{"id":12986,"date":"2024-10-14T07:43:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-14T14:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=12986"},"modified":"2024-10-31T09:10:49","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T16:10:49","slug":"powering-a-generational-shift-in-it-at-microsoft-with-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/powering-a-generational-shift-in-it-at-microsoft-with-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Powering a generational shift in IT at Microsoft with AI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the IT team at Microsoft, we in Microsoft Digital have experienced monumental shifts in the way we build, deploy, manage, and support information technology. The most recent generational shift happened in 2020, spurred by the global pandemic and subsequent shift to hybrid work. As employees are still adapting to this new way of working, the next generational shift\u2014human productivity augmented by generative AI\u2014is disrupting everything again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IT journey at Microsoft<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"IT
Microsoft 365 Copilot and AI have ushered in a new era of IT internally here at Microsoft. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The rapid advance of AI is enabling us to rethink every dimension of IT. From the apps, workflows, and services that power our employee experience, to the network, infrastructure and devices that power our employee productivity, everything is evolving quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe potential for transformation through AI is nearly limitless,\u201d says Nathalie D\u2019Hers, corporate vice president of Microsoft Digital, the company\u2019s IT organization. \u201cWe\u2019re evaluating every service in our portfolio to consider how AI can improve outcomes, lower costs, and create a sustained competitive advantage for Microsoft and for our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we describe some of the ways we\u2019re already using AI, as well as new investments we\u2019re making to accelerate our own AI-powered transformation\u2014and to inspire yours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

{Learn how we\u2019re reinventing the employee experience for a hybrid world here at Microsoft.<\/em><\/a>Discover how we\u2019re improving our Employee Experience as Microsoft\u2019s Customer Zero.<\/em><\/a>}<\/u><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resilient and secure infrastructure powered by AI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Reliable and secure access to corporate resources is paramount\u2014especially at a company that has fully embraced flexible work. Our employees depend on a foundation of network connectivity to seamlessly access the tools and services they rely on every day. Harnessing the power of AI to ensure our employees stay productive and our network remains resilient and secure is one of our top investment areas in Microsoft Digital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"D\u2019Hers
Nathalie D\u2019Hers is corporate vice president of Microsoft Digital, the company\u2019s IT organization.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAI offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink our enterprise infrastructure,\u201d says Heather Pfluger, general manager of Infrastructure and Engineering Services in Microsoft Digital. \u201cIt\u2019s an exciting time to be an IT leader at Microsoft as we consider all the ways IT can make our services more efficient, secure, and reliable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way we\u2019ll do that is by infusing data-driven intelligence into every part of our infrastructure, engineering, and operations to eliminate configuration drift, comply with standards and security policy, reduce operator effort and errors, and efficiently respond to rapidly changing business needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investments in software defined networking and infrastructure-as-code are already improving reliability and network adaptability. AI is helping us automate workflows that deliver network services, detect anomalies, and manage compliance. We\u2019re using real-time streaming telemetry from network devices to drive continuous operational improvements. We\u2019ve used data from past incidents to train an AI model that will help our network engineers to reduce the time needed to mitigate infrastructure incidents with the goal of reducing or eliminating network outages and increasing employee productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Securing the Microsoft network and other endpoints is critical to AI and Machine Learning (ML) are among our best tools to enhance the security and compliance of our cloud and on-premises network and hosting environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Microsoft already benefits from a Zero Trust security posture, we\u2019ll use AI and ML to further strengthen our network by automatically assigning devices to the right network, removing the burden on IT admins to classify and assign networks manually. We\u2019ve implemented consistent access controls for wireless and wired networks to further improve security and reduce legacy VPN usage. We\u2019re also building AI and ML capabilities to automate our security workflows, including analyzing device vulnerabilities, detecting anomalous firewall traffic flows, and managing incident diagnosis and remediation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A vast network of interconnected devices running many different operating systems relies on our network for seamless connectivity. Managing these devices requires significant time and resources. To better manage them, we\u2019re investing in a range of new AI-powered device capabilities spanning the entire device lifecycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI-powered predictive maintenance and intelligent troubleshooting is a key investment area. We\u2019ll use AI and ML to schedule essential maintenance tasks and autonomously fix errors and performance issues. This will reduce downtime, prolong device lifespans, and ensure employees have a consistent and productive experience by avoiding problems and errors. We\u2019ll also use AI to analyze device settings, network activity, vulnerabilities, and user behavior, enhanced with demographic data and location metadata to offer relevant solutions for common and emerging device problems. We aim to help IT administrators be more productive through quicker decisions about device replacement, software updates, capacity increases, and other common support scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

{Learn how we\u2019re moving Microsoft\u2019s global network to the cloud with Microsoft Azure<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>Discover How AI will impact the future of security<\/em><\/a>.<\/em>}<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employee experiences enhanced with AI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

