As organisations seek new ways to boost productivity and engage employees, AI-powered tools are stepping in to assist with these role-specific tasks. Microsoft’s new report, Agents of Change, explores how “agentic AI” tools are transforming organisations by handling routine processes, helping leaders solve real business challenges and freeing up time for higher-value work.

🎥 Watch: How AI is transforming work – key findings from the report
Hear Microsoft UK’s Rob Smithson (Business Applications Lead) and Eleri Gibbon (SME&C Lead) discuss insights from Agents of Change report and how businesses can get started with AI-powered agents.

Why AI agents herald a new work era

AI tools are already helping organisations work more efficiently. According to Microsoft’s report, a survey of nearly 3,000 UK decision-makers and employees found that 41% believe AI can independently deliver decision-ready insights.

But agentic AI isn’t just an efficiency tool. By freeing employees to focus on more strategic work and supporting innovation, it’s a major driver of economic growth.

Businesses that embrace it fully are seeing the biggest gains. For example, Taylor Wimpey, one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, has embedded AI-powered tools into its operations to improve decision-making and enhance customer interactions. By integrating AI into its home-buying process, the company is reducing administrative burdens, allowing sales teams to focus more on personalising the customer experience.

Read more about how Taylor Wimpey is using AI to enhance customer experiences.

The adoption divide: vision vs. reality

While AI’s potential is clear, our report notes that a gap remains between the optimism of leaders and employees’ preparedness to adopt AI. While half of senior decision-makers view AI as essential, only a third of employees feel their organisation is equipped to use these technologies effectively.

To bridge this gap, Arup, the global design and engineering firm, is using AI-powered agents to streamline complex design processes and improve collaboration across disciplines. By leveraging AI in its project workflows, Arup enables architects, engineers and urban planners to work more efficiently while maintaining high-quality, sustainable design standards.

Read more about how Arup is streamlining design processes with AI.

Building trust with secure, responsible AI

Successfully integrating AI requires strong security measures and a commitment to trust and ethics, which includes fostering transparency across the organisation.

🎥 Watch: Employee experience and security in AI adoption – key findings from the report

Hear Microsoft UK’s Mark Nixon (Modern Work Lead) and Marc Carney (Security Lead) explore how organisations can build trust in AI, from security best practices to responsible AI development.

According to our report, 46% of leaders say their organisation doesn’t have a formal AI strategy and only 40% feel confident they’re using AI effectively to protect against cyber threats.

As for ethics, Microsoft’s Responsible AI development approach focuses on transparency and accountability, which help organisations confidently implement AI.

Simmons & Simmons, a leading international law firm, is promoting responsible AI use by embedding AI-powered compliance tools into its processes. These tools help legal teams more efficiently detect regulatory risks while maintaining transparency and ethical oversight. By implementing AI with a strong governance framework, the firm is building confidence in AI-powered decision-making.

Read more about how Simmons & Simmons is advancing responsible AI use.

Shaping the future of work with AI-powered agents

Agentic AI is transforming work by automating everyday tasks, and employees who use AI appreciate the value it brings. The report found that these employees are 65% more likely to say it helps them focus on the most important parts of their job.

One reason for this morale boost is that, perhaps paradoxically, AI enhances teamwork. Notably, the best outcomes emerge when humans and AI work together rather than in isolation, whether for brainstorming, task co-ordination or creative development.

For example, marketing teams can use AI to generate web copy, ads or blogs – which humans then polish for publication. Similarly, radiologists can use AI to detect early signs of disease, while human experts verify the results, make treatment decisions and communicate with patients. 

This brief review and Microsoft’s report provide insights into how AI-powered agents are reshaping work today. Watch the videos above for more inspiration on how to get started and make the most of agents. With the right strategy, you can quickly unlock new levels of productivity, security and innovation.

Now is the time to embrace agentic AI and realise the potential of your workforce.

Find out more

Download the full Agents of Change report

The post Agents of Change: unlocking the potential of AI-powered agents appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

With the South West emerging as a vibrant tech hub, our Exeter stop was a fitting location to showcase AI’s transformative potential. 

Exploring the AI opportunity 

In my keynote, I discussed the immense opportunity AI presents to the UK public sector. Studies suggest that AI adoption could save the UK £17 billion by 2035. I highlighted real-world applications, from NHS clinicians detecting cancers earlier to local councils reducing air pollution, underscoring the need for bold leadership to embrace these technologies. 

Beyond financial savings, I emphasised how AI is enabling public servants to refocus on their core mission – serving citizens more effectively, while setting new standards in efficiency and innovation. 

The South West itself is a model of regional innovation. With over 18,000 tech companies and an annual tech investment of £454 million, it demonstrates how local initiatives can drive national impact.  

The Met Office’s pioneering work is a prime example. Using Microsoft Azure’s supercomputing-as-a-service, the Met Office optimises weather predictions, helping communities better prepare for extreme weather and supporting climate resilience.  

Richard Bevan, CTO at the Met Office, shared intriguing insights into how AI, including the groundbreaking Fastnet prediction tool, is transforming weather forecasting. Developed in partnership with the Alan Turing Institute, Fastnet leverages AI to refine temperature predictions and bridge gaps in oceanic data – a vital resource for tackling climate change.  

Richard also highlighted recent adoption figures for Microsoft Copilot at the Met Office.

“With Microsoft Copilot saving an average 27 minutes daily per user, we can focus more on the higher-value tasks.”

Richard Bevan, CTO, Met Office

This suggests the powerful role AI can play in not only improving operational efficiency but also enhancing productivity in the sector. 

Nurturing AI readiness and innovation 

The event also featured a thought-provoking panel discussion with leaders such as Professor Kirstine Dale (Chief Data & AI Officer at the Met Office), Dr John McCormick (CCIO at NHS Devon ICB) and David Baker (Head of Automation and Technology at Shropshire Council). 

Together, they explored pressing topics like information governance, accessibility and workforce skilling. Kirstine’s observation that “it’s all about people and communication” resonated deeply, reminding us that successful AI adoption centres around empowerment and requires keeping citizens and employees at the heart of every decision. 

Equipping public sector professionals with the skills to harness AI was another recurring theme. My colleague Paul Griffiths, Public Sector Skills Lead at Microsoft UK, shared data highlighting that 75% of workers are already using AI tools.  

As Paul noted, however, significant gaps in readiness remain. This underlines the importance of skills initiatives, such as LinkedIn Learning and TechHer. LinkedIn Learning has to date empowered over 80 million learners globally with AI-related skills, while TechHer helps women across the UK gain technical skills to advance their careers. This Microsoft programme has trained nearly 4,000 women in government to date, and you can register your interest for TechHer 2025 today. 

Looking ahead, the role of AI in the public sector is clear. From clearing NHS backlogs to making cities more sustainable, AI has the potential to reimagine how services are delivered. However, realising this vision requires robust infrastructure, strong governance and a commitment to empowering public servants with the tools and training they need to succeed.  

How is your organisation preparing for AI adoption? I’d love to hear your thoughts on how AI is transforming public sector services. 

Find out more

• Register for the Microsoft AI Tour in London on March 5, 2025
• Visit the Microsoft UK AI Hub for real-life customer stories, events and resources
• Assess your AI readiness today 

About the author

Robin has 20 years of experience in Microsoft and local public services, with deep expertise in the local government and housing sectors. His technology background helps align emerging tech with sector priorities, driving innovation in services and resident outcomes. He has worked on many shared services and unitary council mergers, and is passionate about using AI and reform to modernise processes. Robin leads Microsoft’s Local Public Services team, driving transformation across the sector.

