Across industries, organizations are racing to harness the power of AI. The potential in intelligent automation alone motivated a $252.3 billion corporate AI investment in 2024,¹ and those investments have been evolving almost as quickly as this rapidly changing technology itself.

While longer-standing AI technologies like machine learning and chatbots continue to perform well, agentic AI has moved to the front of the pack, offering the kind of autonomous decision-making that companies crave. Early wins with generative AI—drafting emails, summarizing documents, automating routine tasks—have shown what’s possible when a single intelligent agent is put to work.

Microsoft defines agentic AI as the pairing of traditional software strengths—such as workflows, state, and tool use—with the adaptive reasoning capabilities of large language models (LLMs). This allows agents to understand intent, take action, and interact with other systems dynamically, moving beyond the limits of rule-based automation.

As organizations look to scale AI across more of their operations, many are finding that a single agent can’t always manage complex, multi-step tasks. This is where multi-agentic systems become valuable. 

Multi-agentic systems use a series of agents, with a single coordinating agent, to work as a sort of AI team. The coordinating agent works to understand complex queries and delegate workflows to other agents, making multi-step, multi-system queries possible. In collaboration with people who are essential for escalation, understanding significant ambiguity, and creative thinking, multi-agentic systems are becoming integral to digital-first workforces.

Because these AI teams often operate across different tools and systems, organizations need solutions that are secure and enterprise-ready. With Microsoft technologies, agentic systems are built with the security, compliance, and reliability businesses expect. For a deeper dive on multi-agentic AI, read “Designing Multi-Agent Intelligence” on Microsoft Dev Blogs.

Today, Microsoft customers are already seeing the impact of multi-agentic AI. Here are three stories out of the Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Lab in San Francisco that show how multi-agentic AI is transforming security, science, and retail.

Three real-world examples of multi-agentic AI transformation

1. Contraforce: Turning the tide in cybersecurity

In cybersecurity, every second matters. For managed service providers (MSPs), responding to threats quickly can mean the difference between business as usual and a major incident. Contraforce, a Microsoft partner, set out to change the game with a multi-agentic security delivery platform built on Microsoft Foundry.

The multi-agentic solution automates 90% of incident investigations and response tasks, working as an always-on security operations team to analyze security data, identify suspicious activities, and autonomously managing incidents. These autonomous AI agents don’t just automate tasks—they help create a new cyber defense workforce.

The results are striking:

• Incident response times plummeted from 30 minutes to just 30 seconds.
• The cost per incident dropped from $15 to less than $1.
• MSPs can now scale their services without scaling their teams.

Contraforce’s story is a testament to how agentic AI can transform security operations from reactive to proactive, delivering speed, scale, and cost-efficiency.

3. Stemtology: Accelerating discovery in health sciences

Medical innovations can move slowly, and sometimes for good reason. But in regenerative medicine, lengthy research cycles and complex data analysis can be optimized with AI intervention.

Regenerative medicine innovator Stemtology worked with the Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Lab to accelerate biomedical discovery using a multi-agentic platform.

By combining Azure Cognitive Search, GPT-based agents, and domain-specific knowledge graphs, Stemtology’s system allows agents to:

• Parse scientific literature
• Generate therapeutic hypotheses
• Design and evaluate experiments

The impact? Research timelines have been cut by up to 50% at Stemtology. Minimum viable products are delivered in weeks instead of months. And the path from idea to patient-ready therapy is shorter than ever. This has freed up researchers to focus on highly complex evaluation and design strategies for treatments, rather than spending hours on gathering and synthesizing research.

Stemtology’s journey shows how agentic AI can support critical human discovery and bring life-saving treatments closer to reality.

3. SolidCommerce: Personalizing customer engagement at scale

For retailers, delivering personalized experiences while managing vast product catalogs and backend operations is a constant challenge. SolidCommerce specializes in providing AI solutions that address these challenges in the retail industry.

Hoping to address time-consuming support processes, inconsistent customer communications, and operational inefficiencies handling customer support, they approached the Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Lab in San Francisco to create an AI agent that could automate accurate and brand-aligned responses to meet customer needs.

Their solution brings together multiple agents for customer triage, FAQ handling, account management, product recommendations, and compliance checks. Built on Microsoft’s Agentic AI framework and integrated with Microsoft Copilot Studio and Foundry Agent Service, the system is easy to deploy and scale.

The payoff:

• Richer, multimodal customer experiences
• Scalable automation across channels
• Real-time personalization with memory and context

SolidCommerce’s story demonstrates how multi-agentic AI can turn retail complexity into seamless, intelligent engagement, ensuring customer satisfaction to keep pace with technological change.

Learn more about the agentic advantage

Microsoft customers are realizing benefits every day across industries. As we’ve seen in the customer examples above, multi-agentic AI delivers speed and scale in operations, accelerates innovation in research and development, and enables personalized engagement at scale.

Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Labs

Accelerate your AI projects with personalized help from our Microsoft Technology Experts

Learn more

Multi-agentic AI isn’t just a technical upgrade—it’s a strategic shift. And companies that harness these systems to transform legacy processes can benefit not only from automation, but from truly intelligent optimization.

Learn how other customers are transforming with AI and explore creating your own generative AI proof of concept at Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Labs.

¹ The 2025 AI Index Report, Stanford HAI.

The post Multi-agentic AI: Unlocking the next wave of business transformation appeared first on Microsoft AI Blogs.

Leaders in the AI era are reimagining what AI can amplify: creativity, expertise, and the human ingenuity and leadership that drives progress. A recent IDC study commissioned by Microsoft shows that Frontier Firms are customizing AI for their unique workflows and seeing three times greater returns on their AI investments. Why? Because this approach keeps people at the center. They’re using AI to tackle big challenges, empower higher-value work, and help industries adapt quickly in a world where efficiency and resilience are non-negotiable.

Becoming Frontier isn’t reserved for tech disruptors or startups. Legacy brands across industries are bending the curve on AI innovation, pairing decades of expertise with AI-first differentiation to reinvent processes and accelerate growth. In a world where more than 99% of companies fail to reach 100 years in business,¹ centennial companies—brands that have been around for 100 years or more—are proving that reinvention is the key to longevity. Today, they’re using Microsoft AI to eliminate the mundane and unlock creativity to accelerate their journey to becoming Frontier.

Companies including The Kraft Heinz Company, Levi Strauss & Co., Wells Fargo, and Land O’Lakes have been serving customers for more than a century and remain leading household names because they never stood still. They’re positioning themselves at the forefront of AI innovation.

When you think about how quickly humans have grasped the concepts of AI, it’s influencing how they do everyday life right now. Compared to past technologies introduced into business or corporate settings, the learning curve and the adoption rate are not something that you have to worry about as much because people are actually craving it and they’re looking for it.

—Ken Meyer, Chief Information Officer for Enterprise Functions at Wells Fargo

These centennial brands show that reinvention isn’t a one-time event—it’s a mindset. By pairing their own expertise with a trusted partner like Microsoft, they’re transforming operations, accelerating innovation, and setting new benchmarks for what’s possible. Let’s look at how The Kraft Heinz Company, Levi Strauss & Co., Wells Fargo, and Land O’Lakes are leading the way.

Influencing the future with the wisdom of the past

In the consumer goods industry where companies are balancing shifting consumer preferences, supply chain complexity, and speed-to-market, AI-powered insights are especially crucial. The Kraft Heinz Company, one of the world’s leading food and beverage companies, is demonstrating how it is reaching for historical data as it prepares the organization to thrive in the future with the recent introduction of The Cookbook.

Built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI and trained on a proprietary central database, The Cookbook is a proprietary AI agent that puts decades of institutional wisdom around HEINZ Tomato Ketchup production processes at employees’ fingertips. With The Cookbook, users can ask questions on everything from the thickness and color of a batch of ketchup to insights about the efficiency of production processes, and more. Preserving and digitizing institutional knowledge and subject matter expertise in this way supports improvements in production consistency, quality, and efficiency—leaning into a legacy of innovation to maintain the quality that’s made HEINZ the world’s best-selling ketchup.

As part of our long-term strategy, we’re harnessing disruptive digital solutions to fuel growth across the organization. In doing so, we’re transforming the way we work, streamlining processes, enhancing decision making, and more—all of which enable us to continue delivering the great-tasting products consumers know and love as well as continue to innovate and address evolving preferences.

