As AI becomes more deeply embedded in workflows, having a secure foundation from the start is essential for adapting to new innovations with confidence and ease. New regulations like the European Union AI Act demand greater transparency and accountability, while threats like shadow AI and adversarial attacks highlight the urgent need for robust governance. 

Getting Started with AI Applications

Microsoft Guide for Securing the AI-Powered Enterprise

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To help organizations navigate these challenges, Microsoft has released the Microsoft Guide for Securing the AI-Powered Enterprise Issue 1: Getting Started with AI Applications—the first in a series of deep dives into AI security, compliance, and governance. This guide lays the groundwork for securing the AI tools teams are already exploring and provides guidance on how to manage the risks associated with AI. It also dives into some unique risks with AI agents and how to manage these. Here’s a look at the key themes and takeaways. 

Securing AI applications: Understanding the risks and how to address them 

AI adoption is accelerating, bringing remarkable opportunities but also a growing set of security risks. As AI becomes more embedded in business decision-making, challenges such as data leakage, emerging cyber threats, and evolving and new regulations demand immediate attention. Let’s explore the top risks and how organizations can address them. 

Data leakage and oversharing: Keeping AI from becoming a liability 

AI thrives on data. But without guardrails, that dependence can introduce security challenges. One major concern is shadow AI—when employees use unapproved AI tools without oversight. It’s easy to see why this happens: teams eager to boost efficiency turn to freely available AI-powered chatbots or automation tools, often unaware of the security risks. In fact, 80% of business leaders worry that sensitive data could slip through the cracks due to unchecked AI use.² 

Take a marketing team using an AI-powered content generator. If they connect it to unsecured sources, they might inadvertently expose proprietary strategies or customer data. Similarly, AI models often inherit the same permissions as their users, meaning an over-permissioned employee could unknowingly expose critical company data to an AI system. Without proper data lifecycle management, outdated or unnecessary data can linger in AI models, creating long-term security exposure. 

Addressing the risk

• Implement clear AI usage policies so employees stick to vetted, secure tools.
• Allow AI’s to access data only based on the user’s credentials and use role-based access controls (RBAC) to manage that data access.
• If an AI does need to use its own credentials to access resources, only grant AI access to people who should have access to those resources.
• Automate data retention policies to prevent sensitive information from persisting beyond its intended use.

Emerging threats: The expanding landscape of AI vulnerabilities 

As AI evolves, so do the threats against it. According to Gartner® Peer Community, among 332 participants, a staggering 88% of organizations are concerned about the rising risk of indirect prompt injection attacks,³ with attackers developing new ways to exploit vulnerabilities. One of the most pressing concerns is prompt injection attacks—where malicious actors embed hidden instructions in input data to manipulate AI behavior. A cleverly worded query, for example, could trick an AI-powered chatbot into revealing confidential information. 

Beyond direct attacks, AI systems themselves can introduce security risks. AI models are prone to hallucinations (generating false or misleading information), unexpected preferences (amplifying unfair decision-making patterns), omissions (leaving out critical details), misinterpretation of data, and poor-quality or malicious input leading to flawed results. A hiring tool, for example, might favor certain candidates based on biased historical data rather than making fair, informed decisions. 

Addressing the risk

• Validate and sanitize input data before AI processes it to prevent manipulation.
• Limit AI’s access to sensitive information and implement identity verification.
• Design (and secure) the end-to-end (E2E) business process, not the AI component.
• Secure the AI component by imagining replacing it with a new hire fresh out of school. What would you do to make your process robust against it making mistakes?
• Use robust monitoring, validation, and oversight to ensure AI operates securely and responsibly.
• Leverage commercial AI tools with built-in safeguards like bias detection, input sanitization, and access controls to reduce risks while supporting business goals.

Compliance challenges: Navigating the complex AI regulatory landscape

Beyond security, compliance is another major hurdle in AI adoption. Over half of business leaders (52%) admit they’re unsure how to navigate today’s rapidly evolving AI regulations.² Frameworks like the European Union AI Act, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) are rapidly evolving, making compliance a moving target. Organizations must establish clear governance and documentation to track AI usage, decision-making, and data handling, reducing the risk of non-compliance. Digital resilience laws like DORA require ongoing risk assessments to ensure operational continuity, while GDPR mandates transparency in AI-powered decisions like credit scoring and job screening. Misclassifying AI risk levels—such as underestimating the impact of a diagnostic AI tool—can lead to regulatory violations. Staying ahead requires structured risk assessments, automated compliance monitoring, and continuous policy adaptation to align with changing regulations. 

Addressing the risk

• Align AI governance with evolving regulations like DORA through risk assessment, testing, and monitoring.
• Keep detailed AI records to ensure compliance and responsible use.
• Use AI-powered tools to monitor compliance with GDPR and HIPAA, reducing risks like data drift and unauthorized access.
• Audit AI decisions to ensure fairness, transparency, and regulatory compliance.
• Classify AI risks clearly and stay updated on evolving regulations to maintain compliance. 

The next frontier: Unique challenges in securing agentic AI 

The pace of AI growth is staggering, with AI capabilities doubling every six months. Organizations are rapidly adopting more autonomous, adaptable, and deeply integrated systems to tackle complex challenges. 

One of the most significant developments in this shift is agentic AI—a new class of AI systems designed to act independently, make real-time decisions, and collaborate with other AI agents to achieve complex objectives. These advancements have the potential to revolutionize industries, from optimizing energy grids to managing fleets of autonomous vehicles.  

But with greater autonomy comes greater risk. Overreliance on AI outputs, cyber vulnerabilities, and reliability concerns all need to be addressed. As these systems integrate deeper into operations, strong security, oversight, and accountability will be essential. 

Building a secure AI future: A responsible AI adoption playbook 

AI’s transformative power comes with inherent risks, requiring a proactive, strategic approach to security. A Zero Trust framework ensures that every AI interaction is authenticated, authorized, and continuously monitored. But security isn’t something that happens overnight—it requires a phased approach. 

Microsoft’s AI adoption guidance, part of the Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure, provides a structured path for organizations to follow and is clearly outlined in the Microsoft Guide for Securing the AI Powered Enterprise Issue 1: Getting Started with AI Applications. This guide offers a starting point for embracing the cultural shift needed to secure AI with clarity and confidence.  

Cross-team collaboration, employee training, and transparent governance are just as essential as firewalls and encryption. By embedding security at every stage, breaking down silos, and fostering trust, organizations can confidently navigate the AI landscape, ensuring both innovation and resilience in a rapidly evolving world. 