The post Driving innovation in the UK public sector with AI    appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

Data from our 2022 Work Trend Index Annual Report confirm the shift. We found that 53 percent of employees were more likely to prioritise health and well-being over work than before the pandemic. In addition, nearly half of respondents (47 percent) were more likely to put family and personal life over work than they were pre-pandemic.

Figure 1. Employee work attitudes post- vs. pre-pandemic. (Source: Microsoft, Work Trend Annual Report, 2022.)

At Microsoft, we believe technology can be a powerful ally in the journey towards better employee well-being. As such we wanted to take the opportunity to raise awareness of mental health issues and promote good practice both in and beyond the workplace.

To help you reclaim the right balance we’ve pulled together eight practical Microsoft 365-based tips to help employees and managers reshape today’s fast-paced work experience in the name of better mental health. 

1. Nurture community and connection at work

Research shows that, in a hybrid world, it’s even more important to forge meaningful networks and relationships at work. Employees who have thriving relationships with team members report better well-being than those without (76% vs. 57%).

To help you reconnect and find belonging at work, Microsoft Viva Engage – an add-on in Outlook – enables you to share work and experience with colleagues. Join digital communities and conversations, find answers to questions, and inspire others with your stories. You can also connect via the announcements, to-dos and check-ins on your personalised Viva Connections dashboard.

2. Book focus time each week

If meetings are dominating your days or weeks, it can be stressful to keep on top of incoming emails, messages and resulting actions. It’s also hard to focus on challenging work when you only have small chunks of time between meetings.

Blocking out time every day or week to focus without interruption can help. The Wellbeing tab in Microsoft Viva insights contains a section called “Take action to improve your wellbeing”, in which you can create a daily focus plan.

To help you stay in control and also step away from work, other available well-being features include:

• Make time for messages
• Schedule emails for later
• Take a break or two
• Make time for lunch

To help you concentrate, your status in Microsoft Teams will auto-switch to Focus during booked focus time. You’ll only get notifications for messages that are urgent or from contacts with priority access.

3. Schedule times to manage email

Most office workers check their email regularly throughout the day. But it’s a battle to get work done if you spend most of your time responding to tactical requests from other people.

Try limiting when you check emails to two or three slots per day. Disabling email notifications will help reduce the temptation. This can easily be done in Microsoft Outlook – go to the File tab, select Options, select Mail, and in the Message arrival section, uncheck Play a sound, Show an envelope icon in the taskbar and Display a Desktop Alert:

4. Stay on top of your to-do lists

A helpful way to get something off your mind is to write it down. But how many to-do lists do you have? Perhaps a grocery list on the back of an envelope, a list of things to do in notes or a phone app, maybe some tasks in Outlook?

You might also have flagged emails to get back to, not to mention a task someone has assigned you in Planner.

You can organise this avalanche with an app like Microsoft To Do. It’s free and syncs across Windows 10 and 11, iPhone, Android and the web. It’s also integrated with Outlook.com, making it easier to manage all your tasks in one place.

Planner tasks assigned to you also appear in To Do under the Assigned to you list:

5. Set limits to your working day

Outside the typical pre-pandemic 9am-5pm work spikes, a third productivity peak sometimes occurs – especially through after-hours emails. While working remotely can make this habit more tempting, it’s crucial to set boundaries to your working day and give yourself a break.

To do so, select the Wellbeing tab in Viva Insights and use the “Disconnect with quiet time” card, which allows you to set your quiet time.

As a manager or leader, you can also use Viva insights to help ensure your team properly disconnects after work. View their total weekly after-hours collaboration time and, if needed, recommend changes.

Taking a well-earned holiday? Set your Out of Office and stop syncing Outlook on your phone to remove temptation. You might even want to remove work apps from your phone to avoid peeking at emails.

6. Be aware of your after-hours impact on others

This follows from the previous point. While minimising after-work hours is an ideal, we recognise that work schedules must flex for many reasons. Some people are night-owls; others may choose to work late to prepare for a busy day ahead.

Whatever the case, we need to be aware of the impact our habits may have on others. For example, after-hours working in a hybrid setting can cause remote colleagues to feel under pressure to always be available online.

To help avoid this, Viva Insights can show you the after-hours impact you impose on co-workers. Its coaching tools can also help you build smarter habits.

If you must work late, minimise any unwanted impact by saving emails to your Drafts folder until business hours, or schedule the delivery of your email using Options > Delay Delivery:

7. Work the way that works for you

A key strength of technology is its potential to support inclusiveness, empowering everyone to access tools the way that suits them best. Microsoft 365 apps come with built-in accessibility features for a more comfortable experience at work. For example, Microsoft Teams supports inclusive collaboration in hybrid meetings with captions and live transcripts, which can help people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

To enable a personal and human touch in virtual meetings, Teams also incorporates live React controls (at the top of the meeting view).

8. Pay attention to the present moment

Mindfulness is about being aware of your body, mind and feelings in the moment. Practising it can improve your sense of well-being and how you approach challenges.

In Viva Insights, you’ll find guided meditations and focus music, including content from Headspace. Take a break to support your mental health.

Seizing the opportunity

We hope our commitment to well-being has a positive ripple effect in today’s workplace. However, while technology can help promote a healthier work-life integration, only we ourselves – workers and leaders together – can deliver it.

Find out more

• Work Trend Index Annual Report (2022)
• Microsoft 365
• Microsoft Viva
• Microsoft Teams

About the author

David manages Microsoft UK’s Employee Experience business, overseeing a suite of solutions designed to enhance employee engagement and boost business performance.

The post 8 ways Microsoft 365 solutions can empower employees to prioritise well-being appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

Microsoft is thrilled to stand alongside the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) and Government Technical Cloud Community in inspiring you to expand your horizons and validate your expertise through certification.

Certification isn’t just a badge; it’s a game-changer for you and your team. According to a recent study by Pearson VUE, 92% of participants reported boosted self-assurance after achieving certifications. In addition, 79% felt a surge of respect from their colleagues, and 74% gained greater autonomy in their work.

Managers, take note – certified candidates bring substantial advantages too. 81% deliver higher-quality output, 72% exhibit enhanced efficiency, and 82% excel in mentoring and supporting their peers. To discover more, download the Pearson VUE 2023 Value of IT Certification report.

Whether you’re a tech-savvy pro or a beginner, we offer a range of learning opportunities to propel you toward certification success. From self-study resources to interactive virtual classes led by expert instructors, our offerings cater to various learning styles. And we’ve teamed up with our valued learning partners to provide even more options.

Who can access these training resources?

Civil Servants with a gov.uk, gov.scot, gov.wales, nhs.uk, police.uk or sch.uk email domain are eligible to claim exam discounts, access ESI training and submit a claim for a certification prize. Additional training opportunities on this page, including Cloud Skills Challenges, Virtual Training Days and our Azure Connected Learning Experience, are open to all.

Learning resources on this page

Let’s start with AI

• AI skills challenges
• Cloud skills challenges*
• Azure Connected Learning Experience*

Exams and certifications

• Discounts
• Practice assessments and support*
• Certification prizes**

Live training sessions

• Virtual Training Days*

Additional support

• Microsoft Learn*
• Microsoft Learning Partners**
• Achieve more with Microsoft

*Open to all
**Eligible participants only

Getting started

There’s a world of learning available for you from Microsoft, but knowing where to start can be daunting. This page brings together some great resources to help you get certified in October.

