£24.00 PLUS: ISSUE 39: WINTER 2025 AVIXA’s Mike Sullivan-Trainor highlights the value of AV products and services Barco teams up with Huddly and Sennheiser for Teams Room solution Jonathan McCormick on Intermedia’s unified communications and contact centre services AI is reshaping retail operations, says Microsoft’s Anya Minbiole Microsoft’s Ilya Bukshteyn tells us about the next frontier for Microsoft Teams Organisations are embedding AI into their operations to work smarter and faster Rising intelligence
s Let’s create sm smarter business s Let’s create sm smarter business s Let’s create sm smarter business s Let’s create sm smarter business Still waiting for the return on your AI investment?
marter business L s Let’s create sm marter business L s sm marter business L s sm marter business L s Let’s create sm Any business can use AI. IBM helps you use AI to change how you do business. To unlock the value of your AI, you have to do more than wait. You have to change the way you use AI in the first place: deploying it within and across your business so it helps the company, not just the person using it. We call this approach smarter business: infusing the right technology into the core of your business and the heart of every process. In this AI moment, that means finding ways to connect agents with AI-ready data and automating IT management to help your AI transform your business, not just workflows. In a smarter business, you don’t just use AI to help do what you already do; you use AI to change what you can do. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2025. IBM and the IBM logo are trademarks of IBM Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.
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7 ANDY CLAYTON-SMITH: EXECUTIVE EDITOR Nickle LaMoreaux, chief human resources officer at IBM, recently told Forbes that “AI isn’t just accelerating our work, it’s amplifying human potential and fuelling growth”. Consumers are embracing generative AI and other digital technologies, but they also want transparency, control and data security, according to Deloitte’s 2025 Connected Consumer Survey. So how can enterprise and public sector executives embrace AI while ensuring their organisations remain secure, transparent and accessible to all? In our cover story (beginning on page 28), Alysa Taylor, chief marketing officer for commercial cloud and AI at Microsoft, addresses the desire to exploit the potential of AI while also needing to instil confidence and trust among those who use it. She explains how Microsoft and its ecosystem of partners are helping ‘frontier firms’ turn data into insights that have a genuine real-world impact, while enhancing operational integrity. As adoption of AI surges, we also take a closer look at its impact on a technology that has already experienced rapid growth, having moved at speed from early to widespread adoption over recent years. In our special focus on Microsoft Teams (beginning on page 50), Ilya Bukshteyn, corporate vice president of Microsoft Teams calling, devices and premium experiences, outlines how AI is extending the reach of Teams, with innovation that not only helps users to work more creatively but also operate in a more secure environment. Elsewhere there is, as usual, a wealth of content covering a broad spectrum of interests and a range of industries. At Technology Record, our immediate focus is on the retail sector, as we look forward to another year as media partner for NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show in New York. Starting on page 132, Anya Minbiole, business strategy leader of retail and consumer goods at Microsoft, offers a preview of the conversations she and her colleagues will be having with delegates about the demonstrable value of AI in retail. There is much more too, over the following pages. I hope you enjoy the read. WELCOME: WINTER 2025 Delivering growth and trust
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CONTENTS 9 16 MARKETWATCH The latest news from Microsoft and its partners, including an update on the products and services launched at Ignite 2025 36 AVIXA’s Mike Sullivan-Trainor explains why enterprises are continuing to invest in AV products and services 40 Synergy Technical’s Xavier Charles shares how the firm is helping organisations to use Microsoft solutions in AI operations 42 G lobalSign’s Steve Hall explains how and why marketing teams should turn their attention to email security 43 Maharashtra police use a Microsoft-powered AI copilot to investigate cybercrime in India 44 Troy Johnston of HID Global discusses how the company is working with its technology partners to meet the rising demand for mobile access control solutions 47 Snorre Kjesbu from Cisco explores how distributed teams can work productively together, regardless of distance 48 A I is enabling proactive, data-driven sustainability for businesses. Faith Taylor from Kyndryl shares how 28 RISING INTELLIGENCE Alysa Taylor from Microsoft explains how businesses are increasingly using AI to drive real-world impact ISSUE 39: WINTER 2025