—Oliver Ganschar, Head of Digital Product Management and Innovation at The Kraft Heinz Company

The Cookbook joins a robust lineup of generative and agentic AI-powered projects already in use at The Kraft Heinz Company to optimize marketing, production, supply chain functions, and more. They have streamlined operations for Claussen pickles, cut manufacturing waste, and dramatically reduced timelines for brand asset creation across The Kraft Heinz Company’s portfolio. The digital-first solutions empower employees to focus on high-value tasks, make decisions rooted in data, and enhance engagement.

“When it comes to AI, we’re exploring integrated solutions that can drive scalability and connectivity across our organization end to end, rather than siloed deployment or disconnected applications,” said Ganschar. “We aim to create a connected ecosystem that enables our teams to work more efficiently and effectively, and this includes evaluating applications of generative and agentic AI in ways that we believe can unlock further value for our teams and the business.”

The Kraft Heinz Company and Microsoft have also collaborated on a Supply Chain Control Tower to preempt interruptions and develop digital twins of the company’s manufacturing facilities to virtually test and troubleshoot new processes. Together, these efforts hone The Kraft Heinz Company’s competitive edge, strengthening its ability to get products to market faster, better serve customers, and drive innovation.

Our collaboration with Microsoft has been an important part of our digital transformation, helping us drive innovation and efficiencies through machine learning and advanced analytics so we can get products into the market faster, better serve our customers and, ultimately, deliver on consumer demand.

—Oliver Ganschar, Head of Digital Product Management and Innovation at The Kraft Heinz Company

As The Kraft Heinz Company looks to continue leading the curve on AI innovation, it plans to scale The Cookbook beyond HEINZ Tomato Ketchup.

“We aim to use key learnings and insights from The Cookbook pilot phases to scale to other brands, products, and Kraft Heinz businesses, and we are currently in the process of exploring additional use cases for the technology,” said Ganschar.

Prioritizing data in decision-making at scale

Enthusiasm around AI is not just confined to the C-Suite—it is growing throughout entire organizations. Ken Meyer, Chief Information Officer for Enterprise Functions at Wells Fargo, says employees at every level are clamoring for AI products, with more than 30,000 using Microsoft 365 Copilot since it was rolled out in June 2025. The active usage rate for enabled employees is 92%, demonstrating the value the tool offers to the employees.

It’s really a proof point saying that not only did people want to use these products, but they were waiting for it and excited about it, and what’s really exciting is understanding the usage across the different ways in which they’ve engaged: creating content, doing summarization, and researching. That’s real time saved for our Microsoft 365 licensed users.

—Ken Meyer, Chief Information Officer for Enterprise Functions at Wells Fargo

This kind of data is the foundation of decision-making at the 173-year-old financial institution, particularly when it comes to choosing solutions to put in the hands of employees. Analytics drove Wells Fargo’s 2021 migration to Microsoft Azure as its primary public cloud provider and guided subsequent rollouts of Microsoft 365 and Microsoft SharePoint to enhance productivity and strengthen security. Now AI is increasing efficiency at Wells Fargo, with generative and agent capabilities in GitHub, Microsoft Copilot, and other Microsoft AI solutions equipping employees to more effectively support clients, each other, and the organization.

Organizations across the financial services industry are seeing the opportunities AI can create to unlock greater innovation and business value at an accelerated pace. It plays a critical role in streamlining operations and compliance management—making processes more efficient and secure.

Microsoft understands what it takes to be an enterprise business and do things at scale. When you think about being in a highly regulated industry, being a bank our size, and the commitments that we have to the number of clients that we serve, it’s important and it gives us a lot of confidence.

—Ken Meyer, Chief Information Officer for Enterprise Functions at Wells Fargo

Weaving innovation and intuition into all operations

In retail, as in finance, leaders must keep pace with their customers’ rapid adoption of emerging technologies. From evolving consumer expectations to the rise of omnichannel experiences, agility is key. Levi Strauss & Co., navigating new audiences and sales models, has partnered with Microsoft to stay resilient and innovative, using digital tools to streamline operations, personalize engagement, and scale sustainably in a fast-moving retail landscape.

Retail has always been a story of change. Microsoft is a big part of how we scale for the next 100 years.

—Jason Gowans, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Levi Strauss & Co.

On the heels of a massive cloud migration to Azure, the 172-year-old company is prepared to lead in a new era of agentic AI. The first five years of a seven-year digital transformation at Levi Strauss & Co. saw streamlined workflows, improved analytics and data quality, and more robust security—enabling the company to scale AI-powered innovation across the organization. 

Now, Levi Strauss & Co. and Microsoft are collaborating on AI-powered solutions that enhance employee decision-making, efficiency, and creativity with seamless access to insights. The newest example of this is the development of a new “superagent,” which has the intelligence to intuitively understand which applications and subagents to activate based on a user’s prompt. 

The foundation of the superagent streamlines the process to develop and integrate future agents—creating substantial savings. With AI woven into every experience for employees and fans, by extension, Levi Strauss & Co. is supercharging its trajectory toward becoming a fan-obsessed, direct-to-consumer business. 

We believe in performance, but our core value is also integrity. Whatever we choose to do with AI, it’s going to be grounded in making sure that it’s the right decision for our people, for the company, and for the community. 

—Sheena Kunhiraman, Vice President of People Systems and Analytics at Levi Strauss & Co.

Modernizing a trusted resource to elevate human expertise

Land O’Lakes, one of America’s premier agribusiness and food companies, is a member-owned cooperative with industry-leading operations that span the spectrum from agricultural production to consumer foods. Behind the scenes, the company has executed a sweeping digital transformation: migrating more than two-thirds of its IT environment to Azure, driving widespread adoption of Microsoft Copilot, and fine-tuning its enterprise copilot.

We are not a tech company, but a tech-forward company. Having a true technology partner that helps our digital transformation was the foundation of our partnership with Microsoft. We wanted a bigger bat to swing. Microsoft gives us that.

—Teddy Bekele, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Land O’Lakes

This modern infrastructure is the foundation for AI innovation and serves as the backbone for a new digital assistant called “Oz.” The assistant combines the power of Microsoft AI with Land O’Lakes’ deep agricultural expertise to help farmers make data-informed decisions to maximize yield potential and mitigate risk throughout the growing season.

Land O’Lakes is owned by highly knowledgeable agricultural retailers who act as trusted advisors to farmers. Historically, these retail agronomists have used the Land O’Lakes Crop Protection Guide, an 800-page agronomic resource built on 20 years of data and millions of agriculture-specific data points, to assist farmers. Oz allows retail agronomists to quickly surface critical agricultural information specific to a farm’s unique features and needs in a mobile-friendly format.

The idea has always been to make that agronomist the hero at the farm gate. Instead of flipping through a book, now agronomists can have this deep technical discussion with the AI. So, we go from a good recommendation to a highly customizable recommendation for that farmer.

—Teddy Bekele, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Land O’Lakes

Oz is just the latest example of how Land O’Lakes’ AI transformation has enabled them to bring cutting-edge, AI-powered solutions to the farmers they serve.

Bringing AI into the next Frontier

By thoughtfully integrating AI into many levels and functions of their businesses, centennial companies are demonstrating the ingenuity and resilience that has allowed them to dynamically navigate past moments of disruption for more than 100 years. We’re proud to partner with these Frontier Firms and support their continued transformation.

Explore examples of AI in action from this year’s Microsoft Ignite 2025 conference to envision how Microsoft’s industry-specific solutions can augment your organization’s expertise and experiences with AI.

Use our resources to innovate with AI and start your journey to becoming a Frontier Firm.

¹ Building Indiana Business, The Centennial Secret: How Do Companies Last 100 Years?, October 23, 2020.

The post From legacy to Frontier: How 100-year brands are leading AI innovation appeared first on Microsoft AI Blogs.

Oracle Database@Azure was the first offering of its kind in the market and today has the broadest regional availability, new ways to unify your data in Microsoft Fabric, deeper security integrations with Microsoft Defender, and can run most Oracle Database services—Base Database Service, Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure, Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure and Autonomous Database as well as Oracle Database 19c or 23ai—on Azure.

The result? A truly enterprise‑ready platform that offers more choice, increased control, and expanded opportunity to innovate with confidence–and customers are excited about the impact it’s driving in action.

Oracle Database@Azure delivered Exadata-grade performance natively within Azure, enabling us to host our Oracle EBS in the cloud without compromise. We gained native, real-time access to EBS data from Azure and seamless integration with both Oracle and non-Oracle data sources. Paired now with Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, and Copilot studio, our team will be able to accelerate insight delivery to business stakeholders and build agentic workflows faster. It’s a practical path to iterate on new features while keeping governance and security at the forefront.