Learn more 

• Guide for Securing the AI Powered Enterprise Issue 1: Getting Started with AI Applications.
• Get the playbook: AI Adoption Guidance.
• Read the e-book: Grow Your Business with AI You Can Trust.

¹Microsoft internal research, February 2025 

² ISMG, First Annual Generative AI Study: Business Rewards vs. Security Risks.

³ Gartner Peer Community Poll: If your org’s using any virtual assistants with AI capabilities, are you concerned about indirect prompt injection attacks?

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. 

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From the world’s biggest companies using agents to automate business processes that run tens of thousands of times a day to each of us now having the power to quickly create custom AI assistants using plain language—agents are reshaping work for both organizations and individuals.  

In this edition, we hear from Charles Lamanna, Corporate Vice President of Business and Industry Copilot, who is spearheading the work at Microsoft to bring AI agents to organizations. In this Q&A, Charles shares his insights on how we arrived at this moment in AI transformation, agents in the workplace for the organization and the individual, why customers that are AI-first are thriving, and where agents will start to show up outside of work.  

Let’s learn more from Charles about the transformative potential of agents and where this technology is headed next. 

What is a good analogy to describe the AI moment we are in right now? 

AI can feel abstract, but to understand the moment we’re in, it’s helpful to think about other turning points in history where technology became a force multiplier for people.  

Take the tractor, for example. Two hundred years ago, nearly everyone in America farmed for a living. Now, it’s less than 2%, because tractors completely changed the game, freeing people up to innovate elsewhere. Or clothing—not that long ago, most people owned a few outfits. Then mechanized looms came along and clothing became abundant. 

Steve Jobs famously called computers a “bicycle for the mind” because just as a bicycle helps humans move far more efficiently, computers amplified what our minds could achieve. Stretching that analogy, if computers are the bicycle, AI is the jetpack of the mind. It’s not just speeding us up, it’s lifting us to entirely new heights.  

If computers are the bicycle, AI is the jetpack of the mind. It’s not just speeding us up, it’s lifting us to entirely new heights.”

—Charles Lamanna

We’re at an exciting time where AI puts deep expertise directly at everyone’s fingertips, breaking down barriers to knowledge. Just as tractors transformed farming and mechanized looms changed clothing production, AI agents are transforming fields like law, medicine, and software development. They’re the tractors for lawyers, the mechanized looms for doctors, and combustion engines for developers.  

Why is the shift to an “AI-first mindset” so important for businesses?  

Adopting an AI-first mindset is crucial because it fundamentally transforms the way businesses operate. AI isn’t just a novelty—it’s a core capability that is necessary to stay relevant.  

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Businesses embracing AI-first thinking reach new levels of scale that are just not possible without the speed and power of AI. For example, global supply chains are enormously complex. AI can quickly process vast amounts of data, predict trends, and take actions in real time—tasks that would take people weeks or months can now happen in hours or minutes. AI agents can generate reports or even actively make informed decisions under human oversight.  

A core component for an AI-first company is agents—think of them as the new apps. They can execute core tasks with and on behalf of people, unifying business data, apps, email, chat platforms, and more. Agents can range from simple to advanced, doing everything from addressing customer service inquiries, to doing the heavy lifting of data analysis.  

Imagine replicating this efficiency across every element of a company: human resources, logistics, sales, finance, and research and development. You can see how profound this transformation is across the business.   

When do you think AI agents will go from being an add-on to the main driver of business? 

Right now, we’re seeing the beginnings of a major transformation where AI agents are shifting from being used as helpful “add-ons” to becoming the core drivers of business. We can think about this AI journey in a few stages.  

Initially, we’re seeing AI augment people in an organization—everyone has a powerful AI assistant that deeply understands their specific work, makes them more productive, and makes daily tasks easier.  

As organizations move further along this journey, we’ll see a big jump. AI agents will evolve to become key team members, capable of autonomously managing complex workflows and boosting efficiency considerably. People will set high-level strategies, provide direction and manage these agents. And this will continue to evolve.   

I think companies that have adopted an AI-first mindset are already working towards that future as more advanced agent capabilities are added.  

Who do you think is doing a good job of working with AI and agents? 

It’s exciting to see companies adopting AI agents in a big way. 

Take Estée Lauder Companies, for instance. They have 80 years’ worth of valuable consumer data from surveys, clinical trials, promotions, and product usage. With an agent called ConsumerIQ, built using Microsoft Copilot Studio, employees can instantly tap into insights that used to take hours of manual research. They can ask, “What are the latest trends for mascara use among Gen Z?” and within seconds, the agent will collect, summarize, and deliver the answer. 

Dow spends billions annually on freight shipping and receives thousands of invoices daily. They built agents that analyze and detect anomalies and have already uncovered billing errors—like catching a $30,000 charge that should’ve been $5,000.  

At Microsoft, we’re also using agents, and one example is on Azure.com. With more than 400 product and service pages, customers struggled to find the information they needed. The team built an AI assistant using Copilot Studio, and visitors who used the AI assistant showed 70% more pages visited per session and a 21.5% increase in conversion rates.  

Where do you see agents changing our daily lives beyond the workplace?  

We’re going to see agents show up more in our daily lives, and I think people will be excited about it. Imagine having a personal agent that handles annoying tasks no one enjoys—sorting emails, paying bills, or making appointments.  

In healthcare, agents can become personal health assistants, proactively monitoring your wellness and reminding you about medications. This could make life easier for those managing chronic health problems. 

On top of all this, anyone will be able to create agents for their own use without any coding experience. It won’t be something that only developers or coders are trusted to do.  

Looking ahead, the possibilities are limitless. Imagine a future where agents effortlessly handle life’s complexities, freeing you up to spend more time on the people and activities that bring you joy and meaning. That’s the future we’re building towards, and it’s closer than you might think. 

Learn more about Microsoft’s innovation with AI agents 

AI agents are an exciting space for business leaders to explore, from being able to assist with document creation at an individual worker’s level to taking on the most intensive and critical business processes at a company. Agents will vary in complexity, and they’ll come from many different sources—from the agents built by Microsoft or our partner ecosystem to the custom agents tailored to take on your exact challenge. With this rise of AI agents, we will see even more ways for AI deliver on the promise of real business value.

Interested in learning more?

