Microsoft has strengthened its desire to be the AI backbone for companies of all sizes as it looks to strengthen businesses and industries around the world.
Speaking at the company’s Microsoft Envision event in London, Judson Althoff, EVP and Chief Commercial Officer, noted that the role of AI will be the next step for many companies, following the previous trends of cloud computing and digital transformation .
But Althoff emphasized that Microsoft wants its work to be recognized as not just the next step, but as a platform for real change and innovation for organizations around the world.
AI transformation
“AI transformation will follow many of the same rules of digital transformation,” Althoff told his audience. “Many of you started your cloud journey many years ago, and one rule really applied: that digital transformation was business transformation, enabled by technology, and in that order.”
“AI transformation should be about pragmatic innovation and applied use of AI to drive your business forward. It is critical to us that the work we do, the innovation we bring to the table, the research and development we apply, our capabilities actually create business returns for each and every one of you.”
Althoff highlighted a wide range of use cases for AI technologies in business, with chatbots, security and encryption all mentioned as areas where the tools could benefit businesses. One particularly striking demo showcased the company’s Azure OpenAI Studio, which created a custom co-pilot for an enterprise.
He also pointed to the upcoming general release of Microsoft Fabric, scheduled for November 1, as a pivotal moment for the company, bringing a real-world generative AI platform to an enterprise by connecting end-to-end analytics.
“The last ten years have been a real journey for us,” he added, “We are excited to embark on this journey with the journey you are all on, to work with you on your AI transformation to help you unlock new employee experiences, to help you enrich customer engagement, to help you reimagine businesses and reimagine innovation.”
“AI transformation will change the way companies think about their employees, how they think about interacting with their customers, how they think about their own business and how they think about innovation.”
“Our mission is to empower every person at every organization on the planet to achieve more, and we believe this new era of AI transformation allows us to live more true to our mission than ever before.”