Mahesh Tyagi, Vice President Finance Engineering, Activision Blizzard 

New Oracle Database@Azure features strengthen its enterprise leadership

Enterprise-grade capabilities are essential for organizations that depend on Oracle databases for mission-critical workloads. That’s why Microsoft continues to advance Oracle Database@Azure, bringing together the scale and resilience of Azure with industry-leading security and AI innovation.

Take a look at our latest announcements. For more details on each of these capabilities, check out our technical blog.

Announcing two new capabilities for real-time data integration and replication with Microsoft Fabric for an AI-ready data estate

Oracle Database mirroring in OneLake, now in public preview, enables continuous zero-ETL synchronization of Oracle data into OneLake, enabling a unified real-time data estate in Microsoft Fabric. Also available today, native Oracle GoldenGate integration offers managed, high-performance, low-latency replication and can be purchased using Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC). Once your Oracle data is connected through Oracle Database@Azure, you can use powerful AI innovation tools like Microsoft Copilot Studio, Azure AI Foundry, and Power BI.

Oracle Base Database is generally available

Oracle Database@Azure offers customers the flexibility to run any Oracle Database service on Azure. Oracle Database@Azure now supports all popular Oracle database services—Base Database Service, Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure, Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure and Autonomous Database—and also the choice of using either Oracle Database 19c or 23ai. This provides customers with a comprehensive set of flexible, simple, and cost-effective migration options when moving their Oracle databases to Azure.

Support for Oracle workloads goes beyond Oracle Database services. We’re excited to share that Oracle has introduced support policies for running Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, Enterprise Performance Management, and Oracle Retail Applications in Microsoft Azure using Oracle Database@Azure. This enables businesses to harness the power of Microsoft Azure while leveraging Oracle’s industry-leading database technology to achieve greater scalability, performance, and security. We continue to offer full Oracle Maximum Availability (MAA) support—up to platinum tier—available exclusively on Azure, giving customers the highest levels of availability, disaster recovery, and zero-data-loss protection for mission critical workloads.

Microsoft Defender now brings industry-leading threat detection and response to Oracle Database@Azure

Microsoft Defender is a cloud-native security platform that provides unified threat protection, vulnerability management, and automated compliance to safeguard Oracle Database@Azure workloads. Complemented by Microsoft Sentinel’s AI-powered security information and event management (SIEM) for real-time monitoring, and Microsoft Entra ID’s unified identity and access controls, customers get comprehensive enterprise-grade protection designed for today’s complex threat landscape.  

Azure Arc for Oracle Database@Azure

Extend Azure’s management, governance, and security capabilities across environments—whether on-premises, multicloud or edge. From a single control plane, Azure Arc enables you to enforce policies, manage identities, and automate lifecycle operations for all your Azure resources—and now, for your Oracle databases running natively on Azure. 

Azure IoT Operations and Microsoft Fabric now power an integration blueprint with Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain and Manufacturing (SCM)

This integration enables manufacturers to capture live insights from factory equipment and sensors, automate key processes, and drive data‑driven decisions for greater efficiency and responsiveness.

Available in over 28 regions globally

With plans to reach 33 live regions by the end of the year, Oracle Database@Azure empowers organizations to deploy closer to their applications and users across North America, EMEA, and APAC. Stay up to date on the latest regions to go live here.

Introducing Azure Accelerate for Oracle

To help every organization start quickly and confidently—regardless of their size—Microsoft is excited to offer Azure Accelerate benefits to Oracle customers. Azure Accelerate is a program designed to support customers across their cloud and AI journey with expert guidance and investments. Customers can cut through the complexity of their Oracle migrations—and related application migration, modernization, and AI innovation projects—while also minimizing project costs. Azure Accelerate makes it easier than ever to bring your Oracle workloads to Azure by offering:

• Access to trusted experts: Tap into the deep expertise of Azure’s specialized partner ecosystem. Additionally, you can take advantage of the Cloud Accelerate Factory benefit provides Microsoft experts at no additional cost.
• Microsoft investments: Access Partner funding and Azure credits designed to make your migration to Azure more cost effective and minimize project risk.
• Comprehensive coverage: Get help at every stage of the project, starting with an initial assessment through pilots or proof-of-value to full-scale implementation.

With Azure Accelerate, Oracle customers can now migrate more efficiently while integrating AI into their strategy, alongside Azure experts from day one.

Channel partners can now resell Oracle Database@Azure

Microsoft AI Cloud Partners and Oracle Partner Network (OPN) members can now purchase and resell Oracle Database@Azure—right from the Microsoft Marketplace. This new model underscores Microsoft and Oracle’s joint commitment to the partner community while streamlining migration and modernization for customers who prefer to purchase through their trusted partners.

Microsoft’s partner reseller programme helped CGI select Oracle Database@Azure to consolidate cloud services under a single cloud provider, ensuring cost efficiency, elasticity and redundancy required to meet CGI’s client key requirements. For Smart DCC, CGI is working with Oracle and Microsoft to implement the solution through the Microsoft marketplace reseller model, providing a streamlined procurement route on a secure, enterprise-ready platform for mission-critical workloads.

Ro Crawford, VP Consulting Services, CGI

We are also excited to share that Oracle Database@Azure is now included in the Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVP) program under the new technology area, Azure Solutions and Ecosystem. This new technology area spans mission-critical workloads and modernization efforts, including Oracle Database@Azure, Azure VMware Solution (AVS), Nutanix on Azure, and mainframe modernization strategies. Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals program recognizes exceptional community leaders for their technical expertise, leadership, speaking experience, online influence, and commitment to solving real world problems. To learn more about the program, visit this FAQ.

Oracle Database@Azure customer momentum

Customers like Conduent, BV Liantis, SEFE, Astellas Pharmacy, Craneware and Medline have moved their Oracle databases to Oracle Database@Azure to optimize performance and reduce latency while unlocking a future-ready foundation for AI. 

We’re excited to spotlight our customer innovation in our sessions at Oracle AI World. Don’t miss Activision Blizzard on stage for Microsoft’s Spotlight Session on Wednesday, October 15 at 4:45 PM PT. You can find our full session list and featured customers here. 

Looking ahead

We’re excited to continue this journey—bringing together the best of Oracle and Microsoft to help customers innovate faster, operate smarter, and lead in the era of intelligent applications.

If you’re attending Oracle AI World 2025, come talk to our experts at the Microsoft booth (#3005) and be sure to check out our sessions.

Learn more about Oracle on Azure | Microsoft Azure.

To get started, contact our sales team.

The post Oracle Database@Azure offers new features, regions, and programs to unlock data and AI innovation appeared first on Microsoft AI Blogs.

Becoming Frontier is the strategic shift to transform your business into a secure, AI-first organization, seamlessly integrating AI throughout your business to drive innovation, empower people, and optimize processes. Organizations who put AI into the center of their operations, we call Frontier Firms.​ Built around on-demand intelligence and powered by human–AI collaboration, they can scale faster, operate with greater agility, and unlock real business value at unprecedented speed. 

We’ll explore how leading companies—Adecco, ABB, Loft Orbital, Air India, and HEINEKEN—are embracing the Frontier Firm mindset and some of them are already experiencing between a 30% to 63% increase in productivity alone. 

We’ll explore how leading companies—Adecco, ABB, Loft Orbital, Air India, and HEINEKEN—are embracing the Frontier Firm mindset. Each is reimagining their industry by putting AI at the core of their strategy, culture, and operations, and their perspectives offer a blueprint and lessons for what’s possible when organizations truly become frontier.  

Let’s look at how some of the world’s most innovative organizations are putting these principles into practice. 

ABB—Uses AI to unlock the future of industry  

ABB is committed to using responsible and sustainable AI innovation that is yielding measurable business impact. By integrating the Azure OpenAI, Genix Copilot unlocks the power of generative and agentic AI to industrial operations—helping customers achieve a 35% cost savings in operations and maintenance, and boost production efficiency by 30%. According to Rajesh Ramachandran, Global Chief Digital Officer, Process Automation, “ABB Genix Copilot transforms the way real-time data insights are delivered to field engineers, functional analysts and industry executives enabling smarter decisions. We are helping our customers outperform by becoming leaner and cleaner—achieving the combined goals of efficiency, reliability, and sustainability.”