Where to start will depend on what you want to learn, and how:

• Our Fundamentals certifications are great for IT pros looking to start their certification journey from the beginning – or for anybody else that wants to learn more about an area, or understand the art of the possible. These are broken down by area: certifications are available for Azure Fundamentals, AI Fundamentals, Data Fundamentals, Power Platform Fundamentals, Security Fundamentals and more.

• Prefer to learn through self-study?  Sign up for one of our free Cloud Skills Challenges that offer a curated collection of content that gives you the knowledge you need to pass the exam. These skills challenges run until the end of October and you can join as many as you like. Looking for more advanced content for self-study? Check out the content on Microsoft Learn or email us at OctCertHelp@microsoft.com and we’ll help you find what you need.

• Prefer video-based learning? Our Virtual Training Days are just for you. Offering a range of Fundamentals and non-certification content, these free classes are open to all. Look out for the non-certification classes if you’re looking for something more specific and technical.

• Need a little help with exam preparation? Our Azure Connection Learning Experience offers curated learning and exam preparation for a number of Microsoft certifications if you need extra help getting across the line.

• Check out the free sessions and other training from our valued learning partners. These links will take you to additional free classes that can support your learning. They include webinars, instructor-led classes, such as free Azure Administrator and Cybersecurity Architect training from Fast Lane.

When you feel ready, try one of our Practice Assessments to test your readiness before booking your exam. Don’t forget to utilise your ESI exam discount (50%) when booking. Make the exam free by claiming an additional discount and once you’re certified, complete the CCDO form for a chance to claim some great Microsoft swag.

Let’s start with AI

We’ve pulled together a wide array of learning opportunities, from foundational to more advanced role-based content. This includes some great study fundamentals on Azure, Data, AI, Power Platform and Security, together with some exciting content around Generative AI.  

AI skills challenges

There is a massive amount of interest in this area currently, and it’s worth hearing from Angie Heise, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Worldwide Public Sector, on how Artificial Intelligence could support public sector organisations. Read this post from Angie Heise to understand some of the potential implications that advanced AI can have for the public sector, especially in areas such as citizen services, internal efficiencies, working with deep data and creative support.

To further expand your AI understanding and skills:

• Register for our Microsoft Build: AI Day at ExCeL London on October 19, 2023. This free one-day, in-person event helps developers discover new opportunities with AI and enhance their knowledge and skills to deliver more value using AI and Microsoft Azure. Join Microsoft product and engineering experts, and industry disrupters, to share ideas and unleash creativity with the power of AI.
  
• Register for our Career Essentials in Generative AI course and gain a Professional Certificate. This free course explains the core concepts of Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI functionality, preparing you to apply Generative AI in your own career.

• Register for our 1-day Master Class: OpenAI ChatGPT Capabilities, Use Cases and Integrations on October 27, 2023. This exclusive one-day (Fast Lane developed) course provides AI users and business decision-makers with a comprehensive introduction to the technology, key functionalities and pricing, an understanding of its capabilities and limitations, best practices, and the chance to find out how you can incorporate ChatGPT technology to support your business today.

Keen to find out more about AI and Azure? Check out these great resources to get you started:

If you’re looking for even more content on Generative AI, please check out this AI Learning Companion pathway.

Cloud skills challenges*

You can also invest in your learning by participating in our fun and friendly cloud skills challenges.

Compete Track your progress using the leaderboard as you navigate Microsoft’s digital learning platform Microsoft Learn.

Learn Sign up for one or more challenges and work through the content at a time that works for you.

Develop Skills Check out the practice assessment on the exam page to make sure you are exam-ready before taking advantage of exam discounts to get certified.

Choose your challenge:

Azure Connected Learning Experience*

Microsoft Azure Connected Learning Experience (CLX) is an experiential training programme that sets a path for you to become an Azure expert. The CLX programme offers a personalised journey that aims to optimise your learning experience while maximising your return on time invested. 

The four-step programme is designed to deliver exam readiness with a personalised learning journey that’s curated to meet your needs.  

• Register to receive recommendations on specific modules to study, elevate your understanding with practice tests and comprehensive Microsoft Learn study materials, and access on-demand hands-on labs and interactive guides to elevate your practical insights.  
• Join multiple instructor-led cram sessions hosted by world-class industry experts who will guide you to be ready for your first or next Azure certification exam.  
• Prepare at your own pace and crack your Azure Certification Exam efficiently. 

Register for the Microsoft Azure Connected Learning Experience

Exams and certifications

Discounts

If your organisation is enrolled in the Microsoft Enterprise Skills Initiative (ESI) you’ll have access to a 50% discount on a range of exams, making your certification journey even more accessible.

Our Claiming Your Exam Discount guide walks you through the steps to claim your discount and schedule your exam. We’ve even reserved a limited number of exam vouchers that stack on top of the ESI discount, reducing your exam cost to zero.

Don’t miss out – secure your spot by completing the Microsoft exam voucher application form.  

The additional vouchers are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. If you’ve missed the opportunity, you might be able to reclaim this balance payment from your Learning and Development (L&D) team, if the certification supports your current role. Please check with them first.  

If you have any questions about the programme or claiming your exam discount, please contact us at OctCertHelp@microsoft.com.  

Practice assessments and support*

You can gear up for success with our range of free practice assessments. These invaluable tools allow you to fine-tune your skills before the big exam day. Check out the exam page for each assessment to access these practice resources – or follow the links below for some of our most popular ones:

Need help or advice on what content you should start with, or what is most relevant to your role? Perhaps you have a technical question or want to discuss your project with a Microsoft SME. We’re only an email away at OctCertHelp@microsoft.com. Alternatively, why not join one of our many drop-in sessions running through October:

Certification prizes**

We believe in celebrating your achievements, so we’re also delighted to let you know about our certification prizes. Simply complete the certification prizes claim form provided by CDDO, who will then share your details with us. The first 200 to correctly provide the requested proof of a certification achieved in October 2023 will receive a special Microsoft swag voucher in their inbox.

Please note that prize claims are subject to the following terms and conditions:

• Claims will only be accepted from customers of a participating government department. Personal email addresses won’t be considered.
• By completing and submitting the CDDO form, you agree to us validating your certification and contacting you about your claim.
• Certificate prizes are limited to the first 200 submissions and will be sent to UK postal addresses only.
• One prize per customer, regardless of the number of exams passed during the event.
• Claims must be submitted by Friday, November 10, 2023, 12:00 p.m. (GMT+1). Claims received after this date won’t be considered.
• Prizes are non-negotiable, non-transferable and non-refundable. No cash alternative is available.

For any questions, please contact OctCertHelp@microsoft.com.

Live training sessions

Virtual Training Days*

Microsoft Virtual Training Days are free, in-depth virtual training events covering foundational concepts, terms, and capabilities. A great alternative (or complement) to self-study to get you ready to earn your Fundamentals certification.

Additional support

Microsoft Learn*

Microsoft Learn. Spark possibility.

Build skills that open doors. See all you can do with documentation, hands-on training and certifications to help you get the most from Microsoft products. Access a range of self-study resources at Microsoft Learn. For a collection of Microsoft resources aligned to role and certain products, please also see www.aka.ms/pathways.

