Insights for AI professionals | Microsoft Sustainability Blog http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/sustainability/blog/audience/ai-professionals/ Explore sustainability news and solutions Fri, 11 Apr 2025 23:59:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/sustainability/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/cropped-cropped-microsoft_logo_element-400x4001-1-32x32.webp Insights for AI professionals | Microsoft Sustainability Blog http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/sustainability/blog/audience/ai-professionals/ 32 32 Harnessing AI for resilience, efficiency, and sustainability http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/2025/03/18/harnessing-ai-for-resilience-efficiency-and-sustainability/ Tue, 18 Mar 2025 14:50:44 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/sustainability/blog/?p=15 As the new AI economy unfolds, we are seeing leading organizations around the world harness the potential of AI to accelerate business resilience, efficiency, and sustainability.

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Expedite reporting with enhanced tools and AI in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/industry/blog/sustainability/2025/01/22/expedite-reporting-with-enhanced-tools-and-ai-in-microsoft-cloud-for-sustainability/ Wed, 22 Jan 2025 16:05:00 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/sustainability/blog/?p=49 With solutions built on Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability, easily respond to emerging regulations, identify ways to improve progress, and find new business models and value.  

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AI transformations for sustainability https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2025/01/16/ai-transformations-for-sustainability/ Thu, 16 Jan 2025 16:22:00 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/sustainability/blog/?p=64 Throughout history, societal transformations have been driven by the emergence of general-purpose technologies that reshaped entire economies, industries, and ways of life.

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3 ways AI is helping the planet https://news.microsoft.com/source/features/sustainability/3-ways-ai-is-helping-the-planet/ Wed, 11 Dec 2024 15:58:00 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/sustainability/blog/?p=43 Schools in Georgia and furniture shops in Minnesota faced similar challenges with indoor air comfort. AI-powered tools now automate energy-saving strategies, integrating fresh air and reducing airflow to empty rooms. These tools simplify building management, saving energy and costs, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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Sustainable by design: Next-generation datacenters consume zero water for cooling http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/2024/12/09/sustainable-by-design-next-generation-datacenters-consume-zero-water-for-cooling/ Mon, 09 Dec 2024 16:40:00 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/sustainability/blog/?p=82 This summer, we released our Datacenter Community Pledge, detailing our commitment to the local economies and communities in which we operate our datacenters.

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Sustainable by design: Advancing low carbon materials http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/2024/12/04/sustainable-by-design-advancing-low-carbon-materials/ Wed, 04 Dec 2024 16:35:00 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/sustainability/blog/?p=79 As we work to advance the sustainability of our business, we are also advancing the sustainability of the datacenter infrastructure needed to deliver cloud and AI innovations. At Microsoft, we are working to decarbonize datacenters by focusing on how we design, build, and operate.

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Drive transformative business with new AI features in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/industry/blog/sustainability/2024/12/04/drive-transformative-business-with-new-ai-features-in-microsoft-cloud-for-sustainability/ Wed, 04 Dec 2024 16:00:00 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/sustainability/blog/2024/12/04/drive-transformative-business-with-new-ai-features-in-microsoft-cloud-for-sustainability-2/ Discover the latest capabilities in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability providing the opportunity to implement transformative, industry-targeted solutions.

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Running an agile, sustainable business is critical and it’s also incredibly challenging. Organizations have massive amounts of operational and value chain data that need to be gathered, managed, and analyzed to drive reduction and reporting efforts while growing business sustainably. Yet, too few have the robust digital foundation needed for centralizing and driving value from their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data estate. 

Enter Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability data and AI solutions. These include technologies like Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft Sustainability Manager, and Microsoft Copilot which together enable organizations to centralize and standardize complex ESG data for analytics and reporting and unlock critical data intelligence to help them move forward.  

We’re excited to share details about the latest capabilities in Cloud for Sustainability that build on this potential, providing the opportunity to implement transformative, industry-targeted solutions for both our customers and our partners. 

Field engineer using a laptop on truck tailgate to review data after inspection of turbines on a wind farm.

Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability

Data and AI capabilities to help you transform for the future using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data intelligence

Three powerful new ways to advance sustainability with AI  

At this year’s Microsoft Ignite, we announced our latest AI innovations empowering organizations to improve their ESG data transparency, gain insights to advance toward their goals, and continue to grow sustainable business opportunities. These features were developed to meet the needs of key sustainability decision makers and practitioners, such as chief sustainability officers, chief financial officers, chief data officers, and chief information officers. 

1. General availability of sustainability data solutions in Microsoft Fabric, built into Fabric to leverage the single, AI-powered platform for centralizing enterprise data and analytics. Using these solutions, organizations can take care of their ESG data analytics in one place, driving progress faster by simplifying and accelerating analytics, collaboration, and decision making.  

Sustainability data solutions enable organizations to: 

  • Centralize and transform disparate data into one sustainability data lake that conforms to a standardized ESG schema.
  • Build custom insights for carbon, water, and waste by connecting to their data in Microsoft Sustainability Manager.
  • Compute, visualize, and analyze ESG metrics for regulatory standards like Corporate Sustainability Disclosure Regulation (CSRD) by using prebuilt and custom metric definitions.
  • Generate social and governance insights from disparate social and governance data in the ESG data lake.
  • Report and analyze Microsoft Azure emissions data by collecting and processing the emissions data in the ESG data lake.

Now, there’s also next-generation AI and the power of large language models (LLM) to accelerate our customers’ work in Fabric at every layer. Users can simply describe the visuals and insights they’re looking for, and Copilot in Microsoft Power BI will do the rest.  

All in conversational language, users can: 

  • Create and tailor reports in seconds.
  • Generate and edit calculations.
  • Create narrative summaries.
  • Ask questions about their data.

With the ability to easily tailor the tone, scope, and style of narratives and add them seamlessly within reports, Power BI can also deliver data insights even more impactfully through easy-to-understand text summaries.  

Explore Sustainability data solutions in Microsoft Fabric and learn how to deploy the solutions.  

2. Coming soon: External reporting in Microsoft Sustainability Manager (formerly Project ESG Reporting). To address ESG reporting complexity, enhance efficiency, and provide greater transparency for ESG reporting, we’ve developed templates based on various ESG standards or frameworks. Using these, organizations can more easily create, complete, and approve comprehensive reports across both quantitative and qualitative metrics. 

The reporting templates map to: 

  • Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) 
  • Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards (ASRS) 
  • Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR 1 and 2)
  • Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
  • International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS 1 and 2)
  • Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) 

Organizations can also add standards manually or with a .CSV file.  

This feature is available in Microsoft Sustainability Manager Essentials and Premium and in Power Apps as simply Microsoft Sustainability Manager.  

3. Sustainability agents. New prebuilt and custom agents are designed to help organizations rapidly uncover insights on a Microsoft AI platform such as Microsoft Copilot Studio or Azure AI Foundry. Agents can integrate company data for real-time retrieval and be surfaced to users in a multitude of ways, from canvas apps to supported enterprise applications such as Microsoft Sustainability Manager. 

Using a Sustainability Insights agent, organizations can quickly configure an AI assistant to get insights and data about their company’s sustainability goals and progress. They can assess sustainability efforts year over year or in comparison to other organizations while quickly accessing general knowledge around sustainability. 

As compliance standards continue to evolve, it’s crucial to have the ability to quickly adapt and meet diverse needs, such as varying standards by geography or industry. With agent templates, organizations can use LLM with their data aligned with the Cloud for Sustainability schema to help meet sustainability standards like the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) fee.  

The CBAM agent (coming soon) helps organizations estimate their fee for “carbon leakage” around less stringent climate policies in non-European Union (EU) countries. This can occur when EU-based companies move carbon-intensive production abroad or when EU products are replaced by more carbon-intensive imports.  

The agent helps to ensure that their carbon pricing is factored into imported goods while supporting the EU’s climate objectives, maintaining competitiveness, and avoiding potential regulatory penalties. Using it, you can leverage Copilot to: 

  • Align your carbon fee with CBAM.
  • Put a price on carbon-intensive goods imported into the European Union to help ensure that the carbon prices of imports and domestic products align.
  • Estimate your carbon fee to be paid on CBAM. 