Adecco—Revolutionizing recruitment using an AI-powered approach 

Adecco is using the real power of AI and its ability to unlock human potential. Their lesson is clear: upskilling, inclusion, and human-centric innovation are essential. By integrating AI (such as Microsoft 365 Copilot) into their “Recruiter GenAI Suite, we have seen up to 63% of productivity, which is really amazing. And this enables our recruiters to spend more time having valuable conversations with the candidates, and workforce development,” states Carolyn Basyn, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Adecco. Adecco shows that technology can create more meaningful experiences for clients, candidates, and colleagues—ensuring no one is left behind. 

Air India—Powering Air India’s digital transformation with data and AI 

Air India is a testament to the power of democratizing AI. By making AI accessible across their organization, they’re closing skill gaps and empowering teams to make data-driven decisions—whether it’s optimizing flight schedules or enhancing customer service. In fact, AI.g, an AI-powered virtual agent handles an average of 30,000 customer queries daily with 97% of them fully automated. “This means just 3% of the queries get escalated to human agents. That saves us several million dollars a year” explains Dr. Satya Ramaswami, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Air India. Their journey shows that AI enhances job satisfaction—driving agility and excellence while supporting their on-time performance goals. 

Loft Orbital—Building smarter satellites with AI  

Loft Orbital (Loft) is developing AI-powered satellites to simplify access to space. Their satellites process data with edge computing to more efficiently deliver on-demand intelligence. Loft relies on GitHub Copilot to support their development teams, helping them write code faster, with more accuracy, and now apply it to quality assessment, information management, and even onboard systems. “Our approach highlights the importance of trusted partnerships and secure, scalable infrastructure in scaling AI innovation. Our satellites are autonomously coordinated to help us respond faster to emerging events, reduce reliance on ground operations, and deliver actionable insights right when they’re needed,” states Lucas Bremond, Chief Software Architect at Loft. 

HEINEKEN—Tapping AI to become the best-connected brewer 

Even a 160-year old company like HEINEKEN stands out for their disciplined experimentation with AI and commitment to responsible innovation. By piloting high-impact use cases, rigorously measuring results, and scaling what works, HEINEKEN demonstrates that weaving AI into every part of the business—from brewing and marketing to supply chain and sales—leads to tangible gains and a culture ready for the future. “AI needs to help to grow the business. So it’s around consumer insights, it’s around brand building, it’s around revenue management, it’s around sales execution,” shares Ronald den Elzen, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at HEINEKEN. HEINEKEN’s journey highlights how a culture of experimentation and responsible innovation can prepare a company for whatever the future holds.  

Solving industry specific challenges with AI 

Each organization demonstrates how AI can be harnessed to solve industry-specific challenges: from revolutionizing recruitment and upskilling talent, to optimizing industrial operations, transforming airline performance, enabling smarter satellites, and connecting global supply chains. 

What stands out most is that every Frontier Firm’s journey is unique, but the lessons are universal: put people first, innovate responsibly, experiment boldly, and measure what matters. These companies aren’t just adapting to change—they’re leading it, showing us that when we embrace AI with purpose and vision, we unlock new opportunities for growth, creativity, and impact. 

As you consider your own organization’s AI journey, let these stories serve as inspiration and guidance. The future belongs to those who experiment boldly, measure what matters, and put people at the heart of transformation.  

Are you ready to become a Frontier Firm? 

Explore how Microsoft’s AI solutions can transform your organization.   

Leverage our available resources to innovate with AI and start your journey to becoming a Frontier firm. 

• Advance your AI transformation: AI business resources.
• Explore Microsoft’s AI solutions and get the guide.
• Discover: real-world AI use cases to help you accelerate your business goals.

¹ HAI Stanford University, The 2025 AI Index Report.

The post Frontier Firms in action: Lessons from the AI adoption surge appeared first on Microsoft AI Blogs.

Increasingly, Frontier Firms—those at the leading edge of innovation and productivity—are demonstrating how AI can unlock new levels of competitive advantage. However, realizing this potential goes beyond simply deploying tools and solutions; it requires a continuous, enterprise-wide strategy that aligns skill-building with broader business priorities. As these organizations continue to transform, new skills and capabilities will inevitably become essential. 

For Frontier Firms, AI skilling is a continuous investment, as well as an integral job requirement. In our conversations with customers, many have indicated they expect their employees from all disciplines to spend 10–20% of their work week on learning and integrating AI into their daily work to deliver the most impact.

At Microsoft, we’ve seen firsthand how creating a culture of continuous AI learning empowers employees, and we shared our insights in our previous blog, “Accelerate employee AI skilling: Insights from Microsoft.” Now, we’re shifting the spotlight to our Frontier Firm customers—drawing key takeaways from the skill-building strategies they’re using to turn ambition into adoption with an AI-ready workforce that drives innovation.

1. When leadership champions AI learning, the whole organization moves faster

Executive alignment plays a pivotal role in shaping how AI adoption takes hold. When leadership drives the learning agenda and anchors it in business strategy, it sets the stage for cultural change. One of the most effective ways to do this is through cross-functional collaboration that connects governance, priorities, and impact. We’ve seen this play out at organizations where leaders are shaping AI strategy through unified, cross-functional action. 

Customer highlight: Bupa APAC is driving smarter healthcare solutions with an AI-ready workforce and Microsoft Copilot 

With AI reshaping healthcare, Bupa APAC saw an opportunity to make customer experiences more seamless, proactive, and personalized—from automating claims processing to developing preventative care plans tailored for individual needs. Bupa created a Center of Enablement that aligned risk, legal, technology, and business teams to develop a unified approach to responsible AI use. This early collaboration ensured alignment between AI ambition and the needs of different functions, laying the foundation for a tailored, role-based skilling strategy supporting the business priorities. It developed an AI skilling strategy and created a structured environment for AI experimentation, using Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, and other AI-powered tools to automate tasks, refine workflows, and improve efficiency. Bupa upskilled its workforce with Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot, generating more than 410,000 lines of AI-assisted code, initiating more than 30,000 Copilot chats, and accelerating more than100 AI use cases to improve care.

AI is a critical part of our transformation, but technology alone isn’t enough. Our focus has been on building the right skills and governance to make AI effective across the organization.

—Akhil Mittal, Cloud Platform and DevOps Manager, Bupa APAC

The Bupa APAC example reinforces how a top-down AI strategy that embraces a culture of learning creates clarity and a shared purpose across teams—equipping employees to not only understand but also act on AI goals. For leaders thinking through their own approach, explore Creating an AI Learning Culture: Five considerations to empower teams with AI skills that can guide you and inspire a skills-first mindset.

Creating an AI learning culture

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2. Tailored learning builds confidence and drives adoption

No matter how you encourage workforce experimentation and AI learning, one principle remains essential: generic training rarely leads to real behavior change. A tailored approach targeted to individual skill levels and job requirements is essential. Employees are far more likely to adopt AI when they understand how it applies to their day-to-day work. This clarity doesn’t just drive individual confidence, it empowers employees to solve problems faster, service customers better, and contribute to outcomes that matter to the business. Leading organizations offer a compelling example of how connecting learning to everyday responsibilities can power transformation at scale. 

Customer highlight: Commonwealth Bank invests in AI skills and Microsoft Copilot to drive innovation 

As customer expectations rise, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank) seeks to harness AI to develop smarter, more secure, and highly customized banking experiences at scale. Recognizing that AI’s full potential depends on workforce readiness, CommBank launched a structured skilling initiative to equip employees with the knowledge and tools to apply AI effectively across the organization. CommBank embedded AI skilling across all levels of the organization through three structured learning paths: 

1. Leading with AI equips executives and senior leaders with the skills to guide AI adoption strategically, facilitating responsible implementation and alignment with business priorities. 

2. Working with AI provides employees across departments with practical training to use AI-powered tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve productivity and assist decision-making. 

3. Building with AI develops technical expertise among engineers, data scientists, and developers—offering specialized learning with tools like GitHub Copilot and Microsoft Power BI to create AI-powered solutions. 

AI skilling has equipped employees to adopt AI effectively, with 84% of 10,000 Copilot users reporting they wouldn’t go back to working without it and approximately 30% of GitHub Copilot code suggestions adopted—driving efficiency and smarter decision-making. 

With Microsoft 365 Copilot, early adopters reported saving 16% of their time by reducing repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on more meaningful work and bring their best selves to what they do.

—Dan Jermyn, Chief Decision Scientist, CommBank

As the CommBank story shows, when AI learning is tailored to specific skillsets and the day-to-day realities of work, it becomes a catalyst for impact. From the frontlines to leadership, employees gain the confidence to use AI in ways that enhance productivity and customer value. For organizations looking to jumpstart team training and close skills gaps with tailored learning, we recommend the Microsoft Learn for Organizations. 