Microsoft Learning Partners**

Microsoft Learning Partners can help you get the most out of your organisation’s technology investment, building knowledge and new skills in Microsoft technologies through classroom training or Microsoft Official Courses On-Demand. Our learning partners are proud to support this skills initiative – please check their details below.

Fastlane

Fast Lane is uniquely positioned among a select few globally, having achieved all six Microsoft solution designations. Fast Lane’s approach is not just about education; it’s about practical, hands-on skilling that tackles the intricate realms of Cloud, Data, AI, and Security. With a highly targeted and tailored approach, Fast Lane doesn’t just teach – it solves real-world challenges. Through precise alignment with and a deep understanding of Microsoft’s ecosystem, Fast Lane empowers individuals and organisations with the skills needed to thrive in today’s complex technological landscape.

Find out more about Fast Lane’s support for this skills initiative and also register for its free ChatGPT 1-day webinar and free virtual instructor-led classes on Azure Administrator (AZ-104) and Cybersecurity Architect (SC-100).

Firebrand

Firebrand is proud to be a Microsoft Cloud Partner. It is one of a number of companies in the world to have received this badge through proven expertise in delivering quality solutions across six specialist business areas: Business Applications (Dynamics 365 and Power Platform), Data & AI, Infrastructure, Digital & App Innovation, Modern Work and Security.

Find out more about Firebrand

QA

QA is one of the largest Microsoft Learning Partners in the UK, and one of the only Microsoft Learning Partners to be recognised as a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Microsoft Cloud. QA offers a broad range of training in Microsoft technologies and applications, including cloud technical skills (from Azure to Office 365) and office apps (from Excel to Power BI).

Find out more about QA

Skillsoft

(Coming soon.)

Achieve more with Microsoft

We’re genuinely excited for you to seize this opportunity to embark on a transformative learning journey. As you equip yourself to learn and take on new career challenges, you may soon be ready to distinguish yourself as a public sector change agent.

If you have any questions or need guidance on where to start, our dedicated team is here to help. Please reach out to us at OctCertHelp@microsoft.com, and we’ll be delighted to help you on your path to success.

Let’s elevate your skills and make your mark together!

*Open to all
**Eligible participants only

About the author

Paul is the Microsoft UK Public Sector Skills Lead with over 20 years of experience in the IT industry. He is passionate about cloud computing, and how learning can power digital innovation and transform careers. Paul is currently leading the development of training programmes for Microsoft’s public sector customers across Central Government, Local Government and Policing, helping individuals and organisations realize the benefits of their investment in Microsoft solutions.

The post Introducing a world of opportunities: advance your skills with Microsoft appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

In 2022, only 4% of people were employed in digital roles throughout the public sector, highlighting the need to embrace technology, upskill internally and produce better outcomes for everyone. The way to do it is by employing public sector employees as ‘change agents’.

Usually recruited from within the organisation, change agents help to manage the relationship between the organisation and the individual for a smooth digital transformation. The best change agents have extensive experience in department processes and technology and can offer moral support to those cautious of change.

Full-time change agents can be expensive and may divert some of the best and most productive people from a team. So organisations should make smart decisions about how a change agent programme is staffed, managed and supported.

As part of Microsoft’s Innovate Together programme, the Change Agent programme aims to train at least one person in every public sector service to be a catalyst for change. Delivered through expert training sessions and an online community of UK public sector change agents, the programme will provide a platform for the rapid exchange of ideas and solutions to maximise your journey to digital transformation.

This article offers insights into the powerful role of the change agent and allows you to register for the next Change Agent training programme in June 2023, open to those from Local Government organisations.

Delivering transformation benefits on the ground with a change agent

A change agent supports strategic transformations to deliver benefits locally on the ground. They also act as transformation conduits from a technology and a culture perspective. On one hand, they need to supply the central team with regular progress reports and flag up potential issues. On the other hand, they need to win over colleagues and support them in embracing new technologies and ways of working that may be unfamiliar to many.

Using technology to overcome complexity

Given the right training, change agents can match an organisation’s needs with the technology that it already has and advise on other opportunities. The Change Agent programme provides training on a whole host of transformational technologies such as AI and Power Automate, along with insights into how to leverage the tech you are likely already using day to day, from Microsoft Teams to SharePoint.

The training also equips participants with an understanding of the principles of change, how to lead and support change, different learning styles and meeting accessibility requirements through technology; providing attendees with the confidence, theory and practical examples to embrace and lead change within their own organisations.

Confidence in these ‘softer skills’ is crucial in enabling change within a complex industry, which is why one day in the five-day Change Agent programme option is dedicated to providing attendees with the skills to enable change. This content is delivered by industry experts; supporting colleagues to adopt digital tools requires empathy and an understanding of human psychology as well as knowledge of the products being used.

The programme also offers a bespoke version for managers within local government, providing them with sessions on how to support their teams with change, as well as technology specific sessions. This is imperative to fostering a culture of change through a top-down approach.

What really brings the training to life is the real-world examples of how other public sector organisations have leveraged these technologies as the catalyst for change within their own teams. After completing the sessions, the change agents are invited to join a digital community of alumni to further share best practice, providing access to a wider support network at anytime, anywhere.

Even where organisations across the public sector provide completely different services, most have shared common problems and therefore benefit from understanding what technologies others have implemented to resolve these issues. For example, many have a similar approach to technology-enabled time and task management, automation of document ingestion, and reporting. Collaboration between change agents should therefore be encouraged, even if that means overcoming competitive instincts.

How change agents enable transformations that differ in scale

Whilst all public sector transformations differ in scale and scope, the success of a change agent depends on a close understanding of how people respond to – and eventually accept – the introduction of technology into their working life. Leaning on a community of change agents continues to be an invaluable resource to previous alumni.

Large scale transformations could include the introduction of a new HR system. For a smaller transformation, a change agent might help a local council save time on admin by enabling the adoption of some simple digital tools. The Change Agent training programme looks at a wide range of common problem statements and the technologies that help to address some of those issues, with digital breakout rooms to discuss and collaborate.

The first key to achieving measurable benefits from change lies in finding opportunities for efficiencies that might start small or incrementally but can then scale across an entire organisation. The second key is to persuade colleagues to collaborate with the transformation programme and embrace technologies that empower them to do more with less. This usually begins by showing them that change is possible, even on a small scale. This is why change agents benefit from training in technology acceptance strategies throughout the course.

Acquiring change-agent skills

Change agents can be full-time professionals who are qualified to optimise a large-scale programme, or enthusiastic volunteers who work within their teams to deliver measurable results on the ground.

Giving these proactive individuals a forum to update their skills and coordinate their efforts adds value to any organisation’s transformation effort by enhancing its collective intelligence. In other words, a coalition of change agents is greater than the sum of its parts.

Change agents can benefit from learning new skills and putting them into practice at the same time. This is often more efficient than attempting to accelerate onboarding with an intense training schedule at the outset. Enabling new recruits to gradually build their confidence through practice lessens the risk of overwhelming them with too much information. Not all change agents are volunteers; some are nominated by their manager to gather insights on the transformation programme, or to develop their career.

The Microsoft Change Agent programme

This free programme is a national initiative designed to support local and regional government (LRG) in its digital transformation efforts. It is open to Microsoft customers, and offers a five-day version aimed at the ‘change agents’ within an LRG organisation, and a two-day version for managers.