These solutions are available in AppSource and the Power Catalog

Partners: Build a solution practice with Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability  

Are you a systems integrator or independent software developer? By partnering with Microsoft, you can take advantage of the Microsoft Cloud platform, which extends beyond Dynamics 365 and Power Platform to Microsoft 365 and Azure and includes industry clouds, enabling you to empower your customers and deliver industry solutions faster.  

Use our cloud platform and resources to: 

  • Accelerate your innovation and reduce time to market by leveraging industry-specific capabilities, data models, connectors, and APIs on a foundation of security and compliance.
  • Make investments in content, programs, incentives, and offers that will help you scale as you go.
  • Co-sell industry solutions alongside Microsoft by using our commercial marketplace and increasing your visibility with software certifications.

To support your solution practice, we offer Cloud for Sustainability resources, such as sandbox offers, learning paths, online technical summits, architecture guidance, sales assets, Azure Marketplace and AppSource, and more.  

Are you already a partner? Join our Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability Insider Program to participate in preview conversations with program members from other organizations and the engineering team.   

Looking for a Cloud for Sustainability partner or solution? Visit AppSource

Learn more about sustainability solutions with Microsoft 

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Unlocking the future: AI and data revolutionize industries at Microsoft Ignite 2024 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/industry/blog/general/2024/11/20/unlocking-the-future-ai-and-data-revolutionize-industries-at-microsoft-ignite-2024/ Wed, 20 Nov 2024 16:00:00 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/sustainability/blog/2024/11/20/unlocking-the-future-ai-and-data-revolutionize-industries-at-microsoft-ignite-2024/ At Microsoft, we are dedicated to harnessing AI to drive innovation, enhance productivity, and foster sustainable growth across sectors.

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In today’s fast-paced world, the power of data and AI is reshaping industries and empowering employees in remarkable ways. At Microsoft, we are dedicated to harnessing AI to drive innovation, enhance productivity, and foster sustainable growth across sectors. From financial services to manufacturing, retail to the public sector, and sustainability initiatives, our intelligent agents are designed to handle a variety of tasks, freeing up human workers from mundane activities and allowing them to focus on creativity and innovation.

As we gather for Microsoft Ignite 2024, we invite you to explore the latest advancements in AI and discover how these innovations can transform your business. With AI-powered agents, organizations can analyze vast amounts of data, adapt to changing environments, and execute complex processes, bringing efficiency and intelligence to your operations. Whether it’s automating customer service interactions, optimizing supply chain logistics, enhancing personalized shopping experiences, or driving sustainability efforts, the potential applications are vast and impactful.

Join us on this journey to unlock the potential of AI and pave the way for a more intelligent, connected, and sustainable world. Together, let’s embrace the future of innovation and drive exceptional value for our customers.

Innovating with new adapted AI models and agents

Adapted AI models are transforming industries by enabling new applications and driving business outcomes such as increased accuracy, enhanced efficiency, better decision-making, and improved customer experiences. These models are designed to meet specific industry needs and tasks, addressing unique challenges more accurately and effectively. By using customized AI for their needs, organizations can enhance their digital presence, improve customer engagement, and streamline operations. With a focus on trustworthy AI, which includes safety, security, and privacy, our AI solutions adhere to high standards of integrity and responsibility, offering a secure approach to advancing industry capabilities. These adapted AI models enable the creation of custom AI solutions within Azure AI Studio and can also be used to configure agents for specific industry scenarios in Microsoft Copilot Studio scenarios. 

We are collaborating with several partners across multiple industries on these adapted and fine-tuned AI models, which are available through the Azure AI model catalog, empowering organizations to build custom AI solutions to address their most pressing needs. Bayer, for instance, offers the E.L.Y. Crop Protection model to enhance sustainable crop protection in the agriculture sector. Cerence provides the CaLLM™ Edge model for in-vehicle digital assistant technology, while Rockwell Automation’s FT Optix Food & Beverage model supports asset troubleshooting in manufacturing. Saifr introduces models for regulatory compliance in financial institutions, and Siemens Digital Industries Software offers a copilot for NX X software leveraging an industry model to optimize the design process. Sight Machine’s Factory Namespace Manager standardizes factory data for AI readiness, and open-source models from Hugging Face are available for summarization and sentiment analysis of financial data. 

