How Microsoft Embraces AI Innovation

I’m watching public company earnings to identify early trends in the software market to inform startups’ plans for 2023. At last, we see a change in slope in the annual growth rates of the cloud services. Both Google & Microsoft announced growth rates in GCP & Azure that held steady from one quarter to the next. There are two forces in tension : overall cost reduction efforts by companies & the desire to invest in AI. The desire for AI is broad. Microsoft’s Azure Open AI customer base grew 4x by count, up from 2500 last quarter : "We have great momentum across Azure OpenAI Service. More than 11,000 organizations across industries, including IKEA, Volvo Group, Zurich Insurance…" The same is true for the engineering productivity solution, GitHub Copilot "More than 27,000 organizations, up 2x quarter-over-quarter, have chosen GitHub Copilot for Business to increase the productivity of their developers." Microsoft’s Robotic Process Automation business, Power Automate is growing quickly, too. UIPath doesn’t share MAU count & Microsoft didn’t break out revenue, so comparing the two businesses’ size directly isn’t possible. "Finally, Power Automate now has 10 million monthly active users at companies like Jaguar Land Rover, Repsol, Rolls-Royce, up 55% year-over-year." 365 CoPilot, the Microsoft Office AI Upsell product has some good initial customer pull. "With about 365m Office users & a price point of $29 per user per month, a 10% cross-sell into the customer base would add $12.7b of revenue to the Office suite & more than $100b in market cap, assuming constant multiples." We are now rolling out Microsoft 365 Copilot to 600 paid customers through our early access program, and feedback from organizations like Emirates NBD, General Motors, Goodyear and Lumen is that it’s a game changer for employee productivity. Microsoft is investing in data centers to support the needs of companies like Meta who have used Azure to train Llama2, a positive sign of increasing spend for the ecosystem. "The acceleration is really quite broad. It’s both on – both the data centers and a physical basis plus CPUs and GPUs and networking equipment, think of it in a broad sense as opposed to a narrow sense. So it’s overall increases of acceleration of overall capacity." Satya Nadella’s view on technology? The cloud migration is about halfway as percentage of GDP. "You’ve heard me talk about this as a percentage of GDP, what’s going to be tech spend? If you believe that, let’s say, the 5% of GDP is going to go to 10% of GDP, maybe that gets accelerated because of the AI wave." Overall, the demands of AI seem to be stabilizing infrastructure spend, something we haven’t seen in 7 quarters. It may be a sign that we’ve hit the bottom but the remaining earnings calls of the top infrastructure companies later this month will be telling.

Microsoft’s AI momentum keeps accelerating, and the numbers tell the story. Listening to the earnings call for Q3 FY25, it's clear that it was a landmark quarter for AI at Microsoft. From infrastructure to applications, AI is reshaping everything. Here are some AI highlights: ⭐ 100 trillion tokens processed this quarter; up 5x YoY, with a record 50 trillion last month alone. ⭐ Over 10,000 organizations are already building and scaling agents with Microsoft’s new agent service. ⭐ GitHub Copilot continues its transformation from pair programmer to autonomous agent, reaching 15 million users (+4x YoY) and automatically reviewing 8 million pull requests. ⭐ The AI stack keeps expanding: Foundry now hosts models from OpenAI, Cohere, Meta, Mistral, Stability, and Microsoft’s own growing family of Phi SLMs and CPU-optimized BitNet B1.58. ⭐ AI-powered Copilot everywhere: Office, Sales, Customer Service, Security, Factory Ops—even 1 million+ custom agents built inside Copilot Studio, up 130% QoQ. ⭐ Azure AI services contributed 16 points of growth to Azure’s 35% growth rate; and demand is outpacing supply. ⭐ AI-enhanced security handling 84 trillion threat signals daily. Satya Nadella summed it up perfectly: “AI is the essential input for every business to expand output, reduce costs, and accelerate growth.” AI is no longer a layer or a tool; it’s becoming the operating system for business, embedded in every workflow, every product, every process. The pace of AI adoption and its deep integration across Microsoft’s portfolio is nothing short of extraordinary. Full transcript here: https://lnkd.in/gtHvG47v

I'll be honest. Before joining Microsoft, I wasn't using AI in my daily work as much as I could have. I wasn’t skeptical, but I hadn’t yet embraced the full potential of integrating AI into my workflows. That has changed completely, and now, with tools like Copilot, I can’t imagine working without it.   The most noticeable shift has been in how Copilot helps me prepare for meetings. Whether it's gathering insights from a series of documents, transcribing conversations, or pulling together key data points, it’s become an invaluable tool for streamlining my prep. I can dive straight into the substance of meetings with my team or customers, knowing that I’m fully backed by AI-generated insights that would have taken hours to compile.   Thanks to Copilot, my team and I are freed up to focus on what truly matters—driving strategic initiatives forward—rather than getting bogged down in administrative tasks. The results are clear: more impactful meetings, faster decision-making, and a level of efficiency that was previously out of reach. How has AI changed the way you work?