CONTENTS FEATURED PARTNERS 11 139 A selection of Microsoft partners operating across all business sectors 144 THE LAST WORD Many organisations are using AI today, but as findings from a Microsoft-sponsored IDC report show, the real difference to their success lies in how they’re implementing it IN FOCUS: TEAMS 50 Making meetings more meaningful Microsoft’s Ilya Bukshteyn tells us about the next frontier for Microsoft Teams 64 Rósa Stensen provides insight into Huddly’s vision for AI-native collaboration as a tool to empower teamwork 66 Ryan Kahan of Smarsh explains why the company acquired CallCabinet and how Teams customers will benefit 68 Barco has collaborated across the Microsoft partner ecosystem to strengthen its Teams Room solution, reveals Oliver Van Camp 72 Sennheiser’s Christoph Härtwig discusses the firm’s range of Teams-certified solutions designed to ensure every voice is seen and heard 74 Continuant’s Peter Rogers highlights how interoperability helps organisations unlock digital transformation 76 Mark Bunnell explains how NUWAVE Communications’ iPILOT solution enables carriers and other partners to rapidly deploy Teams at scale 78 Jonathan McCormick shows how Intermedia brings unified communications and contact centre services together in a single platform 81 Nathan Glotfelty from Q-SYS reveals how taking a platform approach to Teams Rooms helps organisations enable AI capabilities 82 Crestron’s Ed Wenck discusses how and why Microsoft turned to Crestron to outfit its Signature Teams Rooms boardroom 84 Good enough audio is not good enough. Shure’s Josh Blalock explains how high-quality sound is transforming meetings 86 Mike Plumer from Altigen Technologies explains how the company can help make the most of the capabilities of Teams Phone 87 Cisco has strengthened its partnership with Microsoft to deliver enhanced security and device management with MDEP integration, says Espen Løberg 88 Pexip is working with Microsoft to overcome meeting blockers and make Teams the natural default for the AI-powered workplace, explains Anders Løkke
12 CONTENTS FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRIALS & MANUFACTURING 100 Reshaping the supply chain Microsoft’s Indranil Sircar details how AI and agentic operations are transforming the next generation of manufacturing supply chains 106 AVEVA‘s Fabio Terezinho reveals why companies that don’t embrace AI, IoT and predictive analytics risk falling behind their competitors 110 Caleb Northrop from IBM details how energy firms can use IBM Maximo on Azure to modernise operations for predictive, intelligent asset management 112 Radical collaboration has the power to break down silos, which is the key to building trustworthy, scalable systems, says Guillaume Boué of AVEVA 116 KP Group and Kubota are using IBM Maximo on Azure to streamline reporting, optimise facility operations, reduce costs and more 90 Setting the tempo for the next era of financial services Microsoft’s Chad Hamblin explains how agentic AI and human expertise can work in harmony to deliver more efficient customer experiences 98 L SEG’s Emily Prince explains how financial services professionals are reducing AI agent development cycles from weeks to minutes
13 132 From experiments to execution Microsoft’s Anya Minbiole tells us how Microsoft and its partner ecosystem help retailers use AI to turn data into productivity gains and improve customer satisfaction 136 Shikshya Khatiwada from Kyndryl highlights how retailers are reimagining operations with agentic AI RETAIL & CONSUMER GOODS 124 Public finance turns to AI Valentina Ion from Microsoft explains why AI plays a critical role in helping public finance organisations transform operations and deliver citizen-focused services while driving productivity and efficiency 130 Microsoft’s Sally Frank discusses how startup companies Atropos Health, Autonomize AI, IgniteData and Raapid are using autonomous AI to deliver real-world impact PUBLIC SECTOR MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS 118 Changing the game Microsoft’s Mandy Rutledge on how AI is transforming the production and delivery of live broadcasting, from the sidelines of the NFL to viewers’ living rooms 122 AVIXA’s Samantha Minish explores how the convergence of broadcast and AV technology is transforming industry communication
PUBLISHED IN COLLABORATION WITH Microsoft is the world leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential. ISSUE 39: WINTER 2025 Executive editor Andy Clayton-Smith Head of editorial Rebecca Gibson Editorial lead Alice Chambers Editorial team Richard Humphreys, Laura Hyde, Alex Smith Production manager Stuart Fairbrother Design Bruce Graham, Libby Sidebotham, Dhanika Vansia Website development Chris Jackson Publication manager Ricky Popat Partner managers Simon Thompson, Daniel Thurlow, Thomas Wills, Paul Zmija Subscriptions For subscription enquiries, please contact Tudor Rose on subscribe@tudor-rose.co.uk or visit the website www.technologyrecord.com/subscribe Circulation Sophia Brinkley Publisher Toby Ingleton Photography courtesy of contributors, www.istockphoto.com, www.stock.adobe.com, www.unsplash.com and www.pexels.com Business management Rachael