transform hr with agents


Learn how

Microsoft also provides AI agents designed for various industry scenarios through Copilot Studio. These agents can be customized to meet the specific needs of different organizations. For example, retailers can use the Store Operations Agent to assist store associates, and manufacturers can utilize the Factory Operations Agent to enhance production efficiency. The new release of Agent Builder (preview) in Copilot Studio enables users to create agents directly in Business Chat and SharePoint by defining the agent’s purpose, configuring its knowledge base, and setting up starter prompts. With a user-friendly design requiring only low-code skills, Agent Builder allows integration of diverse data sources to customize agents with industry-specific knowledge and capabilities, improving their effectiveness in addressing key use cases for each industry. 

To learn more about the new adaptive AI models for Industry that are available in Azure AI model catalogue and directly through our partners, visit Azure AI model catalog.

Financial services

Elevating investment management tech


Read more

Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services are leading the generative AI revolution in financial services, empowering industry professionals to securely and easily incorporate rich industry data and specialty data sets into their everyday activities while providing enhanced security and compliance at the same time. Microsoft has dedicated itself to generating strong partner momentum across the financial services space, including through creating and offering the tools Microsoft partners need to drive innovation, mutual growth, and success both now and as the capabilities of generative AI continue to evolve. LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group), among others, has already built pioneering new solutions aligned to this initiative.

Built in collaboration with LSEG, Financial Meeting Prep (see the recent announcement using the preview name, Meeting Prep for Financial Services) aims to streamline client meeting preparation for investment banking professionals. Combining LSEG Workspace, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft 365 Copilot, the solution will consolidate important data, introduce organization-specific insights, easily refresh content as new data becomes available, and enhance relationship manager productivity and decision-making. General availability of Financial Meeting Prep is expected by the end of 2024.

Financial Insights Agent in Copilot Studio

Gathering insights from online sources and proprietary financial documents is crucial for making investment decisions, strategizing, and conducting assessments. However, finding the right data can be time-consuming for financial services professionals, and reviewing the vast amounts of relevant information is nearly impossible.

With the Financial Insights Agent, now available in Copilot Studio, financial services professionals can quickly and easily gather information from financial news and regulatory reporting websites. And because this agent comes ready-made and is easily customized agent, you don’t need advanced development skills to get started.

The Financial Insights Agent gives high-quality results and works best when integrated with the financial document analysis skill for agents (preview), available in Azure Marketplace, which makes it possible for users to gain info and insights from financial documents provided by their organization, such as analyst reports and other complex financial documents that are stored in-house—even when the data is found in complex financial tables, graphs, or charts. This skill not only works with the Financial Insights Agent, but it can also be integrated into custom agents. For example, Reflexivity has been integral in helping Microsoft understand challenges in the industry. Within their own platform, they use this skill for certain document flows, helping financial services professionals derive insights from both structured and unstructured data more efficiently so they can make informed decisions faster.

Financial Services landing zones

Microsoft has recently developed and is now ready to introduce a new Financial Services landing zone. Based on the Azure landing zone—a secure, scalable cloud foundation tailored for compliance needs—the Financial Services landing zone is an infrastructure-as-code solution that provides the baseline governance, resilience, security, automation, and prescriptive guidance that Microsoft industry partners and other financial services organizations need in order to comply with the industry’s strict, mission-critical regulations. As the Financial Services landing zone also provides financial services organizations of all kinds a robust and compliant cloud environment, the solution represents a powerful means to accelerate digital transformation initiatives.

Manufacturing

The manufacturing industry is experiencing a dynamic transformation, with opportunities for growth and innovation despite challenges like economic uncertainty and supply chain disruptions. Microsoft and its partners are at the forefront of this evolution, empowering manufacturers with cutting-edge solutions that help enable intelligent factories, resilient supply chains, and enhanced customer experiences.

Manufacturing data solutions in Microsoft Fabric

optimize factory operations


See how

During Hannover Messe 2024, we announced the preview of manufacturing data solutions in Microsoft Fabric. This solution integrates operational technology (OT) data, with information technology (IT) data, creating a comprehensive data foundation structured according to the ISA-95 information model.1 This standardized approach enables manufacturers to break down data silos, enabling cross-domain insights, streamlined processes, and data-driven decision-making. Partner solutions from Sight Machine, Litmus, and Avanade further enhance these capabilities.

