Phoenix Software’s Copilot and Microsoft Programme Lead, Lewis Thomson, has been named a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP), an accolade that recognizes exceptional community leadership, technical expertise, and a sustained record of sharing knowledge through speaking, content and hands‑on support. This is the second MVP within Phoenix’s ranks, reinforcing the company’s growing profile inside the Microsoft ecosystem and placing an explicit spotlight on AI-powered productivity and Copilot adoption across the public and private sectors.
Phoenix Software is a Pocklington‑based Microsoft partner that has been actively investing in Microsoft 365, Copilot, Windows 365 and related modern workplace technologies for several years. The business promotes a range of Copilot readiness workshops, early access programmes and customer engagement activities aimed at helping organisations move from experimentation to practical adoption. Phoenix’s public materials describe dedicated programmes for Copilot workshops, Copilot Agents demos, and Microsoft FastTrack engagement—activities that align with the practical contributions MVPs are typically recognised for.
Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional award is an annual recognition that honours independent community leaders who share real‑world expertise and help peers extract more value from Microsoft technologies. The MVP award is not a certification or paid role; recipients are nominated based on visible community contributions over the preceding 12 months and are welcomed into a global peer community that gains early product insight and access to Microsoft product groups. The programme has evolved for decades into a core channel where Microsoft engages trusted community experts.
Lewis’s public quote on receiving the award emphasises the two things MVPs consistently deliver: community contribution and a commitment to empowering customers to harness AI responsibly. The emphasis on governance, adoption and the transition from pilot projects to measurable transformation reflects the practical challenges organisations face when they introduce Copilot across information‑intensive business processes.
The upside is real: Copilot and Copilot Agents have the potential to change how knowledge work gets done, and partners like Phoenix that combine Microsoft engineering alignment with practical adoption services are well‑placed to help customers extract value. The downside is equally tangible: misconfiguration, underinvestment in training, and over‑reliance on unverified outputs can create compliance and productivity hazards.
The pragmatic route is clear: treat Copilot adoption as a multi‑phase change project—start with targeted business scenarios, secure the data estate, pilot with conservative guards, measure outcomes and scale deliberately. In that context, the recognition of a Copilot lead as an MVP is a helpful signal, but not a substitute for disciplined planning and ongoing governance.
Lewis Thomson’s MVP award is both a personal achievement and an indicator of a broader shift—partners and practitioners who can bridge Microsoft’s Copilot capabilities with disciplined adoption practices will determine whether AI becomes a productivity multiplier or an organisational headache. Phoenix’s next challenge will be converting individual recognition into consistent customer outcomes at scale—and their early investments and internal talent suggest they know the path forward.
Source: Yorkshire Evening Post “I’m delighted to have received this award"
Phoenix Software is a Pocklington‑based Microsoft partner that has been actively investing in Microsoft 365, Copilot, Windows 365 and related modern workplace technologies for several years. The business promotes a range of Copilot readiness workshops, early access programmes and customer engagement activities aimed at helping organisations move from experimentation to practical adoption. Phoenix’s public materials describe dedicated programmes for Copilot workshops, Copilot Agents demos, and Microsoft FastTrack engagement—activities that align with the practical contributions MVPs are typically recognised for. Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional award is an annual recognition that honours independent community leaders who share real‑world expertise and help peers extract more value from Microsoft technologies. The MVP award is not a certification or paid role; recipients are nominated based on visible community contributions over the preceding 12 months and are welcomed into a global peer community that gains early product insight and access to Microsoft product groups. The programme has evolved for decades into a core channel where Microsoft engages trusted community experts.