The training employs industry experts from Microsoft and Socitm, and experienced local authority staff to help prepare delegates in theories of change, using a wide variety of Microsoft technologies to address common industry problem statements. Delegates will have the opportunity to learn and engage with others in similar roles across LRG. The programme also provides an opportunity for participants to join a collaborative network of Change Agent alumni practitioners, while learning about digital transformation technologies such as Power Platform, Power Automate, and Power BI.

Read more about our Change Agent programme and partnership with Socitm in the Financial Times – Equip the public sector with digital skills for better government.

Find out more

Microsoft Learn for government
Microsoft Adoption Score
Microsoft Enterprise Skills Initiative
Digital Skills Hub

About the author

I am an Account Technology Strategist (ATS) at Microsoft, with an MSc in managing and leading IT systems change. I help customers understand how Microsoft products can solve business problems, and I lead the Change Agent programme within the Innovate Together programme. I’m passionate about technology acceptance and supporting scalable, sustainable change across public services.

The post Digital public services: How to drive transformation with change agents appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

Sophisticated cyberattacks are on the rise

According to the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2022, over 100 million attacks against remote management devices were observed in May 2022, up 500 percent on the past year. Human-operated ransomware remains the most prevalent cybercrime, however. One-third of targets are successfully compromised by criminals using these attacks, and 5 percent of them are ransomed.

Old perimeter-guarding strategies are no match for these increasingly sophisticated threats. An organisation needs to embrace a modern, data-driven and people-centred approach to managing security risk. This can help to identify and tackle existing threats more effectively while learning to anticipate new ones.

What is a security culture?

An organisation’s security culture is built on shared values, attitudes and ways of acting. It’s therefore hard to change, and it takes time. Creating a culture of security needs colleagues to understand the potential costs of a security lapse. They must also understand how bad actors tend to operate, and why existing security strategies are no longer adequate.

In the current climate, digital communications and cloud data management provide multiple ways to access organisations that previously didn’t exist. Once inside your network, cybercriminals can move laterally, seeking out value.

Zero Trust relies on strong identity verification

Adopting strong identity verification is key to Microsoft’s Zero Trust approach. Real-time data provides information on the user, the device, and the location – which is crucial in a hybrid world of work. Connecting both cloud and legacy systems to a single identity solution provides end-to-end visibility of an organisation’s digital presence. This helps to protect against internal threats that old-fashioned firewalls would miss. Where there is doubt, a Zero Trust approach applies conditional access. Where there is risk, it is assumed a breach.

A security strategy that enhances overall performance

Adopting a Zero Trust approach brings immediate improvements to an existing security posture, and builds a path that continuously improves risk management. It simplifies security processes to enhance customer experience, and potentially lowers costs by eliminating the need for external security providers.

Adopting a best-in-class security strategy can also make an organisation more forward-focused and risk-responsive in general. Nurturing a security culture brings long term benefits to a company as a brand and to its overall effectiveness in the marketplace. Security is not just a cost; it drives trust and therefore adds value.

Security culture starts small and collaboratively

When implementing a new security protocol, take a step-by-step approach beginning with a small, controlled group and a security risk that qualifies as low-hanging fruit. Once new protocols have been validated, and teams have given feedback, it can be expanded to another part of the business, such as identities, infrastructure, devices, data, networks or apps.

As for implementing organisation-wide security culture change, this will benefit from full and visible support from your senior leadership team. Aim to implement your new strategy collaboratively, and through a phased programme of activities. Taking a creative approach to security skilling and education helps stimulate staff engagement. Microsoft for example produces a successful video series that follows the security-themed adventures of its protagonist, Nelson, which gets promoted internally.

Understand and work with colleagues who may express resistance to change. While moving to new day-to-day practices – for example, new ways of working with different classes of data – openness and empathy will be crucial in empowering all teams to own, understand and learn from their inevitable mistakes.

Data-driven monitoring spots emerging risks

In time, your security strategy can become more sophisticated. AI can be deployed to detect abnormal behaviour and protect your organisation’s most sensitive information from accidental exfiltration as well as bad actors. Microsoft Azure, Azure Sentinel and Microsoft 365 apps can document your compliance with regulations, monitor access, and apply data analytics to predict where the next security risk might emerge.  Data metrics can guide security strategy on the principle of maximising costs to the attacker and prioritising your most valuable data. Many of Microsoft’s UK customers and partners have benefited from this security-first approach.

LGL money managers find security on the cloud

LGL Group are a financial services company who were frustrated by the cost and complexity of enterprise-grade cybersecurity. Microsoft worked collaboratively with LGL to design a roadmap that modernised their security controls, enhanced their security posture and reduced their reliance on third-party application subscriptions, driving down costs. By migrating to the latest Microsoft 365 and Azure security stack, LGL also benefited from a more streamlined and simplified hybrid security system.

Meanwhile Microsoft continues to work with schools and colleges to close the cybersecurity skills gap, with targeted investments here in the UK. Salford City Council leveraged the skills and resources of the Microsoft Enterprise Skills Initiative to develop a cyber strategy and a security operations centre using Microsoft Sentinel. It now aims to share its best-in-class skills with other public sector organisations to proactively monitor, detect and respond across Greater Manchester.

Zero Trust is a journey

Zero Trust is a journey, not a destination. Visit the security hub at Microsoft Business Security Solutions and discover how Microsoft can help you implement an identity environment with cloud identity federation, strong authentication and conditional access at its core.

Find out more

Microsoft security blogs

Strong identity management provides Zero Trust security

Microsoft Sentinel strengthens Salford Council’s cybersecurity

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Technology advancements are now accelerating faster than our ability to adapt, leaving a huge gap in digital skills. A recent Microsoft study has revealed that 82 percent of UK jobs already require digital skills, and that 69 percent of leaders feel their organisation suffers from a digital skills gap, even though 59 percent of employees believe in the importance of developing their digital skills.

The skills gap is only getting wider. By 2025, there are expected to be three million new tech jobs in the UK, and 60 percent of employers are expecting their reliance on advanced digital skills to grow in the next five years. In effect, organisations hoping to grow and remain competitive in the future need to build a workforce that is equipped to fill these roles and thrive in a digital world of work.

Yet many employees don’t have the skills they need to perform their role currently, let alone in the future.

Demand for digital skills also goes beyond the technology sector. A recent employer survey by the Learning and Work Institute found that the proportion of employers who saw basic digital skills as important for employees was particularly high in certain sectors – including media, marketing, advertising and PR (100 percent), IT and telecoms (99 percent), and finance and accounting (97 percent).

However, even in the industry with the lowest proportion – manufacturing – nearly nine in ten (87 percent) employers said that basic digital skills were important for their workers.

So, what more can businesses and employers do to ensure that we have a steady supply of tech talent joining the sector? And, importantly, how can Microsoft help?

Introducing the Microsoft Connector Community

Whilst many business leaders recognise that their organisation is facing a skills shortage, the challenge often comes in knowing what to do about it.

At Microsoft, we believe that part of the answer to tackling the UK’s digital skills gap is collaboration. Bringing together organisations from across the public and private sector to work collectively and deliver tangible benefits to the prospective careers of young people, while driving growth and innovation across the economy.

The Microsoft Connector Community, part of the Microsoft Apprenticeship Connector, is designed to bridge the digital skills gap. It nurtures a connected community of businesses and organisations that collectively leverage their brands, reputations and resources to address the need for digital skills in the workforce and connect talented individuals to opportunities.