Heggs, Richard Pepperman Published by Tudor Rose Tudor House, 6 Friar Lane, Leicester LE1 5RA Tel: +44 116 222 9900 www.tudor-rose.co.uk Technology Record is a quarterly magazine about technology solutions for enterprise organisations, published by Tudor Rose in collaboration with Microsoft. For further information and to subscribe, please visit: www.technologyrecord.com/subscribe Visit www.technologyrecord.com for up-to-date news and articles about Microsoft technology for enterprise businesses, a comprehensive directory of Microsoft partners that provide solutions for enterprise businesses, and to find out more about our printed publications. ISSN 2754-3277 (Print) and 2754-3285 (Online). Printed in Great Britain by Micropress. © 2025 Tudor Rose Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be stored or transmitted or reproduced in any form or by any means, including whether by photocopying, scanning, downloading onto computer or otherwise without the prior written permission from Tudor Rose Holdings Ltd. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Microsoft or the publishers. Acceptance of advertisements does not imply official endorsement of the products or services concerned. While every care has been taken to ensure accuracy of content, no responsibility can be taken for any errors and/or omissions. Readers should take appropriate professional advice before acting on any issue raised herein. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject advertising material and editorial contributions. The publisher assumes no liability for the return or safety of unsolicited art, photography or manuscripts. Follow Technology Record: ANALYSTS AND INDUSTRY ORGANISATIONS
15 PUBLISHING PARTNERS IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. It helps clients in more than 175 countries gain the competitive edge in their industries. Kyndryl is a leading provider of missioncritical enterprise technology services offering advisory, implementation and managed service capabilities to thousands of customers in more than 60 countries. LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) is a leading global financial markets infrastructure and data provider, and plays a vital social and economic role in the world’s financial system. AVEVA creates industrial software that inspires people to shape the future, by delivering solutions across the asset and operations life cycles. For 80 years, Sennheiser has shaped the future of the audio world, creating sound experiences for its customers worldwide. Its history is full of innovations and technological achievements. AVIXA is the international trade association for the audiovisual industry, producer of InfoComm trade shows around the world, and co-owner of Integrated Systems Europe. Barco is a global company focused on visualisation, networking and collaboration technology. Its solutions drive advancements in the healthcare, enterprise and entertainment markets. Cisco is revolutionising the way organisations connect and protect in the AI era. For more than 40 years, Cisco has securely connected the world. 602X100 Intermedia delivers intelligent cloud communications through an AI-powered unified platform – voice, video, chat, contact center and more – trusted by more than 150,000 businesses and 7,500 partners worldwide. SPONSORS
16 MARKETWATCH Microsoft launched an array of new products and services at Ignite in San Francisco, USA, in November 2025. Several of its major updates – the ones designed to empower frontier firms – were highlighted during the opening keynote from chief commercial officer Judson Althoff. Althoff explained four common reasons why AI projects fail: inconsistent alignment between business and IT professionals, data quality issues, regulatory and governance requirements require AI to be observable at all times, and a focus on experimentation over scaling projects. “The frontier firm needs to holistically reimagine their business,” Althoff said. “AI transformation needs to do more for humanity by obsolescing the mundane and unlocking greater creativity.” Althoff then outlined three common traits to successful frontier firms, explaining they put AI in the flow of work, facilitate ubiquitous innovation where everyone can create with AI, and have the ability to govern and manage the AI they deploy. “We need to put the ‘I’ back into ‘AI’,” said Althoff, emphasising intelligence is key to empowering enterprises. Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn, introduced the intelligence layer Work IQ, which enables Copilot and agents to “know you, your job and your company”. He said: “Work IQ is the AI that you can trust your most valuable information with. It finds patterns and insights within data, rather than pulling fragments of data that ignores context and relationships.” Roslansky also unveiled two major updates to Microsoft 365 Copilot: dedicated Word, Excel and PowerPoint agents within Copilot Chat, and new capabilities to allow Copilot to interpret and reason across a user’s entire inbox. Microsoft president Asha Sharma also debuted App Builder, which allows anyone to create an app and uses Work IQ for contextual information. “This is the beginning of something new – software made for people, to software being made by people,” she said. “When innovation New Microsoft products and services empower frontier firms At Ignite 2025, Microsoft executives Judson Althoff, Asha Sharma and Charles Lamanna introduced AI tools spanning data, productivity and application development Judson Althoff and Ryan Roslansky speaking at Ignite in San Francisco in November 2025
