{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Catch Up Podcast","title":"Life at Microsoft: Trust, AI and ERP with Claire Purdue","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3336,"description":"What does it actually take to move into AI with confidence?\nIn this episode of The Catch Up Podcast, host Phillip Blackmore speaks with Claire Purdue, Senior Solutions Engineer at Microsoft, about her non-linear route into technology and how the pre-sales role has changed in the era of Dynamics 365 and Copilot. Claire explains why customers no longer ask what a system can do, but how they can work differently, safely and responsibly, and why the answer starts with data foundations rather than a bolt-on.\nWith AI adoption among UK small and medium sized businesses rising from 35 per cent in 2025 to 54 per cent in 2026, according to the British Chambers of Commerce, the pressure to act is real, and so is the risk of acting without governance.From reading body language on a Teams call to setting guardrails, auditability and ownership around AI, this conversation makes the case that as technology absorbs the repetitive work, the human side of the job matters more, not less.\nClaire Purdue: Claire Purdue is a Senior Solutions Engineer at Microsoft in the UK, working with customers across Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the wider Copilot and AI portfolio. Her route into technology was deliberately non-linear: a degree in maths, statistics and computing, a first job in software support, a move into consultancy, self-taught PRINCE2 study that took her into project management, and then a step into account management as the first account manager her software vendor ever hired. She moved into pre-sales, spent two years working on a construction CRM system in Canada, and joined Microsoft as a technical specialist on her return to the UK. She holds the MB-310 Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance certification along with Microsoft Business Value Management Practitioner and Mentor recognitions, and has featured in Microsoft's My #MicrosoftLife series talking about life inside the Business Applications team. Her focus today is helping organisations move to AI with clear guardrails, strong...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/iWBZTiC94l_5ILnmTBn8PhdqZZ1oGG1Nu4q8ji6v23Q/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83NDYz/NGM5ZWU5NzM4OTI1/ZDA5YTgxYmExZTBj/NDc5YS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}