We believe that taking a collaborative approach ensures a steady and well-equipped technology talent pipeline. This is essential to addressing the skills shortages faced by employers today, as well as mitigating future shortages.

I’d like to share my thoughts on how this could work:

1. Creating a connected talent ecosystem: When employers work together to support, empower and inspire young people, rather than bombarding them with too many competing options, we all benefit. By using the Microsoft Apprenticeship Connector to advertise digital vacancies, digital skills bootcamps and opportunities for learning and training, we can create a highly visible and inspiring platform that enables young people to find the opportunities that are right for them. In addition, by pooling vacancies across one platform, with a single access point for roles, we can recycle and share talent. We can also signpost applicants towards other vacancies and employers, even if they have been unsuccessful in applying to a different company.

2. Simplifying the talent pipeline: We can help simplify the technology talent pipeline by reimagining how we advertise digital vacancies and training opportunities. For example, we can reach a larger and more diverse pool of candidates by simplifying the language that we use across our digital vacancies. This might increase engagement with candidates from non-conventional technology and digital backgrounds – allowing us to widen our talent pool and employ people who bring a unique and diverse perspective to the sector.

3. Leveraging expertise and insight: A coalition of like-minded individuals enables us to learn from one another’s expertise and experience, helping us to identify, profile and address the systemic issues that are stifling the UK’s economy. What’s more, the Apprenticeship Connector can also support business leaders and employers to better understand the social impact of the work that they’re doing. With demographic and geographic insight, we can identify and better target under-represented and under-served groups.

Building a Connector Community in Greater Manchester

As part of Microsoft’s UK Get On commitment, we’re committed to helping 30,000 people find jobs in the technology sector in Greater Manchester.

I recently had the pleasure of joining colleagues in the region for an event focused on building a connected talent system, as part of National Apprenticeship Week. After the event, I caught up with Greater Manchester Regional Lead, Marie Hamilton, for her take on how the introduction of Microsoft Connector Community could empower the next stage of the Get On campaign in Greater Manchester, and across the UK. Marie said:

“Greater Manchester is now the fastest growing technology hub in Europe, but to maintain this growth, we need to build a skilled and sustainable digital workforce. Working collectively across sectors and industries, regionally and nationally, allows us to understand and measure the skills gap, as well as enabling us to build a shared plan to tackle it.

Our National Apprenticeship Week event demonstrated huge enthusiasm for using the Connector Community model to further the progress made by Get On – as shown by the attendance from not only our largest private sector customers but also across the public sector, academia, central and local government”.

Marie Hamilton, Greater Manchester Regional Lead

What’s next?

Over the coming months, Microsoft will be holding a series of regional roundtable events to help businesses and organisations understand more about the Microsoft Apprenticeship Connector, and the Connector Community.

To find out more, please visit the Microsoft Apprenticeship Connector platform.

Microsoft Get On

At Microsoft, we believe everyone deserves access to the skills, knowledge and opportunity needed to achieve more. Through our Get On commitment, we’re helping 1.5 million people build tech careers and connecting 300,000 to tech job opportunities.

You can find out more by visiting our Digital Skills Hub, where you’ll find a host of information and resources designed to provide business leaders and employers with insights on how to close the UK’s skills gap, harness new technology and drive innovation.

You can also explore Microsoft Learn, which has an array of certifications, modules and learning pathways designed to help business leaders to upskill employees, as well as supporting individuals to take control of their careers and build vital digital skills.

Find out more

Microsoft Digital Skills Hub

Microsoft Apprenticeship Network

How Microsoft is connecting jobseekers to employers

About the author

I am the UK Apprentice Lead for Microsoft in the HR team. Working with apprenticeships since 2012, I have also worked with SMEs creating, designing, and delivering large corporate apprenticeship programmes. My role at Microsoft is all about creating and developing an apprenticeship strategy that supports our UK business and delivers an exceptional experience for both our apprentices and our business.

The post New connections: how we’re bridging the UK digital skills gap appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

Using hard data as a starting point, we explore the changing world of hybrid work. Guided by our own experiences of neurodivergence and disability, we debate how a more collaborative and accessible approach can drive efficiency across the public sector. In most cases we find that it can be done using technology that governments already possess.  

As a former policy advisor with hands-on experience of shaping equality legislation, these issues are all very close to my heart. 

Aligning leaders and teams to make hybrid work, work

The first episode of the Public Sector Podcast Series, season four, is The Future of Work – Facing the Hybrid Challenge. In it, Microsoft’s Henry Rex, industry advisor, and Rakhi Sachdeva, modern workplace specialist, discuss findings from the latest Work Trends Index report. The numbers reveal a significant disconnect between managers and teams around attitudes to remote working. 87 percent of remote employees reported feeling confident in their productivity at work, while only 12 percent of managers felt the same way about the performance of their remote teams.  

Managers can benefit from investing more trust in their teams and using soft skills to ensure that everyone gets access to the vision and culture of the organisation, which is key to productivity. Helping staff learn new skills ‘on the go’ improves both retention and productivity. We also discuss how a more flexible approach to work can empower individuals who have differing needs to be more effective. Building trust between management and staff enables everyone to align around the public service mission; as Henry Rex points out, people often join an organisation for the money, but stay there for the culture.

Neurodivergence and the innovation challenge

In episode two, Innovate Together, Microsoft account technology strategist, Andrew Boxall, talks about managing change in government and how it can enable staff to embrace more productive and collaborative ways of working. Along the way we discuss our shared experiences of being neurodiverse in the workplace, which provides insights into the challenges of data-driven innovation. 

Addressing bias and differing learning styles enables public servants to collaborate better across organisations. The Innovate Together initiative, supported by Microsoft, aims to accelerate innovation and best practice sharing across the public sector. Trailblazers like Norfolk County Council provide an inspirational example of how advanced techniques such as robotic process automation can drive efficiency.  

Success depends on leaders who set an example and have the initiative to share their learnings. All our guests agreed that making better use of existing tools is a great way to achieve incremental efficiency gains in government, and start building confidence. 

Extending accessibility and inclusion to drive productivity 

In episode three, Accessibility, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, I speak to Maria Grazia Zedda, senior EDI manager at HS2, who is severely deaf. Maria Grazia speaks movingly about overcoming the challenges of disability and hardship when she arrived in London as a young woman. London is also where she found support on her career path and discovered her vocation, improving accessibility in the workplace for everyone. These uplifting experiences are captured in her first novel which is to be published in her native Italy. 

Maria Grazia welcomes the adoption of new technologies that enhance accessibility and inclusion, such as minicoms and auto-captions (Live Captions in Microsoft Teams), the use of which was accelerated by remote working. The momentum now needs to be maintained so that inclusion becomes a fundamental principle of the workplace and the built environment. 

Explore episodes from our previous series 

Our previous three podcast series provide fascinating insights into how efficiency in the public sector could be improved with fresh thinking.  

Public Sector Podcast Series – Season One

In Public Sector Podcast Series – Season 1, guests discuss how citizen services can be enhanced using new digital technologies. Further episodes explore the challenges of managing security across government in a digital world, and overcoming the barriers to legacy estate reduction. Hindsight is also explored as a means of understanding past mistakes and improving government performance in the future.

Public Sector Podcast Series – Season Two

Public Sector Podcast Series – Season 2 builds on these themes, looking at how citizen identity in government can be managed simply and securely. The challenges of hybrid work, and the uses of geospatial data science in the context of the government’s levelling-up agenda, are also up for discussion. A highlight from series two is the episode that draws lessons from the Environment Agency’s experience of digital transformation. Cross-government data sharing also comes under scrutiny.