17 becomes ubiquitous, everyone has the chance to drive things forward.” Sharma was joined by Anthropic’s chief product officer Mike Krieger to discuss the companies’ new partnership, which brings Anthropic’s Claude family of models to Microsoft Foundry. “There’s been a lot of shared DNA and trust across both companies, and I’m really excited to see what will happen when you combine the power of our trusted models with Microsoft Foundry and Microsoft 365,” said Krieger. Sharma added: “Now Azure is the only hyperscaler to offer both OpenAI and Anthropic models to fully empower our customers to build the best AI applications on the planet.” With all this choice, picking the right model for the right jobs becomes more difficult, which is why Microsoft has introduced Fabric IQ and Foundry IQ. The solutions intelligently connect structured and unstructured data that agents use and recommend the best model. Work IQ, Fabric IQ and Foundry IQ together form IQ, a new unified intelligence layer from Microsoft across its data, application and productivity stack. In addition, Microsoft Agent 365 – the control plane for AI agents – helps organisations observe, manage and secure their agents. It provides visibility into every agent in an enterprise, access controls to data, an easy way to see and understand agent ecosystem, all while protecting agents against security threats. “Agent 365 helps you safely scale agents across a whole company, no matter how or why they were built,” said Charles Lamanna, president of business apps and agents at Microsoft. Althoff concluded the Ignite keynote by reminding attendees how many industries Microsoft-powered technology is helping to overcome challenges. “AI in the flow of human ambition, ubiquitous innovation and observability at every layer of the stack is about your IQ, the human ambition that lives inside your company,” he said. “At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more and that is what we’re going to do by empowering all of you to become frontier firms.” Microsoft also shared major updates to Azure and Fabric at Ignite, including: • Azure HorizonDB, a new cloud database service in preview, which handles demanding data storage requirements with up to 15 replicas running on auto-scaling shared storage. • Azure DocumentDB is designed for hybrid and multi-cloud flexibility by supporting advanced search and is compatible with MongoDB tools. • SQL database and Cosmos DB, which are natively integrated into Fabric so users can run workloads within one environment. Additional updates
18 MARKETWATCH LSEG and Microsoft provide access to AI-ready financial data in customer workflows LSEG customers can now build AI agents in Microsoft Copilot Studio with LSEG-licensed data and deploy them in Microsoft 365 Copilot. LSEG’s datasets stretch back over decades and total more than 33 petabytes. With easy access to these through Copilot Studio, users can stay within their everyday workflows, to compose sophisticated AI agents, combining policies, prompts, tools and actions. “By combining LSEG’s trusted market data with Microsoft’s cloud and AI capabilities, we’re empowering customers to unlock deeper insights, accelerate decision-making and streamline complex workflows,” said Nick Parker, chief business officer and president of worldwide sales and solutions at Microsoft. Synergy Technical helps businesses with tailored and secure AI adoption Cloud solutions provider Synergy Technical is offering an AI Transformation Strategy Engagement, designed to help businesses harness AI effectively while maintaining security and compliance. The engagement evaluates AI opportunities within an organisation, assesses vendor solutions and develops a tailored roadmap for AI adoption. Customers will gain valuable insights into AI integration, security considerations, vendor selection and recommendations for phased deployment. Synergy Technical focuses on customisation and user enablement, ensuring businesses maximise their AI investments while driving innovation and efficiency. New Quantexa AI platform to deliver trusted, contextual decision-making Quantexa has launched Quantexa AI, an agent-ready upgrade to its Decision Intelligence Platform designed to help enterprises deploy AI safely and effectively. The new capabilities address a critical challenge in AI adoption including fragmented or untrusted data. Quantexa AI unifies and contextualises enterprise data, enabling specialised models to interact with it securely and transparently. A new Agent Gateway provides governed, scalable multi-agent coordination with partners like Microsoft and Accenture, while the Q Assist Workspace allows users to engage with contextualised data directly. The enhancements aim to give organisations the trusted foundation needed for responsible AI adoption and real-time decision-making. Photo: Adobe Stock/Drobot Dean Photo: Pexels/Karolina Grabowska