Breaking news from Microsoft Ignite! We had Microsoft CMO for AI at Work, Jared Spataro, on the AI Applied podcast to share what they're doing with agents. I’m pumped for this: Jared shares the vision that I love: We have to shift our mindset around using generative AI, or we won’t see the radical adoption that we need in enterprise. That’s what I love about how Microsoft is doing AI Agents. It’s not trying to be all things to all people. Instead, it focuses on creating some hyper practical agents that allow you to do specific things while you’re working alongside them. Here are some of the coolest examples Jared was sharing: 1. Interpreter Agent in Microsoft Teams: This agent provides real-time translation during meetings, delivering the translated speech in the original speaker's voice with only a five-second delay. Jared shared his experience of hearing colleagues speak fluent Chinese through this feature, emphasizing its potential to enhance global collaboration. 2. Marketing Campaign Planning: A company utilized Microsoft's AI tools to significantly reduce their campaign planning process from seven months to just seven weeks, demonstrating the efficiency gains achievable with AI integration. 3. Customer Support Efficiency: Microsoft's internal use of AI agents led to a 12% increase in throughput within a specific customer support group, highlighting the agents' ability to streamline operations and improve service delivery. Check out the AI Applied Podcast: https://lnkd.in/eDU_BBCe or our YouTube channel: https://lnkd.in/eCrReWSM Thanks to my co-pilot Jaeden Schafer, the Podcast Master!

Top 10 Takeaways from Satya Nadella's Microsoft Ignite Keynote Yesterday’s keynote at Microsoft Ignite 2024 was nothing short of transformative! Satya Nadella unveiled innovations that aren’t just ideas—they’re solutions we can start using to change the way we work, learn, and secure our future. Here are the 10 highlights that stood out to me: 1) AI 'Agents' Transform Workflows: Autonomous AI agents can now handle complex tasks like managing invoices and processing customer returns. This isn’t just about automation—it’s about freeing up time for higher-value work. 2) Microsoft 365 Copilot Enhancements: From Copilot Actions to streamline tasks to real-time PowerPoint translations, these updates could redefine day-to-day productivity for businesses of all sizes. 3) Proprietary Data Center Chips: Microsoft’s custom chips, like the Azure Integrated HSM and Data Processing Units (DPU), will power AI workloads more securely and efficiently. This kind of innovation highlights their long-term commitment to AI infrastructure. 4) Focus on AI Monetization: Nadella’s message about turning AI tools into measurable business value resonates. It’s not just about AI’s potential—it’s about how we harness it today for impact. 5) Launch of Windows 365 Link: A cloud-based mini-PC supporting dual 4K monitors and passwordless logins could change how businesses approach remote work. Affordable and flexible solutions like this are exactly what teams need. 6) AI in Security Operations: Integrating generative AI into security workflows makes a lot of sense—detecting threats faster and automating responses could be a game-changer for IT teams. 7) Agentic AI Vision: This concept of AI agents working autonomously across organizations feels like a glimpse into the future of business efficiency. 8) AI-Powered SharePoint Premium: Enhancements in collaboration and content management are perfect for businesses looking to streamline teamwork without sacrificing quality. 9) AI in Mixed Reality and Quantum Computing: The progress here is exciting—not just for the tech itself, but for what it means for industries like healthcare, education, and manufacturing. 10) Commitment to AI-First Business Applications: Microsoft continues to focus on embedding AI into its core tools, which is exactly what businesses need to stay competitive. As a proud Microsoft Learning and Training Partner for over 24 years, NetCom Learning is excited to align with these announcements. For us, this isn’t just about embracing new tools—it’s about empowering organizations and individuals to stay AI skill-ready in an evolving world. It’s inspiring to see how Microsoft’s vision connects with our mission at NetCom Learning and AI CERTs to transform lives through learning. #MicrosoftIgnite #NetComLearning #AI #FutureOfWork #Innovation #LifelongLearning #AIApplications #AICERTs #Cloud #CyberSecurity Tim May Debbie Uttecht, Julie-Anne Arsenault