By Alice Chambers |
Microsoft is calling on enterprises to “demand more of AI” to boost productivity and solve society’s biggest challenges.
As Microsoft’s new CEO of commercial business, Judson Althoff said in a recent blog post: “It is time to demand more of AI to solve humanity’s biggest challenges by democratising intelligence, obsolescing the mundane and unlocking creativity. This is the notion of becoming frontier: to empower human ambition and find AI-first differentiation in everything we do.”
Microsoft’s AI Transformation success framework and industry-specific solutions are designed to help organisations harness the “most scalable, most capable cloud and AI platform” to accelerate progress responsibly and securely.
“We remain deeply focused on ensuring AI is used responsibly and securely,” said Althoff. “Security is embedded into everything we do to help our customers prioritise cybersecurity and guard against threats.”
Microsoft is partnering with thousands of customers to drive AI transformation. Recent examples span industries including manufacturing, retail, media and the public sector. For example, Kraft Heinz has embedded AI and machine learning across its production facilities using Microsoft Azure. Its AI-powered Plant Chat platform lets operators make decisions with real-time insights, helping reduce downtime and waste. Since launch, the company has achieved a 40 per cent reduction in supply chain waste, a 20 per cent increase in sales forecast accuracy, and a six per cent improvement in product yield, generating over $1.1 billion in efficiencies.
Another example is how Ralph Lauren has worked with Microsoft to create Ask Ralph, an AI-powered conversational styling assistant built on Azure OpenAI Service. The tool offers personalised outfit recommendations through natural language interaction, adapting to tone, context and intent to reimagine the online shopping experience.
According to Althoff, Microsoft’s mission remains constant as organisations evolve toward AI-first business models: “We are at our best as a company when we put our technology to work for others. As you move forward on your AI journey, ask what AI can do for your organisation – and what it means to demand more from it.”