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20 MARKETWATCH During Ignite 2025, Nicole Dezen, chief partner officer and corporate vice president of global partner sales at Microsoft, emphasised how collaboration with partners is central to scaling AI adoption across industries. “Microsoft succeeds when our partners succeed,” she said. This commitment to partnership was further illustrated by realworld examples of AI and digital transformation in action shared by numerous Microsoft partners. Thanks to its partnership with Microsoft, which began with identifying the key challenges for financial services professionals, LSEG now uses AI to solve challenges. “We’ve built our entire experimentation platform on Microsoft Foundry and have hundreds of experiments running through it,” said Emily Prince, group head of analytics and AI at LSEG. “This is not just for engineers; it’s for everyone to participate in AI adoption.” Chris Jansen, CEO of Kantar, shared how his firm is using Microsoft AI tools to accelerate advert testing from six weeks to just 90 seconds: “We tested 2,500 Coca-Cola adverts in two days and predicted their market success with 90 per cent accuracy.” Kore.ai’s CEO and founder, Raj Koneru, highlighted how firms can harness AI effectively by automating processes, upskilling staff and implementing the right frameworks to ensure rapid, scalable, responsible and measurable transformation. Kyndryl showcased how it helped Forza Steel modernise operations with AI by leveraging SAP and Microsoft technologies. Forza Steel adopted Microsoft’s ecosystem for its comprehensive cloud capabilities, supporting SAP RISE on Microsoft Azure and enabling unified operations with real-time data. ControlUp revealed how its tool ControlUp Migrate for Windows 365 helps IT teams modernise infrastructure without disruption, with Scott Manchester, vice president of product for Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop, saying the solution “simplifies the migration process and helps organisations accelerate their journey to Windows 365 with confidence”. David Treece, vice president of standards and policy strategy at Yubico, together with Swaroop Krishnamurthy, principal product lead for Microsoft Entra, showcased how hardware-bound passkeys like YubiKeys integrate seamlessly into Microsoft environments, helping organisations meet stringent security mandates and protect users from persistent threats. Ignite will return to the Moscone Center in San Francisco, USA, from 17-20 November 2026. Microsoft evolves partner ecosystem at Ignite Over 20,000 people attended Ignite. IGNITE IN NUMBERS sessions, demos and labs took place during the four-day event. 1.3 billion AI agents will be in use worldwide by 2028, according to Microsoft predictions. 400-plus
22 MARKETWATCH Huddly releases C1 Crew Huddly will launch a new modular solution for medium meeting rooms, Huddly C1 Crew, at Integrated Systems Europe 2026. The system pairs the C1 video bar with two Crew Add-On Cameras to deliver multi-camera experiences through AI-driven audio and video, and includes hi-fi stereo speakers. Featuring modular, plug-and-play design and 20-times more on-device AI processing power, Huddly C1 Crew aims to provide organisations a scalable, future-proof way to keep their meeting spaces current. Existing C1 units can be enabled for multi-camera functionality via software updates. Find out more at: www.huddly.com/c1-crew Jabra expands meeting room portfolio Sennheiser to launch cloud-based AV management platform Sennheiser will release a new cloud-based platform designed to empower audiovisual (AV) and IT teams with secure, flexible and scalable device control across a wide range of environments in early 2026. The solution aims to transform the way teams configure, monitor and manage Sennheiser devices. Beginning with TeamConnect Bar Solutions – all-in-one conferencing devices certified for Microsoft Teams – Sennheiser will expand the platform to support additional products across its portfolio. The new platform aims to centralise control with a future-ready, intuitive interface, designed to simplify workflows and enable device management across multiple locations. IT/AV managers and system integrators will be able to streamline device management across enterprise, education and corporate settings. Jabra Scheduler, a new touchscreen scheduling panel that displays meeting room availability, allows users to reserve spaces directly at the room or through their digital calendars. The panel simplifies scheduling by making it easier to find available spaces, prevent double bookings and deliver a consistent experience. It works seamlessly with Microsoft Teams Rooms, making it easy to pre-book meetings through a digital calendar or reserve a space directly at the room. Made from more than 50 per cent recycled materials, the panel also supports more sustainable manufacturing practices.