Why this matters: what Lewis’s MVP tells us about Phoenix and Copilot
Phoenix’s momentum with Microsoft
Phoenix already lists a number of notable Microsoft recognitions and partner achievements—awards, specialisms and prior MVPs inside its business. In 2024 Phoenix celebrated the company’s first internal MVP, Daniel (Dan) Bowker, and has since expanded Copilot and Viva offerings across its Customer Success team. That context matters: an internal track record of early participation in Microsoft programmes makes it easier for customers to find a delivery partner with credible, repeatable experience.Copilot at the centre of workplace change
Microsoft views Copilot as a foundational part of its AI strategy for productivity: a suite of experiences that integrate AI assistance into Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams and Windows, and that can be extended with Copilot Agents and the Copilot Control System for IT oversight. Microsoft’s own messaging has been consistent: Copilot is designed to reduce routine cognitive load, surface critical information, and automate repetitive tasks—while giving IT teams management and governance controls. For partners like Phoenix, that creates a service opportunity: readiness, governance, adoption, prompt‑engineering, and change management.Community recognition as business signal
An MVP award for a Copilot programme lead is a signal both externally and internally. Externally, it tells customers and prospects that Phoenix houses recognised expertise on Microsoft AI at work. Internally, it can accelerate access to product previews, technical contacts, and the networking that helps partners shape roadmaps or early pilot approaches. While an MVP is not an official Microsoft endorsement of a partner company, the personal recognition of staff elevates corporate credibility for services that hinge on technical nuance and change delivery.What the MVP award means in practical terms
For Phoenix customers
- Faster access to tactical guidance on Copilot configuration, tenant readiness, and security controls.
- Confidence that the partner has practical, peer‑validated expertise in deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot capabilities at scale.
- Potential for better‑informed workshop content and adoption playbooks—since MVPs typically thread real world learnings back into public content and training.
For Phoenix as an organisation
- Stronger positioning when bidding for Microsoft‑centric transformation projects.
- Enhanced internal capability building, as MVPs often mentor colleagues and accelerate knowledge transfer.
- Increased visibility with Microsoft product teams and early access programs that can lead to privileged previewing of features and testing at scale.
Lewis Thomson: profile and contributions
Lewis joined Phoenix in February 2020 and has progressed through Microsoft FastTrack leadership into roles that lead Phoenix’s Copilot, Viva and Microsoft programme activities. He has run hands‑on Copilot workshops, led webinars on Copilot Agents and participated in sector‑specific roadshows to demonstrate Copilot’s business use cases. That portfolio of activity matches the established paths MVPs take—community events, public technical content, and repeated practical engagements that help customers implement Microsoft technology.Lewis’s public quote on receiving the award emphasises the two things MVPs consistently deliver: community contribution and a commitment to empowering customers to harness AI responsibly. The emphasis on governance, adoption and the transition from pilot projects to measurable transformation reflects the practical challenges organisations face when they introduce Copilot across information‑intensive business processes.
Technical context: Copilot features and governance that matter to IT leaders
Core capabilities to plan for
- Content summarisation across email threads, documents and meetings (Outlook, Word, Teams).
- Data‑driven analysis inside Excel using natural language prompts to uncover insights and build visualisations.
- Task automation and actions that offload recurring chores (e.g., daily status summaries, meeting prep).
- Copilot Agents which extend Copilot into bespoke workflows that can integrate enterprise data and third‑party systems.
Governance and risk controls
- The Copilot Control System and Microsoft’s enterprise privacy settings provide administrative tools to control access, dataflows and the scope of tenant‑wide knowledge ingestion.
- Bing Chat Enterprise and other commercial offerings lock down telemetry and ensure that chat data is not used to train public LLMs—an important distinction for regulated sectors.
- Organisations should prioritise tenant configuration, Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies, and explicit guidance on which repositories Copilot can index (SharePoint, OneDrive, Graph connectors).
Strengths — why Phoenix’s recognition is a net positive for customers
- Operational experience: Phoenix’s published case studies and Copilot workshops indicate practical deployment experience—valuable for customers who want to avoid the “pilot trap” where experiments never scale.
- Repeatable method: A partner that can run repeatable internal and external workshops (for example, tailored Copilot for Microsoft 365 sessions) typically produces clearer adoption outcomes than one using ad hoc consultancy.
- Access to product preview channels: MVPs—through the MVP community and Microsoft engagement—often gain earlier technical access, which can translate to faster problem resolution and deeper technical insights.