Public Sector Podcast Series – Season Three

Public Sector Podcast Series – Season 3 digs deeper into data sharing and how citizens engage with government. We assess the government’s Green agenda and the challenge of data literacy in driving innovation across the public sector. And what, we ask, do young people think about entering public service? We devote an episode to figuring out the changing face of apprenticeship in a hybrid world.

Find out more

Successful trial of the Microsoft and Socitm Change Agent programme

Our innovation – Norfolk County Council

Microsoft 365 Collaboration Blueprint for UK Government – Microsoft Industry Blogs – United Kingdom

How the public sector can streamline operations and innovate with intelligent automation – Microsoft Industry Blogs – United Kingdom

About the author

Aaron has worked at Microsoft as an industry advisor for central government for the last four years. Before that he spent twenty-five years in the public sector across a number of departments, in both central and local government, leading on technology policy and strategy. Most notably, he worked on the creation of the Equality Acts (2006 and 2010), the Public Sector Equality Duty and the translation of the EU Accessibility Regulations over to the UK. Outside of his day job, Aaron lectures on accessibility, inclusion and neurodiversity at local institutions and across the wider tech sector.

The post How to make government more effective in a hybrid world: podcast series appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

In the current economic environment, banks and other financial services firms recognise the need to embrace digital transformation to get maximum value from their technology investments and do more with less. Leveraging technology also helps businesses to navigate emerging risks while driving sustainable and responsible business outcomes internally and with their customers. But how are they approaching these challenges? Last week I attended Sibos 2022 in Amsterdam, where business leaders, policy makers and technologists came together for deep dive debates and big picture outlooks on the future of the corporate banking market, including lending, trade and treasury solutions, and the related capital markets instruments. The energy and excitement on the pace of innovation was clear and I saw many themes that resonate with where we aim to lead the market in our Microsoft UK Financial Services business.  

Geopolitical tensions, the economic environment, evolving cyber threats, the race to Net Zero, the competitive landscape and ongoing reimagination of business models, modernising policy and regulation, and the continuous innovation of what is possible with people, process and digital technology are driving rapid change in the industry. When managed correctly, this change can unlock new opportunity. 

The industry is leading in many areas of technology, product and operating-model innovation, but a responsible business purpose and sustainable societal outcomes are now firmly embedded as objectives that banks are expected to deliver. “We should not seek innovation for innovation’s sake,” noted HM Queen Máxima of the Netherlands in the opening plenary. “With each new technology, we must always ask ‘What problems are we trying to solve?’” At the same time, we need to ensure any innovation is done securely and collaboratively while being additive to interoperability of data and platforms. The IMF predicts technological fragmentation can cut a country’s GDP by five percent; the benefit of collaborative industry approaches and ecosystem business models is clear. 

Through all the customer, partner, and colleague conversations at Sibos 2022, and while contributing and learning as much as we could about new ideas and technologies, the Microsoft UK Financial Services team took away four main action points: 

1.      Transform securely  

One of the key things that was highlighted by industry leaders was the importance of getting cyber security basics right to enable secure transformation. “The human firewall is the first line of defence,” said Nicolas Trimbour, Head of Fraud Prevention and Chief Data Officer for Cash Management at BNP Paribas. It’s important to educate employees and customers to recognise phishing, scams and ransomware attempts especially while the attach surface grows with increased digitisation and growing ecosystem business models. 

AI/ML solutions can work at high performance across large amounts of data to spot fraud or suspicious activity in transactions and endpoints. An industry-specific cloud solution that uses a completely private data model, while offering full data portability can help organisations as they shift from on-premise to hybrid or cloud-native architectures. At the same time, organisations can benefit from built-in security and compliance offerings that infuse healthy cyber hygiene. 

Our security experts have pulled together resources, training and more to help your teams empower and educate your employees and customers to be cyber aware. This is the right time to focus on this with October being Cyber Security Month. Check out our Cyber Security Awareness Month resources. 

2.      Build a talent and collaboration model that supports your digital ambitions   

Banks need access to the right engineering and digital skills at scale to drive industry digitisation and innovation. This is not just about attracting the talent, but re-skilling and up-skilling current resources and creating an empathetic, flexible culture. I’ve often heard it said that the number one headwind on many banks’ ability to execute on their digital transformation strategies is access to the right talent and skills. “We need to make sure we invest in our people and support them in their growth,” says Erika Irish Brown, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer and Global Head of Talent at Citi.  

At Microsoft, we’re helping financial services institutions give their employees the digital skills they need. Whether that’s showing how decentralised teams can work collaboratively while working remotely, using tools to securely automate processes and workflows, or empowering pro dev, citizen dev and fusion dev teams to develop new apps, processes and reporting to make their work simpler in their domains. With 53 percent of employees more likely to prioritise health and wellbeing over work, leaders must take an empathetic approach to building a hybrid workplace. A culture that embraces flexibility and prioritises wellbeing will build a thriving organisation and drive long-term sustainable growth. This webinar with my colleague Craig Wellman goes into the importance of planning, leadership and culture in transforming financial services. 

3.      Align your ESG objectives to your business value 

The banking industry has a societal obligation to direct funding, capital, investment and lending to businesses in the real economy that will move the needle positively on ESG measures and on carbon reduction. And not only do customers, stakeholders, investors, regulators and governments expect it, but it’s also good for business. “$97 trillion needs to be invested to get to net zero. That’s a massive opportunity. It’s the most strategic and important thing we can do as an industry,” says Marisa Drew, CSO at Standard Chartered. 

The best way to start building effective ESG strategies is to tie it into your business value. Some institutions are already including their sustainability results in their financial statements. However, the industry faces challenges. A lack of global standard around climate reporting, mixed with slow manual processes and siloed data can affect how quickly you can build an effective strategy. “We don’t have perfect data, but we have actionable data,” says Gill Lofts, Global Financial Services Sustainable Finance Leader at EY. 

A unified and resilient cloud infrastructure like Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability can help you gain visibility across your data, drive efficiency, track and minimise your environmental impact and create sustainable value chains. We also need to drive more cross-industry collaboration.

“This is a planet-scale problem that needs planet-scale innovation and collaboration,” says Bill Borden, Corporate Vice President of Worldwide Financial Services at Microsoft.

When we made our sustainability commitment in 2020, we also decided to share our learnings, results and practices, and increase our focus on supporting our customers drive their own ESG agendas. 

4.      Lead on innovation that can open new sources of value  

Recent innovations are increasingly moving from POC to production adoption across digital assets such as Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). 

While AI has been leveraged in organisations for a long time to reduce risk and streamline operations, organisations need to take a novel approach to AI to create new avenues of growth. “People don’t think of AI as a way to get to a new digital business,” says Sameena Shah Managing Director, AI Research Executive, and Chief Transformation Officer for Client Onboarding at JP Morgan Chase. “You need to bring people with a business mindset together with people with AI knowledge.” These groups, known as fusion teams, can help organisations deploy solutions up to two and a half times faster than siloed teams. 

“Cash as a form of payment has been declining, but cash in circulation is growing. We have also seen over the past 10 years the rise of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and CBDCs,” says Marion Laboure, Senior Economist at Deutsche Bank. 