Sight Machine Factory Copilot on Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing transforms your manufacturing execution systems (MES) data into the ISA-95 standard for consumption in manufacturing data solutions in Fabric, which can be surfaced through factory agent experiences to help address operational issues on the factory floor.

Litmus Edge Manager enables a robust hybrid edge-to-cloud infrastructure, streamlining real-time machine dashboards and facilitating advanced machine learning. Litmus and the manufacturing data solutions in Fabric unlocks unprecedented efficiency and innovation, seamlessly bridging the gap between edge and cloud.

Learn how to get started with manufacturing data solutions in Microsoft Fabric and Factory Operations Agent.

Factory Operations Agent in Microsoft Azure AI

Factory operations agent


Learn more

We’re excited to announce the public preview of the Factory Operations Agent in Azure AI, which empowers manufacturers to develop customized, AI-powered agents for frontline workers. These intelligent assistants leverage natural language processing and retrieval-augmented generation, making complex data analytics accessible for scenarios like root cause analysis, production loss reduction, continuous improvement, and asset maintenance. With the Factory Operations Agent, factory teams can intuitively interact with data, receive timely insights, and resolve issues more efficiently—ultimately enhancing productivity and empowering the workforce to drive operational excellence.

Avanade Manufacturing Copilot, powered by manufacturing data solutions in Fabric, helps customers to overcome OT-IT data accessibility and utilization challenges and leverage AI at-scale to make higher-quality products faster with less waste.

Learn how to get started with Factory Operations Agent in Azure AI (preview).

Factory Safety Agent in Microsoft Copilot Studio

The new Factory Safety Agent in Copilot Studio (preview) is focused on workplace safety. Factory Safety Agent provides organizations with a low code option to quickly develop a customized agent, grounded in occupational health and safety data. Whether using publicly available standards like Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or specific protocols of the organization, this agent can provide critical safety information, insights to factory workers, and streamline critical activities such as safety inspections or incident reporting to reduce risks and ultimately accidents.

Retail

As the retail industry adapts to new customer expectations and competitive pressures, Microsoft and its partners are providing tools for retailers that offer real-time insights, enhance customer engagement, and drive digital innovation.

Retail Data Solutions in Microsoft Fabric

Retail Data Solutions in Microsoft Fabric help retailers unify and standardize their data. This platform enables customers to integrate data from different systems and offers ready-to-use agents to speed up AI transformations. Currently in public preview, it includes four customizable features for retail:

  • Retail Industry Data Model: Plan and design data solutions for governance, reporting, business intelligence, and analytics.
  • Frequently Bought Together: Use insights to enhance upselling, shelf optimization, and store efficiency.
  • Sitecore OrderCloud Connector: Standardize commerce data from Sitecore OrderCloud to gain actionable insights.
  • Personalized Shopping Agent: Improve shopping experiences with tailored customer conversations.

Personalized Shopping Agent

The Personalized Shopping Agent can engage in natural language conversations to understand and respond to shoppers’ needs. It provides tailored recommendations based on the shopper’s specific requirements and preferences. Additionally, it can handle specific requests, such as finding matching items or suggesting outfits for specific occasions. The agent leverages Retail Data Solutions, using aggregated product catalogs, and AI orchestration tools to provide accurate and contextually relevant answers.   

Store Operations Agent

The Store Operations Agent revolutionizes how store associates handle daily tasks with its headless architecture that integrates into applications or websites. It offers ready-to-deploy plugins for:

  • Product search or inventory search: Real-time access to product details and stock.
  • Order details: Tracks order information down to the line level.
  • Incident management: Resolves incidents using Copilot and ServiceNow.
  • Task management: Integrates directly with tasking apps.
  • Omni channel access: Provides natural language access to current prices, promotions, and information.

The agent integrates seamlessly with Dynamics 365 Finance, Dynamics 365 Commerce, and ServiceNow. These integrations can extend to other enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and applications with pre-built connectors and APIs. These features are continually updated, adding more plugins to help partners scale operations.