3. Generating organizational momentum is possible through peer-led learning communities

Pairing learning programs with peer-driven communities helps amplify early wins, reinforces skills, scales momentum, and transforms individual learning into collective progress. These communities thrive when employees have space to share real use cases, ask questions, and learn alongside trusted peers. It’s a model that brings learning to life, and one that is gaining traction with organizations around the globe. 

Customer highlight: AI and the human advantage: Adecco Group’s AI skilling strategy fuels productivity with Microsoft Copilot

Recognizing AI’s evolution and its impact on work prompted Adecco to provide AI skills to employees and job seekers. To stay competitive, it aimed to embed AI into operations while ensuring its workforce had the expertise to use it effectively. 

The company embedded AI across operations to automate tasks and improve decision-making. Through an internal AI operations team, training, microlearning, and Copilot, Adecco is equipping its employees with skills to apply AI effectively in daily work and client interactions. 

To support internal enablement, The Adecco Group created the AI Influencer Community, where employees engage with AI experts, share use cases, and explore best practices. In parallel, the company collaborated with Microsoft and worked closely with its Akkodis Tech Academy (a Microsoft Training Services Partner) on AI upskilling programs. These efforts have been deployed in 12 countries, training more than 12,000 employees in AI fundamentals, data analytics, and other critical digital skills, helping teams work more efficiently, support evolving client needs, and contribute to solution development. 

Skilling is really important for us because people are at the heart of our organization. We have a responsibility to ensure our people have the skills to engage with AI, use new tools, and embrace new ways of thinking.

—Caroline Basyn, Chief Digital and Information Officer, The Adecco Group

What stands out from Addeco’s experience is that scaling AI fluency didn’t hinge on formal programs alone—it grew from within. By allowing employees to learn from each other and explore AI together, you can create a more sustainable, community-powered model for adoption. This is a reminder that the most powerful adoption strategies empower connection and shared curiosity.

Bringing it all together to build an AI-ready workforce 

When considering these examples, a pattern emerges. Organizations leading in AI fluency aren’t simply adopting tools, they’re building the conditions for their people to thrive with them. While every organization requires its own unique approach, learning from current successes and adapting for your specific goals and workforce is key to achieving results. 

To help you advance your organization’s AI skilling efforts, we’ve created the AI Skills Strategy: The Starter Guide, a reflection tool to plan strategic conversations around AI skill-building. This guide is designed for the earliest stages of AI skilling strategy development before a formal plan is in place. It helps you clarify your skilling purpose, identify key stakeholders for all learning initiatives, and begin uncovering where skilling efforts can deliver the most value. By working through these high-level questions, you and your team can align shared goals and lay the groundwork for a tailored, adoptable AI skilling approach that can help you accelerate your organization’s AI growth and reach your business goals. 

¹ IDC InfoBrief, Sponsored by Microsoft, Business Opportunity of AI, IDC #US52019124, November 2024 

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Organizations use AI as catalysts for change—taking risks, challenging the status quo, scaling niche ideas, and reshaping entire industries. In season 1 of the Catalyst series, the possibilities unfold through the lens of three startups using Microsoft Azure infrastructure and NVIDIA’s domain-specific models and accelerated computing technologies to advance science, health, and technology. From digital twins to drug discovery, meet the companies driving social and scientific progress through new methods that amplify human ingenuity and skill. 

Pangaea Data helps doctors close care gaps with AI 

Diagnosing and treating health conditions, whether rare or prevalent, can be difficult for doctors and patients because patient records can span hundreds of pages long and clinicians have limited time to thoroughly review them, resulting in information remaining buried within them and patients being missed. Helping clinicians identify optimal clinical pathways faster leads to better care and improved patient outcomes. Pangaea Data set out to close care gaps by applying AI configured on clinical guidelines to emulate the process clinicians use to review electronic health records. This helps to find untreated and under-treated patients across hard-to-diagnose conditions at the point of care, without disrupting clinicians’ existing workflows.

For example, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) applied Pangaea’s platform to identify six times more untreated and under-treated patients with the hard-to-diagnose condition, cancer cachexia, which can help halve the cost of treatment. Similarly, a US health system deployed Pangaea’s platform to recognize $9 million in additional revenue each year by closing care gaps for only one condition. 

Pangaea’s platform runs on Microsoft Azure‘s globally compliant and secure cloud infrastructure and is integrated with NVIDIA’s comprehensive AI stack. By combining high-performance GPU-accelerated computing with optimized software frameworks and tools, Pangaea’s platform delivers timely and dependable insights trusted by clinicians and health care providers. This helps ensure equitable patient care and helps improves outcomes in a financially sustainable and scalable manner. 

You’ve got to make sure that information is delivered to the physician in a compliant manner. And this is where Azure does a phenomenal job. The fact that they have already done the groundwork to be compliant across all different countries and territories. It immediately instills that confidence that you are a known entity, a trusted entity, beyond just the technology.

–Vibhor Gupta, PhD, Founder and CEO of Pangaea Data

Basecamp Research connects biotechnology with biodiversity 

Basecamp Research sees nature as the key to scientific discovery. They have built one of the world’s largest biological databases to support life science researchers and companies working on drug discovery, product development, and biological research. This database of more than 10 billion novel proteins includes valuable tools such as gene editing proteins that have been collected from diverse natural environments around the world. The dataset is then used to train AI models, like Evolutionary Scale Modeling (ESM), that can help identify new targets, design novel proteins, and predict metabolic pathways, supporting faster development of innovative medicines and biological products.

AI has enabled Basecamp Research to set new benchmarks in control, novelty, and efficiency. Increasing their database’s annual growth rate tenfold required scalable computing resources, advanced models, and extensive data. By using Microsoft Azure infrastructure to operate their models and employing NVIDIA’s BioNeMo framework for training, they significantly increased operational speed and achieved scalability.

We’ve been leveraging Azure for this quite a lot, leveraging Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS) and the container registry to orchestrate this and to basically massively scale these annotation pipelines. NVIDIA comes in at the next stage when it comes to utilizing these datasets for model training.

–Glen Gowers, Co-Founder of Basecamp Research

Global Objects digitizes physical artifacts across industries

Microsoft sees AI digital twins as a foundational technology with many applications that can help bridge the physical and digital worlds. Digital twins provide virtual replicas of physical assets and systems, whether it’s a piece of artwork in a gallery, a prop in a film, or a simulation that can be used to expedite the production process in manufacturing. Global Objects shared how they’re using advanced AI and 3D scanning technologies to create photorealistic digital twins of props and objects across different locations. The company aimed to address the challenge of producing high-quality photorealistic content and fill that gap by training AI to map physical environments in the highest fidelity dataset with precision.

By blending artistic skills with advanced technology, they were able to make an authentic digital version of novel objects in the cloud. To accomplish this, they gathered a large subset of data about random objects to help generate new content that accurately replicates the exact specifications of each object digitally. Digitization of the objects can be used for not just preserving art or making films, but also creating new products and services across gaming, robotics, and healthcare.

The most important thing around all of this is processing. The files, the size, the speed by which we’re operating all require the best systems, servers, operators, GPUs that are in the market today. The relationship with Microsoft and NVIDIA is so powerful not only for us learning internally on our own systems and operations but engaging with our clients and ensuring we always have uptime, ensuring that we can always deliver with the most speed, efficiency, and fidelity as possible.

–Jesse Redniss, Chief Strategy Officer of Global Objects

Become a catalyst for change with Microsoft Azure and NVIDIA

Microsoft and NVIDIA offer industry-leading development tools, frameworks, and pre-trained models that are designed to support developers, researchers, and business leaders alike. By combining Azure’s trusted cloud foundation with NVIDIA’s cutting-edge compute capabilities, companies can deploy AI faster, iterate smarter, and stay ahead of the competition. The examples you’ve seen today are catalysts for a more inclusive and intelligent future, driving progress across diverse fields and industries. Watch The Catalyst Series.

¹ McKinsey, The state of AI: How organizations are rewiring to capture value, March 12, 2025.

² Crunchbase, The state of startups in mid-2025 in 8 charts: Global funding and M&A surge as AI fervor continues, July 22, 2025.

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That’s why the question isn’t whether to invest in AI—it’s where it will make the biggest difference.  

The best place to start? Identifying the AI business use cases that align to the specific needs and priorities of your organization and your industry—because these use cases are what turn potential into measurable outcomes. 