Here are a few recommended resources:

• Register for the Business Applications Launch Event
• Refactor your skills at Microsoft Build 2025
• Read AI agents — what they are, and how they’ll change the way we work
• Begin your AI learning journey with the AI learning hub 

The post FYAI: How agents will transform business and daily work with Business and Industry Copilot Corporate Vice President Charles Lamanna 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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Now, the focus is starting to shift. Productivity gains are just the beginning of a broader transformation—one that goes beyond efficiency to reshape industry processes, decision-making, and customer experiences.

ROI of AI

How can industry leaders increase ROI?

Watch the video series

True AI transformation requires an industry perspective

In our conversations with customers, many are asking about the next wave of AI. They’re ready to expand beyond general AI applications and invest in solutions tailored to their specific challenges. While organizations recognize AI’s value and potential, it must address industry-specific needs to deliver the biggest results. 

Take healthcare, for example, where engaging with patients requires sensitivity, data privacy, and personalized care. That’s very different from retail, where personalization is all about tailored shopping recommendations and seamless experiences.

The same contrast exists in manufacturing and transportation. Manufacturers focus on optimizing production lines for efficiency and quality, while fleet operations prioritize logistics, route optimization, and fuel costs.

These differences show why AI adoption is moving beyond general-purpose tools to industry-specific solutions that drive even greater impact. In our recent video series on the Return on Investment (ROI) of AI, we explore this trend, real-world use cases, and how AI is transforming industries like financial services and retail. These insights reflect what I’m seeing in conversations with customers about the changing AI landscape.

Where to invest in AI for maximum impact

Today’s leaders are looking beyond AI for productivity and asking a bigger question: Where should we invest next to drive business growth? The key is to align AI investments with mission-critical priorities.

So, is the AI for industry buzz real, and is it worth the investment? The answer is yes—here’s why:

• Industry-specific AI solutions tackle complex challenges—such as regulatory compliance in financial services, seamless omnichannel shopping experiences in retail, and asset troubleshooting in manufacturing.  At Microsoft, we’ve worked with thousands of customers to identify industry use cases where AI delivers meaningful business results. Building on these insights, we offer customizable AI agents designed to accelerate time to value for our customers.
• Customizable AI agents in Microsoft Copilot Studio help businesses tailor AI to their needs. Agent Builder, a feature within Copilot Studio, simplifies customization with industry-specific knowledge and low-code tools. In addition, our customers have access to a wide range of adapted AI models to accurately and effectively address their unique needs.
• AI models, developed in collaboration with partners, and built for specific industries make adoption easier across every sector and region. These fine-tuned models are trained on industry data to support business-critical use cases.

To see industry-specific AI in action, let’s explore key use cases in financial services, retail, manufacturing, and healthcare.

Driving growth in financial services with AI

Financial services organizations are leading the way in AI adoption, and it’s paying off. They’re realizing a 4.2 times average ROI on generative AI initiatives¹—the highest across industries. Discover how PicPay uses Microsoft AI to answer product and service questions quickly and securely.

Key use cases for AI in finance industry include:

• Banking: AI enhances customer interactions, improves fraud detection, and streamlines meeting preparation.
• Insurance: AI speeds claims processing and resolution, identifies upsell opportunities, and improves customer engagement.
• Capital markets: AI personalizes client presentations, generates predictive insights, and accelerates research.

Watch the video to explore AI business transformation in financial services.

Retailers solve complex challenges with AI

Retailers are realizing a 3.6 times ROI on generative AI initiatives,² and some are tackling customer acquisition, profitability, supply chain reliability, and data complexity. Learn how ASOS, a British online fashion retailer, uses Azure AI Foundry to surprise and delight young fashion lovers with engaging, inspirational experiences.

Key use cases for AI in retail industry include:

• Personalized Shopping Agent engages in natural language conversations, delivering tailored recommendations and assisting with specific requests.
• Store Operations Agent integrates product search, inventory, orders, omnichannel pricing, and incident management into existing applications.
• AI-powered insights help retailers create targeted marketing campaigns that boost engagement and increase sales. See how Microsoft Cloud for Retail connects customers, employees, and data.

Watch the video to see why the retail industry is embracing AI.

How AI powers smarter manufacturing

Manufacturers are achieving a 3.4 times ROI on generative AI initiatives.³ They’re also using AI to speed time to market, streamline application lifecycle management, and simplify manufacturing processes. See how Schneider Electric addresses the company’s most pressing issues by innovating with Azure OpenAI Service.

Key use cases for AI in manufacturing industry include:

• AI-powered generative design accelerates product development by automating design processes, refining models in real time, and freeing teams to focus on manufacturability and compliance.
• AI-assisted coding helps developers write, debug, and optimize code faster, enhancing industrial software development and connected product functionality.
• AI-powered factory insights provide real-time data for root cause analysis, production loss reduction, and asset maintenance, boosting efficiency and safety.

Learn more about Microsoft technology in the manufacturing industry.

AI helps empower the healthcare workforce and enhance patient care

In healthcare, AI is transforming medical data management, personalizing clinician and patient experiences, and helping to improve patient outcomes—delivering a 3.3 times ROI on generative AI initiatives.⁴ See how AI innovation empowers healthcare teams to refocus on the clinician-patient connection at Northwestern Medicine, Overlake Medical Center & Clinics, and Atrium Health.

Key AI use cases for healthcare include:

• AI assistants help streamline clinical documentation, surface information, and automate tasks to improve efficiency, satisfaction, and patient care.
• Advanced healthcare AI models are designed to enhance disease detection, diagnostics, and treatment planning.
• Multimodal AI generates insights from unified healthcare data to identify care gaps faster for early intervention, develop more tailored care plans, improve the accuracy of diagnoses, and allocate hospital resources more effectively.

We’re here to help you drive AI success

Organizations that invest in industry-focused AI applications and stay current with AI industry trends are realizing the greatest ROI with AI. We’re here to help you take action now and position your business for innovation, efficiency, and competitive advantage.

Watch the ROI of AI video series to learn more about AI ROI.

^{1, 2, 3, 4} IDC InfoBrief: sponsored by Microsoft, 2024 Business Opportunity of AI, IDC #US52699124, November 2024.

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The skills gap is widening, and it is our collective responsibility to bridge it. Business leaders and professionals are exploring ways to build and enhance critical skills within their teams, and Microsoft is leading the charge. 

In addition to launching ambitious skill-building initiatives such as the upcoming Microsoft AI Skills Fest, we’re also eager to spotlight innovative organization like Founderz, a groundbreaking online learning platform that has gone from a bold idea to a leader in AI skilling in just a few years. Their story is worth sharing not only because of their emerging role in ensuring the workforce is prepared for the future, but because it’s a testament to the power of innovation, perseverance, and the impact of just one company believing in a vision.  

