{"id":23832,"date":"2026-05-28T09:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=23832"},"modified":"2026-06-09T13:25:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T20:25:29","slug":"visualizing-success-steering-your-ai-deployment-with-a-strategy-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/visualizing-success-steering-your-ai-deployment-with-a-strategy-council\/","title":{"rendered":"Visualizing success: Steering your AI deployment with a strategy council"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The pace of change when it comes to AI\u2019s impact on business today is astounding. Companies are scrambling to develop and maintain a cohesive strategy for managing this impact and getting the most out of this revolutionary technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Microsoft Digital, the company\u2019s IT organization, we\u2019re using a set of employee councils to guide how we deploy and adopt AI across our organization. We took this approach for a simple reason: We need a model that can keep pace with technological change while staying grounded in business value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our baseline expectation for AI at Microsoft is practical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our AI initiatives need to deliver value every quarter, and we track progress through KPIs reviewed monthly at the leadership level. That standard creates healthy pressure. It also exposes a common gap many organizations experience in the beginning stages of their AI efforts: It\u2019s easy to generate a lot of activity without producing business results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cOur strategy council is how we separate signal from noise in our AI acceleration. It identifies the top scenarios with the greatest enterprise leverage, sharpens our executive focus on what truly matters, and enforces a one-to-one alignment between the work we resource and the outcomes we’re accountable to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\nDon Campbell, principal group technical program manager, Microsoft Digital<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In our council-based approach to AI, different councils focus on different needs. Together, they help us move from experimentation to repeatable, enterprise-grade outcomes. We think of these councils as building blocks that we can combine and evolve as the technology, the business, and our operating model change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this model, AI strategy needs its own council to help guide the overall approach and align our efforts across the enterprise. At the highest level, the strategy council is where we prioritize what matters most, decide how it maps to the outcomes we\u2019re accountable for, and determine how we\u2019ll judge progress month over month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/strong>Our strategy council is how we separate signal from noise in our AI acceleration,\u201d says Don Campbell, a principal group technical program manager in Microsoft Digital. \u201cIt identifies the top scenarios with the greatest enterprise leverage, sharpens our executive focus on what truly matters, and enforces a one-to-one alignment between the work we resource and the outcomes we’re accountable to deliver.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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AI councils at Microsoft<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out our series on how employee councils are guiding how we use AI here at Microsoft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Harnessing AI: How a data council is powering our unified data strategy at Microsoft<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Powering the technical veracity of AI at Microsoft with a Center of Excellence<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Accelerating transformation: How we\u2019re reshaping Microsoft with continuous improvement and AI<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Responsible AI: Why it matters and how we\u2019re infusing it into our internal AI projects at Microsoft<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Measuring the impact of our AI investments in IT at Microsoft<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Visualizing success: Steering your AI deployment with a strategy council<\/a> (this story)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Strategy keeps our AI conversation at Microsoft from getting bogged down in discussions of tools and technology and forces us to keep our focus on the main goal: What are we trying to change in the business, and how will we know if we\u2019ve succeeded?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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    \u201cWe need a single cohesive story to bring together what’s happening across the organization and how those efforts contribute to real impact. The goal is to stitch that story together and solve for redundancies\u2014if one part of the org has already solved a problem, another team shouldn\u2019t have to reinvent the solution.\u201d<\/p>\nMohit Chand, principal group engineering manager, Microsoft Digital<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    AI strategy in action: Focus, alignment, and a monthly cadence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    As our AI work at Microsoft accelerates, we continuously balance two truths at the same time. We want broad experimentation, because it\u2019s how teams and employees learn fast. At the same time, we want our people to focus on what matters most to our enterprise and to ensure we are identifying and reducing potential redundancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Maintaining this balance is the core work of our AI strategy council. It helps us identify the AI-enabled scenarios that will deliver the most value, then keeps us honest about whether we\u2019re delivering against the outcomes we\u2019ve committed to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cWe need a single cohesive story to bring together what’s happening across the organization and how those efforts contribute to real impact,\u201d says Mohit Chand, a principal group engineering manager in Microsoft Digital. \u201cThe goal is to stitch that story together and solve for redundancies\u2014if one part of the org has already solved a problem, another team shouldn\u2019t have to reinvent the solution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We have a detailed process that relies on engaging with our subject matter experts to keep the most impactful AI portfolio visible and actionable. We use it to summarize and track our top scenarios. Our AI strategy council views this process as work that\u2019s always in process\u2014a living view that changes as products ship and priorities shift. Delivered items come off, emerging bets go on, and the continuing discussion stays anchored to our goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    \u201cThe pace right now is incredible. There\u2019s a lot of excitement, but there\u2019s also a risk if it\u2019s not sustainable. A big part of our focus is figuring out how to take churn out of the system and make this work long\u2011term\u2014for the business and for our people.\u201d<\/p>\nMyron Wan, principal group product manager, Microsoft Digital<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    A tight rhythm and monthly cadence ensures that our conversations stay focused on whether the biggest bets are moving the needles we care about. That cadence helps us answer the questions leaders and customers are asking on a regular basis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n