At Microsoft, we’ve seen that the most successful AI strategies are grounded in industry context. From financial services and retail to manufacturing and healthcare, organizations are applying AI in practical, targeted ways to solve complex challenges and unlock new opportunities.  

Let’s take a closer look at the AI use cases in business that are driving transformation today—through proven industry examples. 

Financial services firms transform operations and experiences with AI 

Banking, insurance, and capital markets firms are under growing pressure to modernize. They’re expected to deliver more personalized service, manage costs, and stay ahead of evolving regulatory demands—while also providing seamless, secure, and relevant experiences across every interaction. 

To meet these expectations, financial institutions are turning to AI business applications to address specific challenges across customer service, compliance, and operations. Key use cases include: 

• Delivering more personalized customer service through AI-powered agents that can resolve issues in real time and scale human support.
• Enabling more relevant and timely engagement by equipping relationship managers with AI tools that provide real-time insights into customer behavior, market signals, and product performance.
• Enhancing compliance and fraud detection with AI models that support transaction monitoring and automated regulatory reporting.
• Reducing operational costs and improving efficiency by using AI to automate document-heavy tasks like loan processing, claims management, and compliance reviews. 

These use cases are already driving results. Aditya Birla Capital, a diversified financial services group in India, adopted AI across its banking, insurance, and asset management businesses. The company increased lead generation through more personalized experiences, boosted contact center productivity by 20%, maintained strong compliance while accelerating digital transformation, and reduced operating costs by over 40% through automation and greater efficiency. 

Retailers drive shopper conversions with AI-powered innovations  

Retailers are navigating rising customer expectations, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and fierce competition across digital and physical channels. To stay ahead, they must deliver more personalized experiences, operate with greater agility, and equip employees to deliver faster, smarter service.  

AI is helping retailers address these challenges with several high-impact use cases across the value chain: 

• Delivering personalized shopping experiences with AI agents that recommend products in real-time based on customer preferences, behavior, and trend data—boosting conversions, reducing returns, and increasing loyalty.
• Empowering store and service employees with AI business solutions that provide instant answers to store procedures and policies, inventory, product details, and customer insights—increasing productivity and enhancing customer service.
• Improving supply chain visibility by unifying customer, product, and operational data in AI-powered platforms that enhance forecasting, inventory planning, and targeted marketing.
• Strengthening security and resilience through AI-powered threat detection and adaptive protection that defends against credential theft, unauthorized access, and malicious actors.

These AI use cases are delivering measurable results. ASOS, a go-to destination for young fashion lovers, is a standout example of personalization. The retailer uses an AI-powered conversational interface to curate product selections based on shopper preferences and highlight the latest trends—all while maintaining brand voice. This results in increased engagement, higher conversions, and improved customer satisfaction.  

Companies like Carvana, an online used car retailer, and Albert Heijn, a leading grocery store chain in the Netherlands, are also seeing strong results with AI-powered shopping assistants that deliver fast, intuitive, and highly personalized experiences at scale. 

Manufacturers transform the value chain with AI 

Manufacturers are under intense pressure to remain competitive in the face of global supply chain disruptions, rising costs, evolving customer expectations, and the need to meet sustainability goals. To stay ahead, they must improve equipment reliability, increase production efficiency, and accelerate innovation across the entire value chain. 

AI is helping manufacturers address these demands with targeted use cases that drive both operational and strategic impact across the value chain:  

• Reducing unplanned downtime through AI-powered predictive maintenance that monitors equipment health and alerts teams to potential failures before they occur.
• Improving product quality and yield by using AI-powered visual inspection and real-time defect detection to catch issues earlier and reduce waste.
• Accelerating product development with generative design and AI-assisted coding that shortens engineering cycles and reduces time to market.
• Enabling faster decision-making on the factory floor by giving teams access to real-time performance metrics through natural language interfaces and AI agents.  

These AI use cases are already helping leading manufacturers drive results. On the factory floor, Rolls-Royce, a global manufacturer of power systems for aviation and industrial markets, is using AI to monitor engine health and prevent around 400 unplanned maintenance events annually—saving millions and improving overall reliability. The company also applies AI to improve defect detection, increasing machine usage by 30%, and reducing fault resolution time from days to near real time.

Schaeffler, a global automotive and industrial supplier, uses AI agents and real-time data access to enhance reporting, decision-making, and troubleshooting—improving uptime, productivity, and yield across its operations. 

Healthcare organizations improve care and research with AI 

AI is reshaping the entire healthcare ecosystem—including how providers deliver care, how payors manage populations, and how life sciences organizations accelerate innovation. Healthcare leaders are working to improve outcomes, reduce provider burden, expand access, and drive research breakthroughs, all while managing rising costs and maintaining compliance.  

To meet these demands, organizations are turning to AI to support critical use cases across care delivery and innovation: 

• Streamlining clinical workflows with AI assistants that surface critical information in real time and automate tasks—giving providers more time to focus on patient care.
• Enhancing patient engagement with AI tools that help individuals access health information, schedule appointments, and stay connected with providers.
• Supporting clinical decision-making through AI models that improve diagnostics, disease detection, and treatment planning, while enabling more efficient and equitable care models using multimodal AI insights from unified healthcare data.
• Accelerating drug discovery and development by enabling researchers to collaborate more effectively, uncover insights from large volumes of data, and reduce clinical trial timelines.  

These use cases are already driving measurable impact. At Beth Israel Lahey Health (BILH), the medical center’s AI-powered app gives care teams real-time access to thousands of critical care documents—improving efficiency, policy compliance, and the overall quality of care. 

Syneos Health, a global biopharmaceutical solutions provider, is applying AI to improve predictive modeling and accelerate clinical trial site activation time by 10%, helping bring lifesaving therapies to patients faster. 

Let’s put the right AI use cases into action for your industry 

Across financial services, retail, manufacturing, and healthcare, organizations are applying AI through proven use cases that reflect the specific needs and challenges of their industry—and are already seeing measurable impact. 

At Microsoft, we’re building on insights from thousands of customer engagements to help you identify where AI can make the biggest impact for your organization and your industry. 

See more examples of how businesses use AI to drive impact and growth. Explore Microsoft AI Use Cases for Business Leaders: Realize Value with AI.  

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But behind these numbers are the real stories—organizations that have moved beyond experimentation to embed AI at the heart of how they operate. These “AI Challengers”—bold, AI-first businesses that are not just adapting to change but actively challenging the status quo and shaping the future.

These AI challengers haven’t just implemented new tools—they’ve reimagined what’s possible when AI becomes a core business capability. Find out how these companies are pulling ahead:

BOQ Group—Human-led transformation for banking reimagined

BOQ Group champions an employee and customer first approach to AI transformation. “At BOQ Group, we are committed to transforming the way we work and serve our customers by building an AI-ready workforce,” explains Chief Information Officer Craig Ryman.

The bank’s strategic rollout of Microsoft 365 Copilot delivered extraordinary results: over 70% of users now save 30 to 60 minutes each day. The impact extends far beyond time savings—completing business risk reviews in one day instead of three weeks, creating training programs in one day instead of three weeks, and improving report quality while speeding up sign-off processes from four weeks to one week.

BOQ’s approach emphasizes the critical insight that having a “human in the loop” is critical to AI adoption. The organization’s experience reveals universal adoption phases: users start with personal productivity gains, then focus on targeted opportunities, before ultimately transforming how work gets done entirely.

AI transformation is not just a technological transformation but a people-led transformation changing how we work. This is why it’s critical that any AI transformation starts by listening to and understanding team needs, spotting opportunities, and tackling challenges head-on to embrace the opportunities.

Enveda—Cracking the chemical code of life with AI

Enveda is innovating with AI by reinventing what is possible in medicine. It is focused on revolutionizing drug discovery by unlocking the potential of the vast majority of undiscovered molecules in nature. Enveda is using generative AI to identify and analyze thousands of compounds simultaneously, which significantly speeds up the drug development process and reduces costs.

“Today, nine out of ten drug candidates don’t make it through clinical trials, despite years of research and massive investment. This 90% failure rate pushes the cost of bringing a single new medicine to market as high as $6 billion. It’s an approach that simply can’t scale,” states CEO and Founder Viswa Colluru. 

At Enveda, AI is changing that. By decoding nature’s chemistry at scale, it is delivering drug candidates to clinical trials four times faster and at nearly one-tenth the cost.

AvePoint—Using AI to transform business inside and out

AvePoint is driving business innovation by embedding AI-powered capabilities into its product suite with Copilot. AvePoint also demonstrates the power of being your own best customer with its internal AI adoption. 95% of pilot participants actively use Copilot, with employees saving one to three hours per week by automating repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on higher-value work.