One “yes” can change everything 

Co-founders Anna Cejudo and Pau Garcia-Mila had a simple but powerful idea: what if online business education could capture the depth, collaboration, and networking of the world’s top business schools—but in a way that was scalable, accessible, and built for the AI-powered future? 

“We felt there is still a big gap between the experience we have when we go to an on-site business school—where you meet the best professors, the best content—and the way we learn online,” explained Pau Garcia-Mila, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder.

They spent years building the technology behind Founderz, investing in AI-powered learning models that would make online education engaging, interactive, and deeply effective. But by 2023, they were at a breaking point. Funding had run out, and they needed a breakthrough.

In a final effort, they sent three emails to companies at the forefront of AI—hoping one of them would see what they saw: a future where AI education was truly transformative. Only Microsoft responded. 

Founderz was accepted into the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, which provided access to industry-leading AI services, expert guidance, and essential technology to supercharge their growth. Entering the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub at Tier 4 also unlocked USD150,000 in Microsoft Azure credits, enabling the company to scale their platform, refine their AI-powered learning model, and start delivering high-quality AI education at scale. 

Today, Founderz itself is helping change lives.

“In 2024, we had roughly 10,000 users learning AI with Founderz,” recalled Anna Cejudo, co-CEO and co-founder. “By the end of the year, we were at 50,000. And now, by the beginning of March, we reached 100,000 users training in AI. The real revolution isn’t AI—it’s education,” added Anna, highlighting the fundamental role of learning in driving change. They’ve also become a Microsoft Training Services Partner, making the decision to offer training exclusively on Microsoft AI technology.  

AI skilling done differently 

Founderz is far from being just another online course provider. Pau, Anna, and their growing team are rethinking how AI is taught by blending structured learning with real-time collaboration, personalized AI-powered support, and a hands-on approach to applying AI in real-world scenarios. 

At the heart of the Founderz learning experience are high-quality, cinematic-style lectures. Unlike traditional online courses that rely on static, slide-based presentations, Founderz films its courses in a MasterClass-style format, featuring top AI experts from Microsoft and beyond. This approach allows learners to hear directly from the people shaping the future of AI. 

Expert content in student’s native language 

But Founderz goes beyond delivering engaging content—it’s about accessibility. A core mission is to provide top-tier AI education in students’ native languages. Next-generation lip-syncing technology ensures that learners experience AI-powered content seamlessly, without language barriers.

“I can watch a Responsible AI class from Microsoft’s Mihaela Vorvoreanu in my language,” says Pau Garcia-Mila. “She speaks in first person, saying, ‘When we built this Responsible AI model at Microsoft.’ I’d love to be able to learn from the source in my mother tongue.”

Small group collaboration  

While putting “thousands of people in a virtual room” enables Founderz to pay the best professors at a lower per-student cost, the company also sought to build a platform that supported meaningful collaboration. AI-powered tools match students into small, diverse learning circles, where they tackle real-world AI challenges, share insights, and build lasting professional networks. 

Multilingual student support around the clock 

To further support its rapidly growing user base, Founderz’ team of AI-powered teaching assistants or “Fellows” provide real-time multilingual support, allowing learners to receive help in their native language while keeping operations efficient for the human support team.  

As Pau Garcia-Mila explained, “The Fellows are speaking any language in the world, but our human team sees everything in English,” ensuring seamless interaction across different languages. 

These AI-powered teaching assistants provide real-time feedback, analyze student interactions, and escalate complex questions to human instructors when needed. Whether a learner is a complete beginner or an experienced professional, Founderz ensures they receive the support they need to succeed. 

Education means opportunity

Founderz’ journey from a bold idea to an emerging AI skilling leader is proof that AI education is more than just accessing information—it’s about unlocking potential. Its pioneering efforts continue to inspire countless organizations to embrace AI education and drive meaningful transformation worldwide.

As Anna Cejudo puts it, “Education means opportunity, and if we can deliver high-quality education to as many people as possible, we’re giving them the chance to change their lives and control their futures.” 

At Microsoft, we couldn’t agree more. Microsoft’s mission has always been about creating technology that empowers others to innovate and solve real-world problems. This holds true in the age of AI. Our commitment to skilling is not just about technology adoption, it’s about people development. Over the past year, Microsoft has trained and certified over 23 million people across more than 200 countries in digital skills, with the goal of ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to succeed in a world where AI will be commonplace and a natural extension of everything we do.  

Unlock the future—Join the Microsoft AI Skills Fest 

As part of our ongoing investment in global skilling, Microsoft is bringing AI skilling to everyone with the Microsoft AI Skills Fest—a global event designed to bring together customers and partners, tech and business professionals, and AI enthusiasts to help build the skills we all need to thrive in the AI economy.  

Beginning April 8, 2025, we’re kicking off the fun with an attempt to set a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the most users to take an online multi-level artificial intelligence lesson in 24 hours. After that, we’re inviting everyone to continue building their skills with 50 days to explore Microsoft’s AI apps and services.  

Let’s make history together.

Microsoft AI Skills Fest

A global event designed to bring learners across the globe together to build their AI skills

Register now

¹IDC InfoBrief: sponsored by Microsoft, 2024 Business Opportunity of AI, IDC# US52699124, November 2024.

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In a recent playbook, Accelerating sustainability with AI: Innovations for a better future, we outlined our five plays to advance sustainability, providing insight into our work at Microsoft and how business leaders around the world are creating a new path forward.

The reason to choose AI for this work? It has three unique abilities that can help organizations overcome key bottlenecks. AI can: (1) measure, predict, and optimize complex systems, (2) accelerate the development of sustainability solutions, and (3), empower the sustainability workforce. These capabilities make AI a critical enabler of progress.

Accelerate sustainability with AI

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How can business leaders harness AI to accelerate resilience, efficiency, and sustainability in their organization?

I recently met with Lindsay Myers, Vice President, Commercial Cross Solutions at Microsoft, who leads our Commercial Sustainability business, to talk more about this guidance and how business leaders can harness AI to accelerate resilience, efficiency, and sustainability in their organizations.

Toby: Hi Lindsay, before we dive into the playbook, can you share your thoughts on how organizations are adopting AI to address these interconnected goals of resilience, efficiency, and sustainability?

