{"id":3140,"date":"2025-05-08T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/startups\/blog\/?p=3140"},"modified":"2025-06-25T05:34:59","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T13:34:59","slug":"5-prevalent-ai-themes-for-both-startups-and-enterprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/startups\/blog\/5-prevalent-ai-themes-for-both-startups-and-enterprise\/","title":{"rendered":"5 prevalent AI themes for both startups and enterprise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Since the beginning of 2025, Microsoft for Startups team members have traveled to three continents and multiple countries (USA, UK, Barcelona, Eastern Europe, and India), served on more than 10 panels, and consumed more airport coffee than I care to admit<\/em>. But it\u2019s all been worth it, because I have the opportunity to share these insights with you. Okay, maybe not the coffee. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Microsoft Build 2025<\/a> coming up, I\u2019ve spent some time reflecting on the events I\u2019ve already had the opportunity to attend in 2025\u2014and the insights startups can garner from these industry gatherings. This year, the Microsoft for Startups<\/a> team has been hopping from city to city\u2014London to New York to Bengaluru\u2014to take the opportunity to meet with and listen to early\u2011stage AI startup founders. And I mean truly listen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pro tip: As a startup founder, treat these face-to-face moments as golden opportunities for customer discovery. There\u2019s nothing quite like an in-person chat to get unfiltered feedback on your product or idea. No survey or call can replicate the spontaneous insight from a hallway conversation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

After the keynotes and clapping, we actively sought out individual founders and corporate contacts, grabbing time in quiet corners to ask two simple and fluff\u2011free questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. What is actually <\/em>working?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. What is still painfully <\/em>broken?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Through their responses, we picked up on five consistent themes and challenges. And if you\u2019re hearing similar issues or objections in your organization, we\u2019ve also provided some options to help you resolve them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here are the themes we identified:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Beyond agents: A lot of AI problems remain unresolved <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cAI agents\u201d are dominating the headlines. Every major keynote and panel seem to talk about them. The startups leaning into agentic AI are getting attention\u2014and often massive fundraising rounds. From a corporate perspective, however, enterprises still have several problems that they’re sharing with us. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n