As Mario Carvajal, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, noted, “Our investors care about efficiency, and AI is helping us deliver that. By freeing up time for higher-value work, we’re making our teams more effective and our business more competitive.” 

To accelerate adoption, AvePoint had two key strategies: upskilling its employees and creating focused, department-specific initiatives. AvePoint also encouraged a dialogue that sparked curiosity, built confidence and helped AI become a natural part of its daily workflows. As AI continues to evolve, AvePoint is positioned to lead the way, proving that the right foundation is key to unlocking its full potential. 

Eaton—Revolutionizing its energy management using AI

Eaton showcases how industrial companies use AI across complex global operations. “AI offers limitless potential for innovation, providing transformative technical opportunities that align with our growth objectives and advance our mission for sustainability and energy resilience by supporting grid flexibility, enhancing energy management, and delivering superior service and outcomes for our customers.,” explains Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer Katrina Redmond. 

The company’s implementation of Copilot specialized agents brings functional expertise to areas like finance, sales, human resources, and service, handling repetitive, mundane tasks and freeing teams to focus on higher-value, strategic work that enables them to better serve their customers. By embedding AI into its culture and adopting a “think AI first” mindset, Eaton aims to drive further advancements in both technology, organizational strategy and will ensure that it can fully harness AI’s immediate potential while fostering sustained innovation across all aspects of its business.

The agent-enabled workplace

Each organization is driving innovation and demonstrates different aspects of the agent-enabled workplace—environments where AI agents work alongside human teams to accomplish complex business objectives, but all point toward a future where intelligent systems amplify human potential. 

Their success reinforces a critical insight: AI transformation requires more than technology adoption. It demands fundamental rethinking of business processes and competitive strategies. The organizations that recognize this—and act boldly on it—will define the next decade of business innovation. The future is here—and it’s time to claim your place in it. Will you lead or follow? 

Ready to join the AI challengers?

Explore how Microsoft’s AI solutions can transform your organization. Connect with our team to discuss your AI strategy or watch detailed case studies featuring each of these remarkable organizations.

Find the resources to support your AI journey:  

• Explore Microsoft’s AI solutions.
• Advance your AI transformation with AI business resources.
• View more AI Challengers executive insights.
• Listen to the Leading the Shift podcast to hear advice from leaders navigating the AI platform shift.

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¹ IDC 2025 Worldwide CEO Survey — Part 1: Overarching Insights, Business Priorities, and Risks, doc #US53155225, April 2025

² IDC, 2025 CEO Signature Report: Transforming Business for an AI World, doc #US53393625, June 2025

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Every day, we engage with organizations navigating growing business complexity across industries, geographies, and regulatory environments. From global manufacturers modernizing plants to financial institutions re-architecting for resilience, we are seeing the same pattern: ambitions are moving faster than traditional architectures can respond to. 

Organizations must also contend with geopolitical disruptions, supply chain volatility, and rapid advances in AI that are reshaping how and where companies operate. Competition is intensifying as incumbents and new entrants alike use AI technology to ship faster, scale smarter, and reset benchmarks. Meanwhile, customer expectations continue to rise, with users demanding seamless digital experiences on any device, anywhere, at any time. In this dynamic environment, adaptability is no longer a feature of great architecture, it is the foundation of competitive resilience.

Forrester study: How tech leaders are evolving their infrastructure strategy 

To better understand how infrastructure strategies are evolving, we commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a global study of over 600 cloud and edge decision-makers. What emerged from the data closely matches what we hear in our own customer conversations: leaders are increasingly unifying cloud and edge technologies as a strategic accelerator. The 2025 study, Edge Meets Cloud: A New Era of Scalability and Security, reveals how global IT leaders are no longer treating cloud and edge as separate environments, but rather an integrated approach that enables adaptability for business success.  

What tech leaders are prioritizing in 2025 

In the study, respondents were surveyed on their top business priorities for the next two years. The results revealed they prioritized enhancing customer experience, increasing operational resilience, and strengthening data privacy. These emerged as interdependent outcomes—requiring companies to invest across both cloud and edge environments, rather than choosing between them. 

Respondents also said that, in many cases, operational reality has not caught up with the needs of the business. The top blockers they identified were: 

• Siloed IT teams and disconnected platforms.

• Legacy applications that were not built to scale.

• High integration and maintenance costs.

• Security complexity and gaps in real-time insight.

Given these challenges, it’s no surprise that 65% of respondents said their organizations plan to merge their edge and cloud environments in the next 12 months. Why? Because operating in fragments slows everything down from innovation to insight to response time. 

The case for cloud and edge integration 

When organizations integrate cloud and edge environments, they unlock performance gains across every layer: 

• Reduced latency for faster customer-facing experiences. 

• Lower costs through smarter, localized processing.

• Better insights from mobile, IoT, and on-premises data.

• More cohesive security and governance.

• Streamlined collaboration across teams and workloads.

In fact, 84% of surveyed leaders say they would value a solution that helps consolidate edge and cloud operations across systems, sites, and teams. 

How to get there: Four strategic moves 

In the Forrester study commissioned by Microsoft, four key recommendations surfaced providing clear, actionable guidance for business and technology leaders looking to evolve their cloud-to-edge strategies. What stood out to me is how closely these recommendations reflect what we hear from enterprise customers. These aren’t theoretical ideas. They are grounded in what’s working today at scale, across some of the most complex IT environments in the world.

1. Break down silos 

Forrester’s first recommendation is to step back and ensure alignment between cloud and edge priorities. This goes beyond technology, it’s about cultural alignment across teams, shared goals across domains, and unified decision-making across cloud and edge environments. 

I have seen the impact of this alignment firsthand. Dick’s Sporting Goods, operating more than 850 stores alongside a growing e-commerce footprint, adopted a One Store technology strategy to unify how software is written, deployed, and monitored across all locations through Azure Arc. That cohesion didn’t just improve operational efficiency, it created consistent, high-quality customer experiences across every channel. When edge and cloud teams operate from the same playbook, adaptability becomes the default. 

2. Run AI where it works best 

Forrester emphasizes the importance of using technologies where they have the greatest impact. Sometimes that means running AI at the edge for real-time responsiveness. Other times, it means leveraging cloud resources for deep analysis and long-term learning. Often, it’s both. 

This flexible mindset is one we see increasingly in data-driven industries. LALIGA, which operates over 40 stadiums and serves more than 230 million fans globally, uses Azure Arc to orchestrate infrastructure and AI across environments. They process match-day insights on-site for immediate responsiveness, while simultaneously leveraging the cloud for strategic analysis. By allowing each environment to do what it does best, LALIGA delivers both agility and scale. 

3. Design for security and scalability 

Security no longer has a static perimeter, instead—it’s an integrated, continuous responsibility across every node, site, and service. Forrester recommends designing security and scalability hand-in-hand, particularly in environments that span hybrid and edge deployments. 

AVEVA, a global industrial software leader, faced the challenge of integrating dozens of acquired IT systems—many with their own infrastructure, policies, and compliance needs. Through Azure’s adaptive management and policy tooling, they unified governance across more than 50 distinct Active Directory environments. Now, AVEVA can project its full operational landscape into a single control plane, applying consistent security, observability, and compliance across all regions. It is a powerful example of scaling without losing control. 

4. Extend cloud-native to the Edge 

As organizations move away from legacy monolith applications, Forrester recommends extending cloud-native development patterns and technologies—like containers, orchestration, and modular architecture—closer to the edge. This accelerates delivery, reduces friction, and supports long-term flexibility. 

This is exactly what we’ve seen from Delta Dental, which modernized its core payor system, MetaVance, using containerized services on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). Development and test environments live in the cloud, while production workloads run on-prem to meet regulatory requirements. Leveraging AKS, Delta Dental can use one underlying platform to manage all its applications, no matter where they run. The result isn’t just better performance; it’s future optionality. As constraints evolve, the infrastructure is built to adapt. 

What’s next for cloud and edge with Azure

To continue this conversation, join us for an in-depth video series featuring Forrester as we unpack the recently commissioned research and strategies shaping the future. 

The post Adaptability by design: Unifying cloud and edge infrastructure trends  appeared first on Microsoft AI Blogs.

The United Kingdom (UK) is on the brink of a half-a-trillion-pound opportunity, powered by AI and cloud technologies that are set to transform industries, boost productivity, and redefine the way we work. As Europe’s most advanced digital economy, home to 171 unicorns worth more than £800 billion, the UK has already proven its appetite for innovation, investing more than £20 billion in AI since 2016. But realizing AI’s full potential isn’t just about investment, it’s about action.

