On June 24th at 11:00 AM ET, TCW-GAV is hosting a free live webinar: AI and Copilot 101: A Practical Guide for Central PA Businesses. Steve Walter will be co-presenting Julie Hodges from Microsoft.
If you have been following along over the past few weeks, reading about what Copilot is, understanding the risks, and thinking through what safe adoption looks like, June 24th is where those conversations converge into a single, practical session.
Here is exactly what the webinar covers and why each topic is on the agenda.
Why “101”?
The 101 designation is intentional. This is a first webinar, not because the topic is simple, but because the conversation most Central PA businesses need right now is a foundational one, not an advanced one.
Most of the AI coverage your leadership team has encountered has been aimed at early adopters, enterprise technology teams, or people who already have a Copilot environment running. The 101 conversation is different. It is built for business owners and operations leaders who are asking real questions: Is this relevant to us? What does it cost? What do we need to have in place before we consider it? What can genuinely go wrong?
Those questions deserve honest, specific answers from people who understand the Central PA business environment, not generic guidance designed for a national audience.
What the Session Covers
What AI and Copilot are
The session opens with a clear, non-technical explanation of what AI is and what Microsoft Copilot specifically does in a business context. Steve and Julie will walk through how Copilot works inside Microsoft 365 applications, Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, with practical examples drawn from the kinds of businesses in Lancaster County and Central PA that TCW-GAV works with.
The goal of this segment is that attendees leave with a clear, accurate picture of what the technology does, not a feature list, but a practical understanding of what changes for your team when Copilot is running in your environment.
How to use Copilot effectively and where it falls short
Julie Hodges brings direct experience with Copilot adoption across a range of business sizes and industries. This segment covers what effective Copilot use looks like in practice, including how to construct prompts that produce useful output, where the tool consistently delivers, and where human judgment remains non-negotiable regardless of AI assistance.
This is the segment that addresses the gap between what Copilot’s marketing suggests and what users experience, and it is one of the most valuable parts of the session for businesses that are trying to set realistic expectations before committing to adoption.
The risks addressed directly and honestly
We have covered the four primary AI adoption risks over the past two weeks. On June 24th, Steve and Julie will address them live with the ability to answer the specific questions attendees have about how those risks apply to their own organizations, their industries, and their current Microsoft 365 environments.
This includes the data privacy question that comes up in virtually every AI conversation in healthcare, financial services, and insurance. The permissions question that applies to any organization that has been on Microsoft 365 for several years without a deliberate governance review. And the output review question that applies to every business using AI to assist with client-facing or compliance-related content.
Making AI safe, the practical steps
Building directly on the risk conversation, this segment walks through the governance, permissions, security, and training steps that constitute a safe deployment, with realistic timelines and a clear picture of what each step involves for a business of your size and complexity.
Where to start: a roadmap for Central PA businesses
The session closes with a practical roadmap for businesses at different points in their AI readiness journey. Whether your organization has not yet engaged with AI at all, is already seeing employees using unapproved tools, or has begun exploring Copilot adoption formally. This segment gives you a clear next step regardless of where you currently stand.
The ROI and competitive advantage conversation
Julie will present data on what businesses that have deployed Copilot in well-configured environments are seeing, productivity improvements, time savings by role and application, and the competitive positioning implications for businesses that move deliberately now versus those that wait.
Open Q&A
The session closes with open Q&A. If you have a specific question about your industry, your current Microsoft 365 environment, your compliance requirements, or the economics of Copilot adoption for a business your size, this is where that question gets answered directly.
Who This Session Is For
This session is designed for business owners, operations leaders, and technology decision-makers at small and midsized businesses in Central PA who are in the evaluation stage, asking questions, building a business case, or trying to understand whether Copilot is worth the investment of time and preparation.
You do not need a technical background. The session is built for the people making the decision, not the people implementing it.
If you are already running a Copilot deployment and looking for advanced optimization guidance, some of this session covers ground you may have worked through. If you are at the beginning of the conversation, which describes most Central PA businesses right now, it is built for you.
30 Years in Central PA. Now Including AI
TCW-GAV has been serving Lancaster County and Central PA for more than 30 years. We have managed Microsoft 365 environments for businesses in manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, insurance, construction, and auto dealerships. We understand the specific compliance requirements, operational contexts, and technology maturity levels of businesses in our region.
We are not hosting this webinar to sell Copilot licenses. We are hosting it because the AI conversation that Central PA businesses need right now is a local, specific, honest one, and because our 30 years of partnership with this community means we are invested in getting it right.
A client who attended our last technology event described what they found at TCW-GAV as “the last review you will need before making your decision.” That is the standard we hold ourselves to on June 24th.
Reserve Your Spot
The session is June 24th at 11:00 AM ET. It runs approximately 40 minutes, including Q&A.
Register for the June 24th AI and Copilot 101 Webinar
TCW-GAV: Central PA’s Trusted Technology Partner
At TCW-GAV, we approach every technology decision the way we have for 30 years, starting with your business goals, your current environment, and your specific requirements before recommending anything. Our AI and Copilot work for Central PA businesses is no different:
- Honest assessment of your current Microsoft 365 environment
- Governance and permissions work before any deployment begins
- Security configuration review aligned to your compliance requirements
- User training built around your team’s actual workflows
- Ongoing partnership as AI tools and your business continue to evolve
June 24th at 11:00 AM ET. Bring your questions. Steve and Julie will answer them.