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Past Webinars

Please take a look at the listing below of our 2025 – 2026 past events with the link to the Transcript Summary and any resources shared during the talk. If you are looking for any Tech Talks from 2022, 2023, or 2024,  please contact Kris Lynch at kris.lynch@suny.edu.

Questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with Kris Lynch, Technical Programs Manager at the SUNY CPD, at 315-214-2428 or kris.lynch@suny.edu. 

SUNY Tech Talks – July 2026

SUNY Tech Talks – July 2026

Wednesday, July 29th, 2026, 2:00 – 3:00 PM Eastern

What’s New in Microsoft 365 Copilot

Join us for a review of the latest Microsoft 365 Copilot innovations, upcoming capabilities, and roadmap updates. We’ll cover recently released features, what’s coming next, and how organizations can prepare to take advantage of new AI-powered experiences.

SUNY Tech Talks – June 2026

SUNY Tech Talks – June 2026

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 PM Eastern

Multilateral Federation with Microsoft Entra ID: A SUNY Geneseo Customer Story

Presenters:

  • David Warden, SUNY Geneseo
  • Jeff Apruzzese, Director of Marketing & Business Development, Cirrus Identity
  • Mark Rank, Director of Compliance and Strategic Insights, Cirrus Identity

SUNY Geneseo migrated off aging on-prem infrastructure by adopting the Cirrus Identity Enterprise Bridge, keeping Entra ID as their primary IdP while gaining clean access to InCommon-federated applications. In this session, David Warden from SUNY Geneseo will share their journey, the architecture before and after, how they solved the protected-attribute challenge with LDAP, and the lessons they’d pass on to other SUNY campuses considering a similar path.

Agenda 

  • Welcome and framing (Jeff Apruzzese, Cirrus Identity)
  • Meet SUNY Geneseo: introductions from David
  • The challenge: aging CAS and SimpleSAMLphp, hybrid complexity, protected attributes
  • Before and after: how Geneseo re-architected with the Cirrus Identity Bridge
  • Implementation and lessons learned
  • Q&A
SUNY Tech Talks – May 2026

SUNY Tech Talks – May 2026

Wednesday, May 27th, 2026, 2:00 – 3:00 PM Eastern

From AI Pilots to Enterprise Impact: Scaling AI Across Higher Education

Join Microsoft and Solliance for a strategic session designed for higher education leaders looking to move beyond early AI experimentation and drive institution-wide impact.
As AI adoption accelerates across campuses, many institutions are navigating the shift from isolated pilots to scalable, secure, and sustainable enterprise solutions. In this session, Microsoft will outline what defines a “frontier” institution in the AI era, how universities are progressing along their AI journey, and why Azure’s AI platform is uniquely positioned to support this transformation. You’ll also learn how Azure AI Foundry enables institutions to build, deploy, and manage AI solutions that integrate seamlessly with existing campus systems.
Building on this foundation, Microsoft partner Solliance will share practical guidance on turning strategy into execution. This includes how to establish an AI Center of Excellence, how to transition from tools like Copilot and Copilot Studio to enterprise AI solutions, and how to align architecture, data, and governance for long-term success.

Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how to scale AI responsibly and effectively, unlocking value across teaching, research, and operations.

Agenda
Microsoft: Setting the Foundation

  • The evolving role of AI in higher education
  • Defining the “frontier” institution: what leading universities are doing differently
  • Mapping the AI journey: from experimentation to enterprise scale
  • Why Azure AI for higher education: platform capabilities and differentiation
  • Introduction to Azure AI Foundry and integration with existing campus ecosystems
  • Real-world examples of AI and digital transformation in higher ed

Solliance: From Strategy to Execution

  • What an AI Center of Excellence (CoE) is—and how to stand one up
  • Moving from Copilot and Copilot Studio to enterprise AI with Microsoft Foundry
  • How to select the right approach based on institutional maturity
  • Common AI adoption patterns and challenges across higher education
  • Why data readiness, architecture, and governance are critical to success
SUNY Tech Talks – April 2026

SUNY Tech Talks – April 2026

Wednesday, April 29th, 2026, 2:00 – 3:00 PM Eastern

YouAlreadyOwnIt: Turning Existing Microsoft Tools into Campus Value

This week’s SUNY Tech Talks featured Planet Technologies and Microsoft, focusing on Planet’s “YouAlreadyOwnIt” program and how it can help SUNY campuses maximize their existing Microsoft investments. This session highlighted practical ways campuses can take advantage of tools they may already own and better align technology investments with campus needs.

Presenters:

  • Ali Stalfa-Grant, Strategic Account Manager, Planet Technologies
  • Andrew Sloan, Cloud Strategist, Planet Technologies

Agenda

  • Meet the Team
  • Why Planet
  • Planet Capabilities & Offerings
  • “YouAlreadyOwnIt” Program
    • Microsoft 365
    • Copilot
    • Intune
    • Power BI
  • Training and Implementation Services
  • Next Steps
SUNY Tech Talks – March 2026

SUNY Tech Talks – March 2026

Wednesday, March 25th, 2026, 2:00 – 3:00 PM Eastern

Resources:

Modernizing Higher Education Endpoints: Secure, Intelligent, and Cost Effective with Surface

Speakers:

  • Eric Davis – Sr. Surface Specialist
  • Neil Misak– AI Solutions Architect

Discover how Microsoft Surface devices can transform higher education and research. Join us as we explore how Surface can enhance learning experiences, streamline faculty and staff workflows, and support secure, scalable device management across institutions. 