Partners can also utilize the Store Operations Agent alongside their own solutions to accelerate customer adoption. Accenture Avanade has launched a Clienteling copilot, which has Store Operations Agent embedded and assists store associates in managing daily tasks efficiently. It also offers a natural language query interface for store policies and procedures, enabling informed decision-making for store associates and managers.

Public sector

Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty


Explore updates

Microsoft is leading the way in helping government and regulated organizations address their compliance, security, and data sovereignty requirements while adopting modern digital technologies. With initiatives like Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty and generative AI, Microsoft offers comprehensive solutions tailored to diverse regulatory landscapes, enabling organizations to streamline their compliance processes and enhance their digital capabilities.

Citizen Services agent

Available in Copilot Studio, Citizen Services agent allows public sector organizations to create AI-powered agents using their public websites and information. The agent helps citizens navigate government services and information through a Q&A experience, providing answers from configured knowledge bases, such as responses about city plans, road closures, or service applications, offering citizens access to up-to-date information.

Get started with the Citizen Services agent in Copilot Studio.

Regulated Environment Management

Regulated Environment Management (REM) in Azure, currently in private preview, supports cloud adoption as part of Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty. REM simplifies the configuration, deployment and management of regulated environments through landing zones, policy and drift analysis. Starting November 2024, REM will shift to a subscription-level service, offering benefits like data isolation, regional boundaries, and group management of landing zone configurations. Transparency logs and the Landing Zone Account (LZA) simplify managing configurations and provide data residency. REM also includes a REST API for easier integration.

Request access in the REM private preview.  

Sustainability

With growing demands for disclosure requirements under regulatory directives like the European Union Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the pursuit of impactful initiatives such as decarbonization, and the increasing need for transparency in corporate sustainability claims, businesses are under pressure to demonstrate genuine commitment to sustainability. To address these challenges, Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability is introducing Sustainability data solutions in Microsoft Fabric and enhanced reporting in Microsoft Sustainability Manager.

Sustainability data solutions in Microsoft Fabric

Driving business value with ESG data readiness


Learn more

Now generally available, Sustainability data solutions in Microsoft Fabric enables customers to unify environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data with organizational data, fostering innovation, process changes, and simplified reporting. With Microsoft Fabric, businesses can create a standardized sustainability data lake for their ESG needs. Features include an extensible ESG data schema, pre-built notebooks for data transformations, data pipelines for various business systems (including Microsoft Sustainability Manager), and built-in dashboards for analyzing ESG topics.

OneLake in Fabric allows businesses to enhance sustainability by building analytical insights with AI and machine learning models and using Copilot agents for autonomous workflows. Learn more about Sustainability data solutions in Microsoft Fabric.

Partners like UST Global use Sustainability data solutions in Fabric to develop flexible ESG systems of record that align with sustainability goals. Leveraging Microsoft Fabric, they craft customizable solutions for unique ESG challenges and adapt as requirements evolve.

Sustainability data solutions in Fabric offers tools to manage ESG data complexities, improve data integration and accuracy, provide real-time insights, and support compliance. This platform helps meet regulatory and stakeholder expectations and drives effective sustainability efforts across organizations.

External reporting in Microsoft Sustainability Manager

esg reporting solutions


Read updates

Also in general availability, the new external reporting capabilities in Microsoft Sustainability Manager (formerly Project ESG Reporting) simplifies external reporting across various standards with AI-powered insights and recommendations, making it easier for organizations to prepare and manage disclosure reports. Users can seamlessly connect, organize, review, and report data according to global standards.

Whether used as a standalone solution through the Power Platform gallery or integrated within Microsoft Sustainability Manager, it supports custom frameworks, iXBRL compatibility through partners, and offers a workflow user interface (UI) for editing and approvals. These new capabilities reduce the complexities of compliance, helping businesses stay on top of their sustainability reporting.

Using Copilot Studio with Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability

Microsoft cloud for sustainability


Drive reporting targets

Copilot Studio is a key part of the Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability toolkit, helping users create customized agents to meet sustainability and compliance goals. As compliance standards change, Copilot Studio uses large language models (LLM) to help organizations adapt quickly. It offers pre-built connectors for easy data integration, reducing the time and effort needed to manage diverse data sources and focus on actionable insights. Current features include the Sustainability Insights Agent for interacting with sustainability reports, with upcoming agents for estimating European Union Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) costs and setting goals. This tool, combined with our network of partners, helps organizations achieve their ESG goals by unifying data intelligence and streamlining sustainability management.