Lindsay: It’s important to highlight how interconnected these goals are in many organizations today. We often see initiatives started by sustainability teams result in significant cost savings for organizations. This might be efficiency gains for existing operations, or entirely new approaches like digital twins that enable rapid iteration before initial prototypes are built. When companies choose an approach like digital twins, it can reduce the materials needed for physical models—saving time and costs—while improving resilience through agility.

Explore customer and partner examples of AI innovation

Toby: Can you give me some examples of customers and partners who are doing this work today?

Lindsay: AI is making a real difference in helping organizations prepare for climate risks, innovate for maximum efficiency, and solve complex challenges. For example, in Germany, where urban flooding is a major concern, cities are searching for innovative ways to mitigate the impacts of heavy rainfall and its impact on communities and infrastructure. Esri, a global leader in geographic information system (GIS) software is helping cities unlock the power of digital twins driven by geospatial data and AI. This solution helped the City of Stuttgart cut its reality mapping time from five months to 24 hours, enabling local government and public safety staff to understand potential impacts and make decisions faster.

Stadtwerke München (SWM), the municipal utilities company serving Munich, has made it its mission to drive every aspect of the city’s energy, heating, and mobility transition forward. To accomplish this, it needed maximum-efficiency processes, such as predictive infrastructure maintenance and optimized operations planning. It has turned to Microsoft Azure and Azure IoT to efficiently provide power to its public transport fleet of 100% electrified vehicles.

Unlock new possibilities with data and AI

Toby: Those are inspiring examples; they give a real sense of AI’s potential. The playbook outlines 5 plays, or ways that organizations can unlock this potential. Could you describe some of these?

Lindsay: Let’s talk first about the first two plays and how they work together.

Investing in AI solutions to measure, predict, and optimize complex systems can drive both innovation and efficiency, helping companies focus on the most strategic priorities for business resilience.

For example, Mitiga Solutions, a global leader in climate risk intelligence and a Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund investment leverages AI, high-performance computing, and advanced climate models to predict the impact of physical climate hazards on any asset, anywhere in the world, from now until the end of the century. This helps infrastructure, commercial real estate, insurers, and companies across industries comply with climate disclosure regulations while proactively strengthening their resilience.

 With AI-powered solutions, businesses can swiftly tackle complex challenges across their own supply chains and for their customers. This not only positions companies as leaders in sustainability but can also unlock new market opportunities and enhance their competitive advantage.

It’s crucial to build a strong digital and data infrastructure to maximize AI’s potential—your AI is only as good as the data it relies on. That’s why having high-quality, representative data and the right processing infrastructure is essential. It enables teams to make informed decisions and provides accurate input for AI applications.

For many of our customers and partners, these two plays are closely linked. The foundational work involves bringing all the necessary data together in one place, like in Microsoft Fabric. What’s amazing about Fabric is it lets you reason over both internal and external data, which is incredibly helpful for things like regulatory reporting.

Once your data is set up properly, your team can use solutions such as Microsoft Copilot to ask questions of their data, generate reports, and learn from industry best practices. Copilot streamlines these tasks, reducing manual work and enabling practitioners to focus their time on new strategic initiatives.

Minimize resource use in AI design and operations

Toby: When I talk to organizations looking to adopt AI, customers and partners often want to learn more about what Microsoft is doing to reduce the environmental impact of AI. Could we talk a bit about that?

Lindsay: Absolutely. Let’s talk about play 3 and how that relates to our work at Microsoft.

AI has its own energy and water demands, so it’s crucial to minimize resource use and move toward powering AI systems with carbon-free energy. In addition, since AI infrastructure is often concentrated in specific regions, it is essential to support the local communities where datacenters are located. At Microsoft, we’re innovating across three critical areas to continue to advance the sustainability of cloud and AI services:

1. Optimizing datacenter energy, water, and waste efficiency while protecting ecosystems.
2. Advancing low-carbon materials and creating global markets to promote industry-wide sustainability.
3. Enhancing the energy efficiency of AI and cloud services.

Many of our customers and partners want to know not only what we’re doing, but also what they can do to manage resource use. Our Well-Architected Framework sustainability guidance provides a great starting point, as well as small language models that perform specific tasks using fewer resources than larger models.

Build workforce capacity to use AI for sustainability

Toby: The pace of innovation in this domain is incredible. Is there anything more you’d like to add in terms of how your team helps leaders move their ideas from concept to implementation?

Lindsay: The way forward on this journey is through people working together, and this is an area where we can help customers and partners make progress. Let’s talk about the final play first:

For companies to be able to put AI’s three game-changing capabilities to work, they must have skills to use AI effectively. Microsoft has training programs focused on building AI fluency, supporting nonprofits, businesses, and governments in advancing workforce AI technical skills and promoting safe and responsible AI development.

Microsoft’s AI learning hub can empower customers on their AI transformation journey, and customers can also use Copilot to connect with their data in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability and sustainability data solutions in Microsoft Fabric. With these tools, employees can quickly gain insights, understand gaps, and identify what’s needed to move initiatives forward.

Toby: Thank you, Lindsay!

Transform business using generative AI

For business leaders wanting to put these plays in action and guide their organizations through effective AI adoption, we’ve published the 2025 AI Decision Brief: Insights from Microsoft and AI leaders on navigating the generative AI platform shift. This report is packed with perspectives from top Microsoft leaders and insights from AI innovators, along with stories of companies across industries that have transformed their businesses using generative AI.

2025 AI Decision Brief

Advance AI and drive consistent AI value in your org

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The post Harnessing AI for resilience, efficiency, and sustainability appeared first on Microsoft AI Blogs.

In the 2025 AI Decision Brief, we share findings on how AI is rapidly evolving into what economists call a general-purpose technology. In this report, top Microsoft leaders and AI innovators say they expect generative AI to revolutionize operations, enable new and disruptive business models, and reshape the competitive landscape.

As AI grows more powerful and efficient, businesses have the opportunity to use these solutions to enhance employee productivity and well-being, improve customer engagement, and optimize business practices. In our latest webinar, Transform Your Business with Microsoft AI, I share real-world examples from leading organizations that are already driving value with AI. Plus, learn about three trusted Microsoft AI platforms designed to help you reap the benefits of this transformative technology.

At Microsoft, we’re here to help you navigate your AI transformation journey. Keep reading to find out how.

4 business benefits of AI transformation

When you apply AI to your business transformation, you’ll enjoy meaningful benefits related to employee experiences, customer engagement, business processes, and innovation. At Microsoft, we’re working with thousands of customers across industries and around the world to help them pursue these opportunities and realize the value of AI. 