AI enables possibilities to simplify the employee experience in unprecedented ways. Our vision in Microsoft Digital is to use AI to simplify the employee experience by providing a single endpoint for most common tasks. We envision a workplace where AI seamlessly integrates into our employees\u2019 workflows and simplifies the number of systems they must learn and navigate. We\u2019re working to deliver a unified, connected, and personalized experience where our employees can access critical data, tools, and insights, all from one place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe see AI as the key to unlocking the full potential of our employees,\u201d says Sean MacDonald, partner director of Employee Productivity in Microsoft Digital. \u201cAI enables us to deliver personalized experiences that empower our employees to work smarter, faster and happier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Business Chat in Microsoft 365 Copilot as a central engagement hub, we\u2019ll redesign the employee experience to no longer be app centric, but rather employee centric, to meet people in the flow of their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Navigating with Business Chat in Microsoft 365 Copilot<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Employees
We\u2019re making it easier for our employees to find what they need using Business Chat in Microsoft 365 Copilot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our employees will discover information and services through natural language Q&A to complete tasks more smoothly. Business Chat will support a range of different employee experiences like diving into employee benefits, facilitating career planning, processing expenses, finding information, exploring workplace amenities, purchasing devices, or upskilling for a new role. We\u2019ll connect different Copilot features and our internal data to Business Chat and reduce the time to get answers or insights by more than half. Our employees can still use web or app experiences if they prefer, but Business Chat will become a primary entry point for many workflows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generative AI will also change how our employees experience support services. We aim to increase employee productivity by addressing IT issues automatically or remotely through AI-powered chats that often don\u2019t require an agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

{<\/em>Learn more about how we\u2019re deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot at Microsoft.<\/em><\/a> <\/em>Discover how Microsoft Digital is reinventing employee productivity in the hybrid workplace.<\/em><\/a>}<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI-powered transformation powered by good governance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re working to strike the right balance with AI\u2014we want to use it to transform the way we work and to empower our employees while also protecting the company. To get this right, we\u2019re laser focused on adopting the right governance measures.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re going to be one of the first organizations to really get our hands on the whole breadth of AI capabilities,\u201d says Matt Hempey, a principal group product manager in Microsoft Digital. \u201cIt will be our job to ensure we have good, sensible policies for eliminating unnecessary risks and compliance issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Our team in Microsoft Digital manages some of the most complex Microsoft productivity tenants in the world, and the governance of those tenants can be a challenge. Unmanaged assets like Power BI workspaces, Power Apps, or even Microsoft Teams groups increase the risk of oversharing sensitive data and can compromise the health and security of the environment. AI will be instrumental in helping us manage our tenants more effectively by helping us to detect issues and by automating time-consuming compliance tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High-quality enterprise data with strong data governance is another key to our AI-led transformation. We\u2019re establishing processes and frameworks to ensure data quality, with assigned data owners to supervise them. We\u2019re using tools to measure data quality and produce a quality score, enhancing confidence and trust among users so they can be confident using the data in AI scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, high-quality data is useless without ongoing governance.We have years of experience managing Microsoft\u2019s vital tenants, and we\u2019ve experienced the complexities of governance at global enterprise scale. AI raises issues around privacy, reputation, and copyright. Responsible and ethical applications of AI, powered by effective data governance, are our priority, so that we as a company can keep innovating without risking security or reputational damage. Using tools like Microsoft Purview, we\u2019ll pay attention to the source, sensitivity, and lifecycle of data for AI, focusing on discovery, classification, and protection. Our goal is to safely handle sensitive data, ensuring ethical uses to achieve the right business outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

{Discover how Microsoft Digital is governing its key productivity tenants to support AI.<\/em><\/a> Find out how data and AI are driving our transformation.<\/em><\/a>}<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transforming our approach to IT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Microsoft Digital, we\u2019re committed to innovating with AI to revolutionize our employee experience and to rethink IT management, work that we\u2019ll power through consistent governance practices and high-quality enterprise data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cFrom making our employees more productive to improving their experience in the hybrid workplace, to preemptively anticipating issues with our services, infrastructure, and devices, AI is fundamentally changing how we manage information technology at Microsoft,\u201d D\u2019Hers says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As we\u2019ve done since the early days of IT at Microsoft, we\u2019ll push boundaries to become a catalyst for AI innovation for our employees and for our customers. Just as we helped shape the past three decades of enterprise IT innovation, the next steps we take on our IT journey here at Microsoft will help shape this new era of AI. We\u2019re excited to continue sharing our insights from our journey of AI-powered transformation with our customers and partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Key<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here are some learnings that we hope will help you in your journey to transform your approach to IT with AI:<\/p>\n\n\n\n