One thing digitisation can do is help with financial inclusion. The 1.7 billion people who don’t have access to financial services can potentially use CBDC to start using financial services without a bank account. 

NFTs are currently used to tie ownership to a digital asset. However, as they evolve, it could allow the construction of the end asset to be more sophisticated. “That’s when it becomes more interesting to us in Finance. We can look at a new type of securitised asset, a new type of yield profile that may or may not be totally uncorrelated with traditional markets and assets,” said John Egan, CEO of L’Atelier at BNP Paribas. In fact, the US Securities and Exchange Commission are already looking into NFTs as a security. With no intermediaries, Decentralised Finance (DeFi) is less complex and more agile than the traditional central counterparty model. However, it is probably riskier. Experts suggest a hybrid model for DeFi, with the right regulatory guiderails to manage AML, fraud, conduct risk, and cybercrime. 

“Web3 and blockchain technologies are unique because they create a different, efficient way of executing processes. They can be best served to decrease complexity, increase security and transparency,” says Willayna Banner, Microsoft’s Head of Web3/Blockchain in Financial Services. Learn how organisations are using blockchain to transform functions such as trade finance and commercial specialty insurance. 

Collaborating for industry growth and responsible innovation 

As we shared these thoughts and ideas on the future of banking at Sibos 2022, a recurring theme was industry collaboration across the widest perimeter of stakeholders. To drive growth while being resilient, secure and compliant in our changing industry, our key priorities must be removing friction, increasing interoperability and improving the service experience for our customers, empowering our teams, and driving inclusive, sustainable innovation. 

Find out more 

Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services 

Microsoft Dynamics Customer Service Webinar for Financial Services: The changing role of the Digital Contact Centre

Rethinking the Customer Experience | Microsoft

About the author 

Niall is responsible for defining and leading Microsoft’s strategy for Financial Services in the UK. His focus is on helping Microsoft’s customers’ address industry-wide challenges, adapt to new regulatory frameworks and achieve business transformation through the adoption of Microsoft technology and partner solutions. He works to deliver on the cost, growth, risk and regulatory agenda front-to-back through the enterprise. 

Niall has experience in consulting, partner ecosystems, and large programme delivery in Financial Services. Niall has focused on operating model transformation and technology solutions for business challenges in Banking and Capital Markets, often in the regulatory change context. He has worked mostly with international banking groups and has lived in Hong Kong and London. 

The post The future of banking: How to stay innovative, collaborative and secure appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

As a society, we use apps to manage, connect and augment our day-to-day lives. So, it’s understandable that when we go to work, we expect to have the same. Apps can help organisations modernise processes, create new innovations and uncover opportunities.

According to the IDC, this growing demand for digital solutions means that 500 million new applications will be built in the next five years. And with a shortfall of 4 million developers predicted by 2025, most organisations don’t have enough developers to create the apps they need. We call this the App Gap Challenge:

The gap between the number of software developers you have today and the number of software developers you need to build the next generation of apps.

So how can organisations solve this? Low/no code platforms like Microsoft Power Apps can help speed up app development and democratise it across the organisation.

Empower developers to innovate with low/no code

Low/no code solutions allows the rapid building of solutions that automate and streamline routine tasks. This allows developers to focus on more high-value, complex work. According to The Total Economic Impact™ Of Power Apps commissioned study by Forrester Consulting, Power Apps can reduce app development and costs by 74 percent.

It can also help organisations drive a growth mindset culture in development teams. They can use Power Apps to quickly prototype a new idea and deploy this capability rapidly.

Take, for example, AstraZeneca’s HealthyMind app. The biopharmaceutical company wanted to ensure their employees had convenient, secure access to mental health resources. It took the developer team just four months to build the solution on Power Apps.

“Key to the choice [of Power Apps] was its ease of use. It is low code, so it is quick to develop and deploy. This all meant that we were able to design and build HealthyMind very quickly,” says Matt O’Halloran, Head of Workplace and Enterprise Services at AstraZeneca.

A platform like Power Apps can also connect to hundreds of different data sources including Microsoft Dataverse. This brings all your business data together into a single source of truth. Your developers can easily customise and extend capabilities in Azure and leverage business data from your systems of record such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Surface through Microsoft 365.

“[HealthyMind’s] natural integration with the broader suite that we use enabled us to deliver the application within the context of Teams, which was another game-changing factor,” says O’Halloran.

Drive digitisation with citizen development

With low/no code, development is democratised throughout your organisation. It allows anyone to solve business problems themselves.

At Centrica, citizen developers have built over 1,000 apps.

“We’ve really embraced this technology in Centrica. We’ve made an effort to be on the front foot and use the latest technology first, rather than waiting for it to be embedded and then acting,” says James Boswell, Director, Design and Engineering at Centrica. “It was a conscious risk but it’s worked really well – it’s giving us some great benefits and rewards and we’re well on the way to ensuring all our employees are digital employees.” 

For the energy services and solutions company, Power Apps has changed perceptions and steered to business-led development. Take, their finance team for example, in a couple of months they built an app that simplified and automated coordinating tax returns across different regimes. 

Build fusion teams to digitise and innovate faster

What happens when you combine your pro developers and citizen developers? You build fusion teams and unlock the true value of low/no code. According to Gartner, 84 percent of companies already have a fusion team.

By bringing together people with different experiences and knowledge into a multi-disciplinary team, you’ll build more innovative, inclusive apps, faster.

In a fusion team, citizen developers, with the support of pro developers, can rapidly build more complex applications. Citizen developers can focus on the UI, whilst pro developers can create and manage the APIs needed to enrich the application with key data sources. This accelerates time-to-delivery. Fusion teams can deploy solutions up to two and a half times faster than traditional siloed teams.

Centrica used a fusion team to develop an app that matches Centrica volunteers with people from the Trussell Trust charity.

“We’ve got people from all over the business working together. Some are working on the development work, some on the UI, some acting as scrum masters to manage the project. It’s all being done by people who came to the clinics and volunteered. And it will be a huge help to the Trussell Trust,” says Roy Young, Global Head of Office 365.

Build a fusion team

1. Find your use case

Pick a relevant problem that needs solving quickly and when solved, provides a considerable impact.

• Assemble your team

Have a mixture of proactive employees from across many lines of business, such as customer service, developers, team leaders, business leads.

• Plan your roadmap

Determine how much time it’ll take to create, implement, and produce results. Make sure you have time to troubleshoot and determine which solutions work best.

• Accept mistakes along the way

By working in an agile environment, your team will constantly be testing and may have to be ready to pivot when necessary.

Drive digitalisation and innovation

Power Apps helps organisations increase agility by giving everyone the ability to rapidly build low-code apps that drive innovation, modernise processes and solve tough challenges.

Cara Barratt, Workplace Transformation Lead at AstraZeneca agrees, “…we’re really looking at how we can empower our colleagues across AstraZeneca so those that have great ideas can develop their own use cases.”

Find out more

Accelerate innovation with low-code

Microsoft Power Apps

Join a Power App Microsoft Training Day

Make app building easier

Take the Fusion Development Learning Path

Take a fusion development approach to building apps

About the author

As a Power Platform Technical Specialist at Microsoft, Simon takes great pride in helping companies solve their business problems and generate insight into data, providing rapid answers to business questions through use of the Power Platform (specifically Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Virtual Agents, Dataverse and AI Builder). He enjoys working with the people in customer organisations who are helping to drive transformation using this technology and seeing the impact it has on their organisations and their careers.

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