Organizations are driving four major business outcomes with Microsoft AI.

1. Elevate employee experiences and boost productivity

One of the primary reasons organizations across all industries are tapping into AI is to increase productivity. According to an IDC study, 92% of surveyed companies said they’re using AI for productivity, and 43% said that productivity use cases currently provide their greatest return on investment.¹  

Plus, our customers tell us that by automating repetitive, mundane tasks, employees are freed up to focus on more complex and creative work. This shift makes the work environment more stimulating for teams and boosts their job satisfaction, which ultimately results in increased employee retention. 

2. Reinvent customer engagement

Organizations are using generative AI to help personalize customer experiences and improve customer service. These companies are tapping into AI-powered tools to:

• Provide service agents with tailored insights.
• Create customized content tailored to targeted customer segments.
• Streamline operations so customers can get information faster.
• Craft experiences that delight customers while lightening the load for employees.  

AI solutions also help organizations deliver faster customer service, leading to an increase in both customer and agent satisfaction. For service agents, sourcing the right information from a vast catalog of material can take a long time. Generative AI puts the necessary data right at their fingertips, saving them thousands of hours.

3. Streamline business processes

Many Microsoft customers are using generative AI solutions to transform operations and improve efficiency across various business functions. For example, IT teams are using AI to automate responses to routine tasks while keeping employees happy. Human resources departments are tapping into these solutions to speed up the hiring process, while financial teams use AI for fraud detection and risk assessments. 

4. Spark innovation

Organizations across industries are using generative AI to fuel innovation and speed up creative processes and product development. Using AI tools, teams can explore new ideas, design prototypes, and iterate quickly, cutting down the time it takes to get to market.  

For example, the automotive industry is using AI to design more efficient vehicles. And in healthcare, radiologists are using AI solutions to more quickly and accurately interpret detailed images.

All of these examples show the value of AI and the real outcomes that organizations are driving with these innovative capabilities. Check out more customer stories that illustrate how companies are transforming with AI.

Now let’s dive into how Microsoft AI can bring all of this to life for your organization.

Accelerate your AI business transformation with three trusted platforms

We offer three Microsoft AI platforms to help you transform your business, drive impact, and achieve more—Microsoft Copilot, Copilot devices, and the Copilot and AI stack.  

1. Microsoft Copilot

Driving AI transformation starts by bringing AI into the flow of work for every one of your employees. That’s exactly what Microsoft Copilot does. Copilot is rapidly becoming an essential solution for getting work done. 

Copilot streamlines universal tasks for every employee, from drafting emails to generating reports. This ensures that efficiency isn’t just a goal, but a standard practice. Whether it’s simplifying complex documentation for operations employees, enhancing risk management with real-time insights for financial analysts, or accelerating the onboarding process for service agents, Copilot is the intelligent assistant for the modern workforce. 

2. Copilot devices

In 2024, we introduced Copilot+ PCs—a new class of Windows PCs designed for AI transformation. These are the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever built. Copilot+ PCs allow users to accomplish things you can’t on any other PC. These devices come with AI tools that enhance video calls, refine writing in documents, and supports advanced features, like real-time translations and image generation. 

Plus, this January, we introduced new Surface Copilot + PCs for Business. These devices transform the employee experience and help amplify efficiency and creativity at work.

3. Copilot and AI stack

The most advanced platform for creating AI solutions, the Copilot and AI stack empowers users to build more ambitious products by using advanced technology at each layer of the stack, including:

• Developer tools: The Copilot and AI stack begins with the world’s most-loved developer tools. Microsoft Copilot Studio is now used by more than 100,000 organizations to build AI solutions. The Visual Studio family of products, which includes both Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code, are among the most widely used development tools in the world, with more than 40 million monthly active developers. And GitHub, used by more than 100 million developers, is the home of open source. 
• AI management: To help organizations simplify and scale their AI workloads, we recently announced the availability of Azure AI Foundry. Azure AI Foundry enables organizations to design, customize, and manage the next generation of AI apps and agents at scale. 
• Data and analytics: Of course, all of this AI innovation is built on a foundation of data. If you want to use your data to gain a competitive edge, you need data solutions that are comprehensive, secure, and connected. Microsoft Azure provides a comprehensive suite of data services that are secure by default and seamlessly integrated, allowing organizations to effectively manage and use their entire data estate.

Transform with trusted AI

When it comes to AI transformation, we believe that trust is the most important element of all. At Microsoft, we’re focused on helping customers use and build AI that is secure, safe, and private.  

All of this innovation is grounded in our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. And we want to help your organization accelerate your AI transformation with the Microsoft Cloud.  

To explore how Microsoft AI is driving real business outcomes for leading organizations, watch the 25-minute on-demand webinar.

Transform Your Business with Microsoft AI

Watch the webinar

If you’re ready to take the next steps in your AI business transformation, check out Microsoft AI to get started today. 

¹IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Microsoft, 2024 Business Opportunity of AI, IDC# US52699124, November 2024.

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Beyond the tools that empower businesses to shape their future with AI in a rapidly evolving market, our leaders at Microsoft are shaping our own organization with this technology. In this series, FYAI, we’ll highlight leaders from around Microsoft that are driving forces in our AI strategy for their unique perspective on our AI transformation; for your AI information, if you will.

Insights from Sarah Bird, Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Responsible AI

In this edition, we hear from Sarah Bird, Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Responsible AI, ahead of her appearance at South by Southwest (SXSW) where she’ll be discussing the evolving safety practices for generative AI.  

In this Q&A session, Sarah shares her insights on various aspects of responsible AI, including her journey and dedication to responsible AI, her role as Chief Product Officer, the importance of integrating responsible AI early in the development process, and her insights on future AI breakthroughs and their safety implications. 

Let’s explore Sarah Bird’s experiences and perspectives on the evolving landscape of AI and discover how Microsoft is building trustworthy AI systems. 

FYAI: Responsible AI with Sarah Bird

 Who influenced you to pursue a career in responsible AI?

“For me, it’s less about who influenced me to pursue this career and more about who I’m helping every day through my work. AI is one of the most empowering technologies we have, but we can’t unlock its full potential without solving for responsible AI. That’s what makes this work so important—it’s about ensuring AI is safe and beneficial for everyone. And to do that, we have to work across boundaries. It reminds me of my grad school days—responsible AI is the ultimate group project, bringing together technology, society, and law to tackle these complex challenges in a meaningful way.” 