Shaping the future with AI

Join us on this journey to unlock the potential of AI and pave the way for a more intelligent, connected, and sustainable world. Together, let’s embrace the future of innovation and drive exceptional value for our customers. By leveraging the latest advancements in AI, we can transform industries, enhance productivity, and create meaningful experiences for everyone. Whether it’s through automating routine tasks, optimizing operations, or providing personalized services, the possibilities are endless. Let’s work together to harness the power of AI and make a lasting impact on our businesses and communities. 

Watch the Ignite 2024 sessions

Watch Accelerating industry partner growth in the age of AI with Kathleen Mitford and Satish Thomas and Delivering adapted AI models for industries with partners.

Financial Services

Manufacturing

Retail

Public Sector

Sustainability

Microsoft Ignite 2024

Experience the latest innovations for AI transformation


1 https://www.isa.org/standards-and-publications/isa-standards/isa-95-standard

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Driving operational efficiency and sustainability with AI and data modernization http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/industry/blog/energy-and-resources/2024/10/31/driving-operational-efficiency-and-sustainability-with-ai-and-data-modernization/ Thu, 31 Oct 2024 16:00:00 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/sustainability/blog/2024/10/31/driving-operational-efficiency-and-sustainability-with-ai-and-data-modernization/ Microsoft is actively collaborating with energy companies on industrial carbon management solutions to help modernize and transform the industry.

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During a time of both rapid transformation and intense scrutiny, today’s energy industry leaders are increasingly turning to advanced solutions in AI and data management to drive sustainability and efficiency as the global community works to combat climate change. This is a time-sensitive effort, as increased energy demand and the continued role of fossil fuels mean emissions could keep rising through 2035.1 As energy leaders look to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry has become a key component in the approach. Industrial carbon management (ICM) encompasses a range of technologies designed to capture, transport, and store carbon dioxide (CO2) underground to prevent it from entering the atmosphere. Microsoft is actively collaborating with energy companies on industrial carbon management solutions. One example of this collaboration is Northern Lights, a partnership between the Norwegian government and energy companies Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies, which is now fully operational. This groundbreaking initiative was established to accelerate decarbonization and address emissions as we all work towards a more sustainable future.  

Field engineers inspect solar panels

Microsoft for energy and resources

Achieve more in the energy and resources industry with trusted data and AI solutions

enabling carbon reduction in the energy industry


Read the blog

Transforming the global energy industry is not a small feat, nor one that happens without the collective work of dedicated partnerships and innovative technology. The standardized data model and secure data sharing in Microsoft Azure Data Manager for Energy along with operations data management powered by Azure AI and Microsoft Copilot can accelerate innovation across the end-to-end CCS value chain. Copilot and Azure Data Manager for Energy put data and AI to work, integrating industry datasets, applications, and other cloud services—managing intensive workloads at global scale, and quickly ingesting data for analytics and decision-making. These are high-impact capabilities that ultimately help energy companies accelerate their transition to more sustainable practices by reducing time, costs, and risks associated with their complex operational requirements.     

Enhancing energy operations with modern data management  

Data modernization is a critical component in advancing sustainability and CCS efforts within the energy sector. By leveraging Azure Data Manager for Energy, energy companies can efficiently manage and analyze vast amounts of data—enabling more accurate and comprehensive simulations of subsurface reservoirs. This capability is essential for identifying optimal CO2 storage locations and ensuring the safe and efficient injection and storage of carbon dioxide.  

The platform’s robust, scalable, and secure data management solutions allow for real-time data integration and continuous model refinement, which are crucial for making informed decisions and mitigating risks. Additionally, Azure Data Manager for Energy’s high-performance computing capabilities enable rapid simulations, which significantly reduce the time required for planning studies and optimizing reservoir performance. These high-impact capabilities ultimately help energy companies accelerate their transition to more sustainable practices by reducing time, costs, and risks associated with their complex operational requirements. 