Risks and limits — where customers must be cautious
1. Over‑reliance and inflated expectations
Generative AI can speed many tasks, but it is not a universal replacement for judgement. Productivity improvements depend on prompt quality, data hygiene, and user skill at validating outputs. Recent industry commentary warns about superficial adoption and the risk of “vibe working” where AI shortcuts are mistaken for strategic productivity improvements. IT leaders must manage expectations and measure real outcomes.2. Hallucination and accuracy constraints
Copilot outputs are only as reliable as the underlying models and the organisation’s data governance. Critical use cases—legal drafting, regulated reporting, clinical notes—demand human verification layers. Failure to design verification workflows can create downstream risks.3. Data governance and compliance
Even with enterprise features, Copilot touches corporate data sources. Misconfiguration of connectors, overly broad indexing, or inadequate DLP can expose sensitive content. Organisations in regulated sectors must adopt conservative configurations and clear approval workflows.4. Cost and procurement creep
Copilot licensing models and usage tiers are evolving rapidly. Microsoft’s consumer product moves and tier changes (including new bundles and pricing strategies) make long‑term cost forecasting difficult. Procurement and finance teams should model realistic scenarios, including enterprise usage peaks and long‑tail adoption.5. Skills and change management
Deploying Copilot is as much about people as technology. Organisations that invest in governance but neglect user training risk low adoption or misuse. Structured, role‑based training and learning pathways are essential. Phoenix’s workshop model—if executed well—addresses this but must be balanced with ongoing coaching.Practical recommendations for IT leaders considering Copilot adoption
- Start with clear business outcomes: identify 2–3 high‑value scenarios (meeting prep, customer case summarisation, monthly reporting) and measure baseline vs. post‑deployment productivity.
- Run a tenant readiness audit: map connectors, classify sensitive data, and define what Copilot is allowed to index. Lock down anything that must remain out of AI processing scope.
- Pilot with governance guardrails: deploy to a controlled cohort, apply DLP and auditing, and require human sign‑off on outputs for critical workflows.
- Invest in user enablement: run role‑specific workshops, develop quick reference prompts, and create verification checklists for users.
- Revisit licensing and cost models frequently: evaluate usage telemetry, and be ready to adjust seat counts, tiers, or feature bundles as user behaviour evolves.
- Maintain a feedback loop: create a shared log of hallucinations, errors and user feedback to drive prompt improvements, data quality fixes and change in workflows.
The role of independent expertise: why MVPs matter beyond badges
MVPs act as conduits between product teams, early adopters and the wider community. When a partner employee becomes an MVP, they bring three practical benefits:- Signal of community trust: MVPs are visible contributors who publish, speak and teach; their presence validates a partner’s technical competence.
- Early technical insight: MVPs get channels to product teams that can accelerate troubleshooting and clarify roadmap impacts.
- Amplified knowledge sharing: MVPs often formalise their experiences into workshops, blog posts and demos that benefit customers beyond the initial project.
What to watch next
- Microsoft’s product roadmap for Copilot and Copilot Agents—new agent capabilities and deeper app integrations are being added rapidly and will reshape what partners can deliver. Expect feature cadence to remain brisk as Microsoft scales Copilot across cloud and endpoint experiences.
- Licensing and packaging changes—Microsoft’s consumer and business product moves will influence procurement strategies; finance teams should track announcements closely.
- Sector‑specific governance guidance—public sector organisations are likely to demand explicit, auditable controls as Copilot touches case data, citizen records and other sensitive datasets. Partners specialising in public sector compliance will be in high demand.
Final analysis: opportunity, but not a short‑cut
Lewis Thomson’s MVP recognition is an important local milestone for Phoenix: it validates in‑house Copilot leadership and expands the partner’s capability narrative. For customers, a named expert with MVP standing can reduce adoption risk—so long as organisations treat Copilot as a programme, not a product. That means investing in governance, training and verification, and choosing partners who can demonstrate repeatable deployment and real business outcomes.The upside is real: Copilot and Copilot Agents have the potential to change how knowledge work gets done, and partners like Phoenix that combine Microsoft engineering alignment with practical adoption services are well‑placed to help customers extract value. The downside is equally tangible: misconfiguration, underinvestment in training, and over‑reliance on unverified outputs can create compliance and productivity hazards.
The pragmatic route is clear: treat Copilot adoption as a multi‑phase change project—start with targeted business scenarios, secure the data estate, pilot with conservative guards, measure outcomes and scale deliberately. In that context, the recognition of a Copilot lead as an MVP is a helpful signal, but not a substitute for disciplined planning and ongoing governance.
Lewis Thomson’s MVP award is both a personal achievement and an indicator of a broader shift—partners and practitioners who can bridge Microsoft’s Copilot capabilities with disciplined adoption practices will determine whether AI becomes a productivity multiplier or an organisational headache. Phoenix’s next challenge will be converting individual recognition into consistent customer outcomes at scale—and their early investments and internal talent suggest they know the path forward.
Source: Yorkshire Evening Post “I’m delighted to have received this award"