What does the role of chief product officer, responsible AI, actually mean? Tell us what your day-to-day looks like. 

“No two days are the same, and that’s what keeps me energized. At the core, my team is focused on three key things: spotting new risks, figuring out how to tackle them—especially when they’re things we’ve never seen before—and making sure our solutions are scalable so others can apply them easily. That framework guides us, but the reality is, AI is evolving fast. So a big part of our work is staying nimble—triaging issues in real-time, applying what we learn in practice, and adapting quickly to test and deploy new systems. It’s a mix of strategy and problem-solving, which is what makes it exciting.”

Where are you noticing gaps in companies’ implementation of AI safety practices?

“It’s been really inspiring to see how much more mature customers are getting with their responsible AI roadmaps and deployment. There’s real progress happening. That said, people are still learning, and the level of maturity varies across industries—some are further along than others. If there’s one thing I could shout from the rooftops, it’s that responsible AI can’t be an afterthought. It needs to be built into the entire development process from the start, not just bolted on at the end. It’s about putting all the pieces together to create a complete, responsible AI lifecycle.”

When do you think the next AI breakthrough is going to happen and what does that mean for safeguards?

“As an engineer, I’m focused on problem-solving rather than predicting when the next big breakthrough will happen. But I will say—it’s an exciting journey, especially with the pace of innovation. And while we still need another major leap before we can talk about the reality of what’s next, what’s really exciting about this space is that the breakthrough isn’t just the technology itself—it’s how we apply it. The real magic happens at the intersection of tech and people, and figuring out how to bridge that responsibly is what makes this work so fascinating.”

Why do you feel safety and innovation go hand in hand? 

“A goal of ours as a company is to help people do more with AI. We are constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and doing so in a safe, trusted way. As I’ve said, safety is not just a ‘nice to have’ bolted on at the end of a project, but a critical piece of developing high-quality AI systems. I look at safety issues as a measure of quality – is your AI performing as well as it should be? We can’t innovate and drive meaningful progress if we don’t solve for this.” 

2025 AI Decision Brief

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Learn more about Microsoft’s responsible AI work 

At Microsoft, we’re committed to the responsible advancement and use of AI. Our approach is guided by principles that ensure AI development maximizes benefits and minimizes potential harms. We incorporate responsible AI practices from the beginning by training our employees to evaluate risks and collaborating with experts to review and test technologies. 

We believe that advancing safe, secure, and trustworthy AI requires a mix of industry commitments, policies, and global governance. Responsible AI is an ongoing journey that involves continuous learning and collaboration.

Sarah Bird is at the forefront of ensuring that AI technologies are developed and deployed responsibly, and her team is dedicated to building tools that test AI systems rigorously to ensure they work as intended and are safe, inclusive, and beneficial for everyone. As she highlights, by integrating responsible AI practices from the start, we can unlock the full potential of AI while maintaining the highest standards of safety and innovation. 

Want to learn more?  

• Are you attending SXSW? Check out Sarah’s panel on Wednesday, March 12: Building Trustworthy AI: Evolving Safety Practices for GenAI. 
• Visit our Understanding AI at Microsoft page to catch up on the latest content from our Building AI Responsibly blog series.
• Read Grow Your Business with AI You Can Trust to discover how safe and secure AI business practices can enhance performance and effectively drive impact.

The post FYAI: The role of responsible AI with Microsoft CPO Sarah Bird appeared first on Microsoft AI Blogs.

Africa stands at the cusp of a transformative future, uniquely positioned to lead in AI-powered solutions. With a median age of 19 and 60% of its population under 35, the continent is home to a youthful, dynamic workforce. By 2030, this growing tech talent could solidify Africa’s role as a key player in the global economy. 

To further accelerate the continent’s digital and AI transformation, Microsoft South Africa has introduced its AI skilling initiative, a program which aims to equip one million South Africans with critical, in-demand digital skills by 2026, empowering individuals and businesses to thrive in an increasingly AI-powered world. 

Africa’s exceptional rate of new business startups, coupled with a growing wave of investment and innovation, has created a powerful synergy, positioning the continent as a thriving hub for AI-powered transformation. This potential was on full display at the Microsoft AI Tour stop in Johannesburg, South Africa, where innovative companies showcased how generative AI and AI agents are already reshaping industries and driving impactful change across Africa. 

Microsoft AI

Build the future of your business with AI

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South African Revenue Service transforms tax filing with AI and cloud services

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has significantly enhanced the tax filing experience for South Africans by integrating AI and machine learning into its operations. Serving 14 million taxpayers across more than 200 sites, SARS manages an extensive volume of data.  

AI and data science are pivotal in efficiently handling this complexity. “Embracing AI in tax and customs administration is revolutionizing our engagement with taxpayers and traders,” explained Edward Kieswetter, Commissioner of SARS. “It enables hyper-personalization, in the provision of service as well as detecting non-compliance. It automates routine tasks and augments the work of tax professionals with insights from data.” 

A key advancement is SARS’s ability to pre-populate tax returns using third-party data analyzed through AI models. In the recent fiscal year, 5 million individuals received automatic assessments without any action required on their part, often receiving refunds within three days. For those who opted to file manually, assessments were delivered in under five seconds. 

SARS has also enhanced taxpayer interactions by deploying a chatbot integrated with Azure Cloud Services and enabled with Azure OpenAI Service. This system provides personalized guidance based on individual records, having generated approximately 300,000 tailored responses to date.  

We must come to terms that our future is a co-existence with AI agents that in many ways will replace some of the work we do, augment all our work and significantly enhance our abilities as a species.”

Edward Kieswetter, Commissioner of SARS

These initiatives underscore SARS’s commitment to leveraging AI to make tax compliance more straightforward and efficient for South African taxpayers. 

Lelapa AI promotes more human innovation with the help of AI 

Lelapa AI is an Africa-centric AI research and product lab committed to harnessing the power of AI to drive innovation and uplift African communities. By focusing on their unique strengths in efficient small language models, Lelapa AI aims to advance AI technology on a global scale, with a particular emphasis on tackling the complex challenges faced by the Global South. 

A flagship example of their work is InkubaLM, Africa’s first multilingual AI small language model. This groundbreaking tool is designed to support and elevate low-resource African languages such as Swahili, Yoruba, isiXhosa, Hausa, and isiZulu. By providing capabilities for translation, transcription, and other natural language processing tasks, InkubaLM addresses the digital underrepresentation of these languages, empowering African communities and ensuring a stronger presence in the global digital space. 

