Polaris is a production of Synozur – the transformation company. Synozur reimagines business for our clients, navigating the complexities of transformation and strategy with ease.
In this episode of Polaris, Chris McNulty speaks with Adam Harmetz, Corporate Vice President for SharePoint at Microsoft. They discuss Adam's career journey, and the significant role of AI in knowledge management. The conversation delves into how SharePoint is evolving as a knowledge engine for AI, the importance of community feedback in product development, and the future of information management. Adam shares insights on balancing customer needs with product focus and reflects on the pride he feels in the SharePoint community as it approaches its 25th anniversary.
Takeaways
- Data volume is exploding: Our world generates around 2.5 million terabytes of data every day and 90 percent of existing data was created in the last two years. Harnessing this data tsunami requires AI-powered tools that curate and surface the right information at the right time.
- AI adoption is mainstream: Studies show over 77 percent of companies are either using or exploring AI to drive productivity, and about 65 percent of organizations are already using generative AI to improve operations.
- Searching wastes time: Research suggests that knowledge workers spend nearly 19 percent of their workweek searching for and gathering information. AI-driven knowledge agents present a huge opportunity to reduce that overhead and focus teams on higher-value tasks.
- SharePoint's massive scale: SharePoint now serves over a billion users worldwide and processes more than two billion pieces of content every day. It has evolved from a portal into the collaboration and knowledge backbone of Microsoft 365.
- Intelligent content curation: Microsoft's new Knowledge Agent enriches documents with metadata, analyzes pages to fix broken links, retires outdated pages and creates new pages from simple prompts. Enriched metadata enables Copilot and agents to deliver deterministic, context-aware answers.
- Preparing for multiple futures: Adam Harmetz argues that work will likely involve a blend of chat-centric AI experiences and rich, branded intranets. Organizations should ensure their content is AI-ready and prioritize clear governance and metadata so they can pivot as technology evolves.
- The human element: SharePoint's passionate community underscores the importance of trust and empathy. Adam stresses nurturing, informing and listening to people who place their careers on a platform. Synozur's people-first philosophy aligns with that ethos, emphasizing partnerships and tailored, business-focused outcomes.
Sound bites
Adam Harmetz, CVP for SharePoint, Microsoft
- "When AI is looking for answers, SharePoint often becomes the primary citation source—almost double the next source".
- "Semi-structured data in SharePoint is the sweet spot for enterprise AI: structured enough to apply more structure, yet collaborative enough to capture everyone's voice".
- "The future won't be a clean break; it will be a split world where humans and agents co-evolve and reason over shared data stores".
- "In these paradigm shifts, it's better to ask why and how than to dwell on why not — great product making happens when we respect our customers' trust and solve real pain points."
References
Industry
- Data growth statistics: Our discussion referenced IFLScience's report noting that the world produces roughly 2.5 quintillion bytes (≈2.5 million terabytes) of new data each day, and 90 percent of existing data has been created in the last two years.
- ChatGPT adoption: We noted that ChatGPT amassed 100 million monthly active users within two months of launch, making it the fastest-growing consumer app in history.
- AI adoption statistics: According to AI Statistics, 77 percent of companies are using or exploring artificial intelligence in their operations. The CloudFactory blog cites McKinsey research indicating that about 65 percent of organizations were actively using generative AI by late 2025.
- Knowledge worker productivity: A Forbes column summarizes an IDC/McKinsey study showing that knowledge workers spend roughly 19 percent of their time searching for and gathering information.
- SharePoint usage: Microsoft reveals in its SharePoint blog that customers add over two billion pieces of content every day. At the 2025 M365 Community Conference, Jeff Teper announced that SharePoint has surpassed one billion users and runs two billion Power Automate flows each week.
- Knowledge Agent: Microsoft's official blog post "Introducing Knowledge Agent in SharePoint" outlines how the agent enriches and organizes content, suggests metadata columns, fixes broken links and helps build AI-friendly pages.
- Metadata & deterministic AI: Another SharePoint showcase explains how metadata understanding yields more precise, context-aware answers from Copilot and agents.
- AI models: Google's generative image model Nano Banana can combine and edit images based on natural language prompts, while OpenAI's Sora 2.0 video generator offers realistic, multi-shot video creation from text and images.
- Historical context: We mentioned the Library of Alexandria, the ancient repository that sought to collect every book in the world.
Guest Links
Events
Production
Polaris is produced with help from Riverside.fm. Our theme song, "Alternative Dream" is provided courtesy of Adobe. Additional music and sound provided by IndieGuy Records. Graphic design by Josh Brantley.
Polaris is available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, YouTube or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Thanks.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Adam Harmetz and Career Journey
05:25 The Impact of AI on Knowledge Management
08:09 SharePoint as the Knowledge Engine for Co-Pilot
10:47 The Future of SharePoint and AI Integration
13:07 Community Influence on Product Development
15:54 Challenges Faced by Customers and Solutions
18:42 AI's Role in Product Design and Development
21:16 The Importance of Trust in Technology
24:07 Reflections on SharePoint's Legacy and Future
28:02 Customer Opportunities
34:02 Billion User Legacies
35:49 SharePoint Year 25 - Year 50
37:11 Personal Views on Pop Culture
39:23 Upcoming Tech Events
40:33 The Journey of Knowledge Management
42:00 Next on Polaris
42:33 Conclusion