Harnessing the power of AI with Copilot 

Along with data modernization and robust data analytics, Azure Data Manager for Energy users will have the option to take advantage of Copilot to interact with well data. Azure Data Manager for Energy helps ingest and organize domain-specific data from across the enterprise data landscape to enhance data access, analysis, and application interoperability. Developed in alignment with OSDU® standards, Azure Data Manager for Energy helps get the right data organized within the right domain workflow while providing trustworthy data delivery that sets the stage for improved and timely analysis.  

However, the enterprise data landscape for any analysis may extend beyond domain-specific data types and require reports with different file types, as well as images, data and records stored in other databases, spreadsheets, and shared folders. Further, the entire value chain extends into data from operations, supply chain, health, safety and environment (HSE), enterprise resource planning (ERP), legal and compliance, and even social media—some of which may be hosted on external platforms.  

In these scenarios, generative AI capabilities can help users optimize data for enhanced insights—faster. One example of how to approach this is with Microsoft Fabric, an end-to-end analytics and data platform. Fabric can help integrate the data in Azure Data Manager for Energy with other adjacent data sources, ultimately preparing it for analysis and other interactions through AI and Copilot. This means users can potentially run traditional AI-powered workflows such as automated interpretation of data or event prediction through machine learning-driven algorithms. They can also leverage Copilot to chat with the data or implement intelligent search, domain-based intelligent assistants, or cross-domain intelligent advisors.  

In doing so, end users—people in roles across geoscience or petrophysics—have an easier and faster way to interact with and query their data, both within and outside Azure Data Manager for Energy. Plus, data engineers and data scientists have a foundation from which to build similar solutions for their end users. The Copilot capabilities also mean simplified research processes and the generation of valuable data insights, enabling enterprise and business unit leaders, as well as data scientists and geophysicists, to make more informed decisions and take advantage of greater efficiencies in reservoir management.  

Optimize carbon capture and storage and enhance reservoir management 

Building on the capabilities of Copilot and Azure Data Manager for Energy, we can further optimize CCS to work towards a more sustainable future. Reservoir modeling is a critical aspect of modern energy management, playing a vital role in the underground storage of CO2. This multidisciplinary field involves the integration of geological, geophysical, thermal, and engineering data to create detailed models of subsurface reservoirs. Reservoir engineers create models that simulate the behavior of fluids within the reservoir to predict future performance and optimize injection and production strategies. With global energy demand projected to increase 47% by 2050,2 the need for sustainable energy solutions and CCS is paramount.  

Microsoft is working with partners to provide the efficiency, predictive power, and speed of reservoir simulations and optimizations. Built on top of Azure Data Manager for Energy, customers can now leverage Azure’s robust enterprise capabilities in security, scalability, and reliability, while accessing its domain-specific solutions and maintaining full control over their data.   

Traditionally, identifying optimal CO2 storage locations requires lengthy studies, sometimes spanning months or even years. The work Microsoft is doing with partners transforms this process by enabling scalable and efficient simulations. This will enable engineers to run numerous models in parallel, leveraging high-performance computing to quickly analyze vast datasets and identify the best storage locations. The ability to perform rapid simulations at scale significantly reduces the time required for planning studies.

Explore more energy solutions and resources 

At Microsoft, our dedication and commitment to accelerating the energy transition to carbon-free resources is matched only by the power of our partner ecosystem and the knowledge-sharing that makes it all possible. With Azure Data Manager for Energy, industry leaders can connect to an open ecosystem of interoperable applications from independent software vendors (ISVs) and the Microsoft ecosystem of productivity tools. By harnessing capabilities and features from across Microsoft and partner solutions, energy leaders can optimize value across their entire enterprise while working towards sustainability goals.  

Ready to dive deeper? Check out additional resources to learn more. 


1 McKinsey & Company, Global Energy Perspective 2024, September 2024.

2 S&P Global, Global energy demand to grow 47% by 2050, with oil still top source: US EIA, October 2021.

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Advancing biodiversity with AI https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2024/10/21/advancing-biodiversity-with-ai/ Mon, 21 Oct 2024 20:46:00 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/sustainability/blog/?p=93 The health of our society is deeply intertwined with the health of our planet. While much of the global conversation around the environment focuses on the devastating impacts of climate change, it is crucial to recognize that climate and biodiversity are part of a broader ecological system.

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