Rooted in the philosophy of Ubuntu (“I am because we are,”) Lelapa AI prioritizes the development of technology grounded in humanism and interconnectedness, championing responsible AI practices across the continent and beyond. Furthermore, the organization recognizes the importance of fostering opportunities for African AI talent, creating a platform where researchers can make meaningful contributions while receiving fair and equitable compensation. Through its innovative work, Lelapa AI is shaping a more inclusive and representative future for Africa in the global AI landscape. 

SPAR is revolutionizing the future of retail with Microsoft Copilot and AI  

SPAR, a prominent retailer in Africa and Europe, has effectively harnessed AI to address business challenges and enhance operations. By integrating Microsoft 365 Copilot into its existing Microsoft 365 ecosystem, SPAR has streamlined various tasks, leading to significant efficiency gains. Employees utilize Microsoft Copilot in Word for document creation and summarization, in Microsoft Teams for catching up on missed meetings and managing minutes, and in Microsoft PowerPoint for generating initial presentations.  

This strategic implementation has resulted in a 67% active user base among employees, saving approximately 715 hours—equivalent to 89 workdays or the output of four full-time employees. Notably, 93% of Copilot users report increased productivity, and 88% feel empowered to complete tasks faster. These outcomes, and SPAR’s continued investment into new applications like enhanced data visualization, deeper Copilot use, and AI-powered object recognition, underscore SPAR’s commitment to leveraging AI to enhance productivity and empower its workforce. 

AI for everyone in Africa 

As we embrace an AI-powered future, it is crucial to prioritize responsible and sustainable innovation that addresses Africa’s unique challenges, aligns with human values and cultural diversity, and ensures ethical, collaborative, and culturally attuned solutions through thoughtful regulation and stakeholder engagement. 

Digital skills are the foundation for modern innovation. By making AI education more accessible to Africa’s diverse populations, Microsoft is working to support home-spun innovation in Africa that will prepare the continent’s youth for high-tech jobs, reduce unemployment, and promote inclusive economic growth.  

Find the resources to support your AI journey 

• Explore Microsoft’s AI solutions.
• Advance your AI transformation with AI business resources.

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Powered by Microsoft Azure, Gigs leverages Al to streamline applications, quickly connect job seekers with the right opportunities, and improve hiring outcomes.

With more than nine million jobs listed and a quarter of a million job seekers, Gigs is not only streamlining the process but also reimagining how job platforms serve workers. Backed by leading Los Angeles-based investors—Struck Capital, Slauson & Co., Wonder Ventures, and Karman Ventures—Gigs is on a mission to make job searching more accessible, fair, and efficient. 

For founders building Al-driven solutions, Microsoft Azure offers the scalability and infrastructure to power seamless growth. Start building today. 

The problem: A fragmented job market  

For hourly workers, the job search process is riddled with inefficiencies. Traditional job boards require applicants to repeatedly fill out the same information across different postings, and many never hear back after submitting applications.  

Allen explains, “The average job seeker spends 25 hours completing applications. To get an hourly job, you have to complete 200 applications, and typically, you only hear back from only 10% of companies. That redundancy and frustration is what we’re solving.” 

This insight led Allen to create Gigs, a platform designed to empower job seekers by reducing redundancy and improving application outcomes.  

The power of AI: Smart job matching  

At the heart of Gigs is its AI-driven approach to job applications. By using AI, the platform automates the application process, helping job seekers seamlessly apply to multiple roles without having to manually input the same details over and over again.  

“And what AI allows us to do is understand that common application question, your resume, and your profile—and deploy it to multiple applications,” says Allen. “So, when one application says, ‘Tell us about your kitchen experience,’ and another asks, ‘Do you have three years of kitchen experience?’ the AI can solve that problem for the job seeker while helping the applicant look their best to employers.”  

Beyond simplifying applications, AI also plays a crucial role in addressing a long-standing data problem in job listings. Many job postings lack essential details, such as pay ranges or location information, making it harder for applicants to make informed decisions.  

“There’s a really strong ‘why now’ in the job space for AI,” Allen explains. “A lot of jobs don’t even have a pay range attached. Some states require salary transparency, while others don’t. That inconsistency makes it difficult for job seekers, especially hourly workers who care deeply about pay and location.”  

Gigs also bridges the gap between disparate job boards and applicant tracking systems, allowing job seekers to apply across multiple platforms without creating numerous accounts.  

“What AI allows you to do is just talk to all the systems without actually having to log in,” Allen says. “That’s the real big difference—it’s fast, cheap, and consistent.”  

Scaling with Microsoft Azure  

As Gigs continues to grow, AI has become central to its ability to scale and differentiate in a crowded job-tech space. A pivotal moment for the company came when one of its investors advised Allen to leverage Microsoft Azure for its speed and efficiency.  

“When one of my investors advised using Azure because of the speed of processing as a key strength, that sort of sparked going down this road of thinking about how we can build this application technology in a way that processes as quickly as we possibly could,” Allen shares. 

This shift has been instrumental in helping Gigs scale, process applications faster, and provide a seamless experience for job seekers and employers alike.  

A mission-driven approach to hiring  

For Allen, building Gigs is about more than just technology—it’s about impact. Having worked for some of the biggest names in the ride-sharing industry, he understands firsthand the challenges hourly workers face.

“For me, it’s important to match the financial opportunity with the impact on other people,” he says. “We’re not here for a long time, and I want to make sure that the work I do and the work that my team does is for the mission—and that the mission is a worthy, worthy thing.”  

As a founder, Allen also recognizes the broader implications of Gigs’ work. The platform is designed to serve everyone, but it has the potential to create meaningful change for underrepresented and underserved communities in the job market.  

“Three out of five people in the United States are thinking about their next paycheck. If platforms actually listened to job seekers, we’d have a much better economy. That’s why I’m passionate about this work.”  

The future of job search  

Gigs is not just another job board—it’s a movement toward a fairer, more efficient hiring ecosystem. With AI at its core, Gigs is making it easier for job seekers to apply for roles, increasing their chances of landing interviews, and ensuring that companies connect with qualified candidates faster.  

With backing from top investors, a strategic partnership with Microsoft Azure, and an unwavering commitment to empowering workers, Gigs is set to redefine the job search experience for millions.  

As Allen puts it: “Even as a small company at the beginning of our journey, we see the massive potential of what we’re building. And that’s what excites me most.”  

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