AI is no longer a distant concept. Businesses across every sector are already embedding AI-powered agents into their operations—automating workflows, streamlining decision-making, and eliminating digital drudgery to free employees for more impactful work. The rise of agentic AI—technology that doesn’t just respond to commands but takes action on our behalf—marks a major shift, poised to revolutionize everything from customer service to cybersecurity, driving efficiency, resilience, and innovation at scale.

And yet, a stark AI divide is emerging. More than half of UK organizations still lack a formal AI strategy, and 57% of business leaders report a growing gap in productivity between AI adopters and non-adopters. With employees and leaders already stretched thin, the demand for AI-powered solutions has never been more pressing.

The question is no longer whether AI will reshape the UK economy, but how quickly businesses will step up to seize the opportunity. Organizations that act decisively—building clear AI strategies and investing in the right capabilities—will be the ones that thrive. I highlighted several of these leading organizations during my AI Tour keynote, and I’m excited to share more of their journeys here. 

Pets at Home reimagines integrated pet care with AI

Pets at Home, the UK’s largest pet care company, is transforming its operations with AI agents powered by Microsoft Copilot Studio. The company, which includes 450 retail stores, an online platform, veterinary practices, and grooming services, initially operated in silos but underwent a digital transformation to unify the customer experience across all channels using Microsoft Azure.

With a centralized data platform in place, Pets at Home turned to AI to enhance efficiency. One of the first AI agents supported fraud detection, swiftly analyzing vast amounts of data to identify suspicious transactions, such as repeated use of the same image for fraudulent refund claims. This has significantly improved fraud investigation speed and accuracy.

AI is also powering personalized customer interactions. With 8 million loyalty program members and 10 million pets, the company uses machine learning to recommend tailored pet care solutions across its retail, veterinary, and grooming services. This ensures customers receive relevant, stage-specific pet care guidance.

The company’s veterinary practices are using AI to reduce administrative tasks, allowing clinicians to focus more on patient care. AI-powered transcription services assist during consultations and operations, while scheduling automation improves efficiency, enhancing clinical focus, and aligning with the company’s mission of better pet care.

By integrating AI agents, Pets at Home has enhanced fraud detection, improved personalization, and streamlined veterinary operations, driving innovation and efficiency across its ecosystem.

Amey embraces AI agents for a safer, more connected workforce

Amey, a UK-based engineering firm, plays a vital role in designing, maintaining, operating, and building the country’s infrastructure. With services impacting 75% of the UK population daily, ensuring safety and efficiency is a top priority.

Access to safety information has long been a challenge for frontline workers, who previously had to stop tasks and manually sift through folders full of paper documents for relevant details. Without regular access to laptops or computers, Amey opted to democratize information access for its workforce with mobile-friendly AI-powered agents.

Now, 99% of its 118 million files are stored on SharePoint, and AI allows employees to retrieve answers instantly through a chat interface. No more digging through folders—critical safety information is now just a few taps away, preventing issues and resolving others faster.

The AI system boosts efficiency and safety by providing instant access to essential information, real-time troubleshooting, and multilingual support while maintaining English documentation. By filling gaps where supervisors aren’t always available, it reduces risks and empowers employees to work more confidently and get home safely every day.

With AI now embedded in everyday operations, Amey is setting new standards for workplace safety and efficiency, proving that technology is a powerful ally in protecting and empowering its workforce.

Nationwide streamlines operations and cuts response times with generative AI

Nationwide, the world’s largest building society, serves 17 million customers across more than 600 UK branches. After merging with around 250 smaller societies, it faced a tangled web of data. By applying Microsoft Azure, Azure Databricks, and Teradata’s VantageCloud, it streamlined everything into a powerful, centralized platform, empowering employees to access a complete view of customer needs in seconds, delivering faster, more personalized service with greater efficiency.

Nationwide has built upon that infrastructure by integrating GPT-4 within Azure OpenAI Service to augment various business functions. One of the most impactful applications has been in customer correspondence, where AI-generated letters have reduced response times from 45 minutes to approximately 10–15 minutes, a 66% improvement in efficiency. AI has also been deployed to automate routine back-office tasks, allowing employees to focus on addressing more complex customer inquiries and improving overall service quality, which reflects Nationwide’s philosophy of using AI as a “copilot” to assist employees rather than as an “autopilot” to replace them.

Nationwide has established an AI Centre of Expertise and an AI Council to oversee responsible AI use, ensuring transparency and responsible standards in collaboration with Microsoft. This framework builds customer trust while guiding the expansion of AI into contact center operations, credit risk assessment, economic crime monitoring, its virtual assistant Arti, and CO₂ emissions reporting.

Be My Eyes puts AI into the hands of blind and low-vision individuals

Be My Eyes has long connected blind and low-vision people with sighted volunteers and partner companies through live video assistance. Now, with AI, it’s radically improving accessibility. In collaboration with Microsoft, Be My Eyes is making AI models more inclusive for the 340 million people worldwide with no or low vision by integrating accessibility data to serve diverse needs better.

A key innovation is Be My AI, a tool that helps users independently navigate their digital world by providing AI-powered descriptions of on-screen content. Part of Be My Eyes for Windows, Be My AI makes it easier to browse websites, use applications, or read documents. It also provides descriptions of locally stored images, offering clarity on personal photos and saved graphics. Online images can be analyzed simply by copying them to the clipboard for a detailed text description. The tool even helps users prepare for video calls by checking if they are centered in the frame and describing their background before going live.

An interactive chatbot allows users to ask follow-up questions about descriptions for a more dynamic and personalized experience. While the app is still in beta, ongoing improvements and new features will continue to expand its capabilities, allowing Be My Eyes to improve accessibility and redefine independence for blind and low-vision people.

Virgin Money’s virtual assistant is “Redi” to transform customer service

Virgin Money, serving 6.6 million retail and business banking customers, sought to enhance digital customer experience by developing “Redi,” an award-winning virtual assistant. Built using Microsoft Copilot Studio and integrated with Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Redi bridges the gap between digital adoption and customer confidence.

Developed in close collaboration with frontline contact center staff and seamlessly integrated with the Dynamics 365 Knowledge Base, Redi features an intuitive digital journey that provides customers with timely and effective assistance. A core value to the company, the virtual assistant maintains Virgin Money’s distinctive brand voice, understanding colloquialisms and responding to informal language.

Virgin Money collaborated with compliance teams to ensure Redi’s interactions are clear and secure. The assistant introduces itself transparently and seamlessly transitions customers to human agents when handling complex issues, effectively triaging 90% of inquiries, boosting customer satisfaction ratings, and allowing contact center agents to focus on more complex tasks.

This strategic AI deployment exemplifies Virgin Money’s commitment to exceptional customer experience and recognition that the major role of agentic AI has in delivering that now and into the future.

AI for everyone in the UK: Decisive action

The UK’s AI journey has already been transformative, but the next era—powered by agentic AI—has the potential to be truly revolutionary. By and large, UK organizations recognize the competitive advantage AI has to offer, but have yet to fully unlock AI’s potential, citing barriers such as workforce readiness, strategic alignment, and regulatory uncertainty.

Overcoming these hurdles is challenging but certainly achievable. It requires investment not only in AI infrastructure but also in skills development. Microsoft has stepped in with full support for the UK economy, having made a multibillion-pound commitment to AI-enabled datacenters and bringing AI skills to an additional 1 million people by the end of this year, on top of the 1.5 million it has already given digital skills to.

This shared foundation is essential to putting the AI-powered economy within reach, but success will depend on how quickly and effectively businesses themselves take strategic steps to embrace AI. I posed these questions to those who attended the Microsoft AI Tour event in London, and I urge you to consider them as well: 

1. What are you trying to achieve in the next six months, and how can AI help you get there faster? 

2. How are you and your team set up to embrace the change, and what culture shifts are needed to ensure AI adoption is unencumbered? 
3. How can Microsoft and its partners be part of that journey? What do you need from us to accelerate your progress and deliver real outcomes? 

Together, we have the opportunity to shape an AI-powered future where businesses flourish, employees thrive, and the UK cements its position as a global leader in innovation. The time to act is now.

Find the resources to support your AI journey 

• Advance your AI transformation with AI business resources
• Microsoft Agents of Change
• ‘AI divide’ across UK organizations risks growth for many, new Microsoft research reveals

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