft says features can roll out gradually and organisation settings can affect when a work or school user sees them. Passing the check means "this session is safe enough to teach today", not "the material will stay correct next month".

Practical Options

Recommended Move

Run the check on the morning of the session or the day before if the session starts early. Check only the claims you will show. If a claim fails, do not apologise your way through it live. Either use the alternative path, cut the step, or say plainly that Microsoft has changed this surface and today's reliable point is the principle, not the old screenshot.

Checklist or Template

Five-minute pre-session check sheet

UI claim check table

Fallback line examples

• "That button has moved in this tenant. The important part is still the same: open the Copilot entry point available to you, give it the source, and check the outline before you build slides."
• "This feature is rolling out unevenly, so I am going to show the pattern with the surface we have today rather than pretend every tenant looks identical."
• "The screenshot in the deck is now a reference point, not today's instruction. I have marked it for update after the session."
• "This demo is not reliable enough to show live today, so I am cutting it and using the checked prompt example instead."
• "If your screen differs, do not chase the old button. Check the current Microsoft note and verify against your own tenant."

Final decision

• Ready: every claim passed or has a planned fallback.
• Teach with fallbacks: one or more claims failed, but the fallback is written and the session promise still holds.
• Needs review: a claim changed enough that the deck owner or adoption lead should approve the change.
• Blocked: the reader cannot access the tenant, licence, file, or source needed to verify the demo.

Evidence Notes

Microsoft's Copilot release notes and roadmap are useful public checks, but they do not prove that the feature is visible in the reader's tenant at the moment of teaching. The reader must still check the actual tenant and account used for the session.

Message center is stronger for tenant-specific change planning, but access is normally admin-bound or granted through the Message center reader role. The Briefing should tell non-admin champions to ask for relevant notes rather than require direct access.

Microsoft Support says Microsoft 365 features can roll out over time, work/school timing may depend on organisation settings, and multiple updates can happen in a month. That is why the checklist checks the actual tenant shortly before the session.

The Useful AI 2026 course review and Space audit support the pain: Copilot course screens and demos can become stale. The Briefing should use this as context, not as proof that every deck is wrong.

Fallback patterns come from practical demo guidance and the existing Collab365 recovery-script Briefing. They are not guarantees. They help the reader avoid silence, blame, and improvised excuses when the product differs from the material.

Citations Used

• Microsoft Learn, Microsoft 365 Copilot release notes, checked 2026-06-11: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/release-notes
• Microsoft 365 Roadmap, checked 2026-06-11: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap
• Microsoft Learn, Track new and changed features in the Microsoft 365 Message center, checked 2026-06-11: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/manage/message-center?view=o365-worldwide
• Microsoft Learn, Notifications for Business and Industry Copilot services, checked 2026-06-11: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/notifications-explained
• Microsoft Support, When do I get the newest features for Microsoft 365?, checked 2026-06-11: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/when-do-i-get-the-newest-features-for-microsoft-365-da36192c-58b9-4bc9-8d51-bb6eed468516
• Microsoft 365 Blog, Introducing a new design for Microsoft 365 Copilot, checked 2026-06-11: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2026/05/28/introducing-a-new-design-for-microsoft-365-copilot/
• Useful AI, 10 Best Microsoft Copilot Courses in 2026, checked 2026-06-11: https://usefulai.com/courses/microsoft-copilot
• Reprise, Software Demo Best Practices, checked 2026-06-11: https://www.reprise.com/resources/blog/software-demo-best-practices
• Collab365 Space 34, The Copilot Demo Recovery Script Bank, checked 2026-06-11: https://spaces.collab365.com/posts/the-copilot-demo-recovery-script-bank-Kqs0aT