Agenda:

  • Why Copilot + PCs: The Next Generation of Teaching & Learning Devices (20 minutes)
  • The Intelligent Edge: Redefining Student, Faculty, and Research Experiences (20 minutes)
  • Lower Cost, Higher Value: Surface Total Cost of Ownership (10 minutes)
  • Open discussion / Q&A
SUNY Tech Talks – February 2026

Wednesday, February 25th, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Eastern

Links from the chat:

Empowering SUNY with Secure AI: Protecting Copilot and Institutional Data

Speakers:

  • Rob Strawley, Sr Solution Engineer

As SUNY campuses expand the use of Generative AI and Microsoft 365 Copilot, securing AI systems and institutional data is critical. This session focuses on how Microsoft Defender protects GenAI environments by detecting and mitigating emerging AI threats such as data leakage, prompt injection, misuse, and unauthorized access. We will show how Microsoft’s security stack enables safe, compliant AI adoption across Microsoft 365 Copilot and cloud AI workloads while maintaining governance, visibility, and trust. 

Agenda

  • Securing Microsoft 365 Copilot
    • Protecting institutional data, enforcing governance, and preventing oversharing and policy violations
  • Defender for Cloud and AI Workloads
    • Protecting AI services and cloud infrastructure, identifying misconfigurations, and detecting risky behavior
  • Defender for AI Threat Protection
    • Detecting prompt injection, data poisoning, jailbreak attempts, and unauthorized access to AI models and services
SUNY Tech Talks – October 2025

Wednesday, October 29th, 2025, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Eastern

Links from the chat:

Microsoft Cloud Accelerate Factory and Microsoft Fabric

Speakers:

  • Erica Capozzi, Cloud and AI Specialist
  • Amy Brandt, Account Lead
  • Tim Fairlie, Account Technology Strategist
  • Bonnie Phelan, Customer Success Account Manager
  • Hope Foley,  Data Solutions Engineer

The Cloud Accelerate Factory is a program that provides zero-cost deployment assistance from Microsoft experts to accelerate Azure projects. This includes migrations, modernization, and AI implementations. Cloud Accelerate Factory delivers hands-on support for over 30 Azure services, leveraging proven best practices and a joint delivery model with partners to complete deployments in weeks instead of months. 

Microsoft Fabric is an end-to-end data platform that unifies data into a One Lake, and brings engineering, data science, and business intelligence into a single SaaS experience. Fabric eliminates silos and simplified governance. It accelerates AI use cases by providing a secure, integrated environment for building and deploying models with real-time data, enabling faster insights and predictive analytics.

SUNY Tech Talks – September 2025

Thursday, September 25th, 2025, 2:00 – 3:00 PM Eastern

Links from the chat:

Recent Microsoft Updates

Presenters: Renata Ruiz, Sr. Modern Work Specialist

Eric Jacobsen, FastTrack Architect – US State & Local Government

Recent Copilot Updates:

Join us to explore the latest updates to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat, including the newly announced availability of Copilot Chat directly within M365 apps like Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. Powered by GPT-5, these tools offer secure, context-aware AI assistance across your workflow, with support for both licensed and unlicensed users. We’ll share real-world use cases—from summarizing emails to visualizing data—and highlight how organizations can build and deploy agents to automate tasks and extend capabilities.

 

FastTrack Overview:

FastTrack helps organizations learn, prepare, and deploy Copilot, device management, and security solutions by offering technical guidance with designated resources assigned. Available for tenants with 150+ licenses under SUNY. 

SUNY Tech Talks – August 2025

Wednesday, August 27th, 2025, 1:00 – 2:00 PM Eastern

Links from the chat:

Agenda:

Welcome & Kickoff

  • Speaker: Kevin Stillman, CTO
  • Topic: Opening Remarks & Strategic Vision

Microsoft Team Introductions

  • Speaker: Microsoft Account Executive Amy Brandt + ATS Tim Fairlie

Forsyte + Sempris Overview

  • Speakers: Jeremy Fass & John Mollicone
  • Topic: Enhancing Security & Productivity with Forsyte and Sempris

Licensing requirements for program: Microsoft A5 Security + A5 Capabilities

  • Speaker: Microsoft Security Specialist, Josh Klein

Microsoft Security Concessions for EES Anniversary Orders

  • Speaker: Francoise Adebayo
  • Topic: Available Security Incentives & Licensing Benefits

Q&A + Closing Remarks

  • Open forum for questions and feedback

Contact us

The SUNY CPD is a collaborative central resource for the SUNY community providing access to high quality professional development opportunities focused on the latest trends and established best practices in higher education to enhance the capability of SUNY faculty and staff and increase SUNY’s competitive advantage.

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