23 Crestron has made its Modern Workplace Certification available as an online offering. Workplace designers, sales teams, consultants and IT and audiovisual professionals can now learn about Crestron’s Microsoft Teams Rooms-certified solutions for the workplace for video conferencing, collaboration and presentation technologies. The certification is also designed to encourage creative and user-friendly workspaces that enhance productivity and the employee experience. Sessions for the certification include learning how to integrate and manage wireless presentation technology, an overview of intelligent video solutions, the fundamentals of audio over internet protocol and its applications in Microsoft Teams-enabled workspaces, and more. Crestron’s Modern Workplace Certification available online Intermedia expands Microsoft integrations for unified communications Smarsh expands AI-driven platform with CallCabinet integration Intermedia Intelligent Communications has added Microsoft 365 email to its Intelligent Archiving Solution, enabling businesses to retain and manage email data alongside their voice, chat, SMS and video communications, all within a unified, secure platform. “Beyond archiving, this centralised, secure data foundation positions our customers to unlock the potential of AI, enabling more intelligent search, process automation and productivity-driving insights,” said Irina Shamkova, chief product officer at Intermedia. The release builds on Intermedia’s ongoing expansion of its integrated capabilities, which already support Microsoft Teams. As a Microsoft Certified Solutions Partner for more than 15 years, Intermedia plans to continue to provide deep, secure integrations across the Microsoft ecosystem. Smarsh has acquired CallCabinet, a leader in cloud-native, compliant call recording and AI-powered voice analytics. The integration expands the Smarsh platform with advanced capabilities for real-time voice capture, conversation analytics and quality assurance. Organisations can securely record and analyse voice interactions across modern communication environments to strengthen regulatory compliance, data governance and risk management while improving customer experience and operational efficiency. By unifying voice and digital communications, the platform delivers actionable intelligence across front- and back-office workflows – enabling firms to uncover risk patterns, enhance performance and turn voice data into a competitive advantage. Photo: Adobe Stock/Prostock Studio
24 MARKETWATCH Q-SYS Reflect offers centralised AV control for enterprises Q-SYS has released a trial of its cloud-based monitoring and management platform, Q-SYS Reflect, on the Microsoft Marketplace. The platform gives IT and audiovisual (AV) teams streamlined access to remote system oversight through Azure. Q-SYS Reflect provides real-time monitoring, remote configuration, data analytics and a centralised dashboard for managing multiple deployments. By offering the service through Azure, Q-SYS aims to simplify discovery, testing and deployment for enterprise customers seeking scalable AV management. The trial makes it easier for administrators to evaluate how cloud-based tools can enhance efficiency, security, and control across modern AV and IT environments. High collaboration quality directly improves operations, finds Shure Collaboration drives productivity and business growth, but it requires the right blend of technology, processes and people, according to IDC research. The IDC InfoBrief *, sponsored by Shure, highlights how a high collaboration quotient (the measure of how effectively these elements align) enables teams to communicate better, make faster decisions and achieve superior outcomes. Collaboration platforms, devices and tools contribute to a collaboration quotient, ensuring seamless integration and data-sharing environments. They also build the foundation for AI success, as robust collaboration systems are critical for AI-driven communication and insights. Learn more at: bit.ly/4rPD1c9 *IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Shure, Collaboration: The ROI Amplifier, doc #EUR253683525, Nov 2025 GMO GlobalSign podcast exposes SMEs ransomware risk Michelle Davidson, acting vice president west marketing at GMO GlobalSign, was joined by Sarah Armstrong-Smith, co-host of the Cyber Sisters podcast, on GMO GlobalSign’s Trust.ID Talk podcast to dismantle the dangerous belief that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are “too small to hack”. The pair explored why this myth persists, how cloud-based tools can strengthen cyber resilience, and how combining AI with human expertise enables firms to do more with less. “Between 80 and 90 per cent of all ransomware attacks target SMEs – and that’s organisations with fewer than 500 employees,” said ArmstrongSmith. “The average ransom demand is roughly €350,000 ($406,000).” Listen to the episode at: www.globalsign.com/en/podcast Photo: Adobe Stock/Mediaphotos InfoBrief sponsored by Shure | July 2025 Collaboration: The ROI Amplifier Delivering Immediate and Lasting ROI in a Connected World Mick Heys, Vice President, Future of WorkSpace, IDC EMEA
25 Cisco has unveiled new AI agentic capabilities in Cisco AI Assistant and RoomOS 26 for Cisco devices. At the Webex One event – held in San Diego, California, in September 2025 – Cisco revealed room devices with RoomOS 26 will feature an agentic director for automatic framing of video participants, an AI notetaker to summarise meeting notes and actions, and a workspace advisor to optimise collaboration. The release also highlights its partnership with Microsoft and NVIDIA on the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP), optimised for Nvidia AI on Cisco, which enables advanced AI-driven insights and enterprise-grade security. The first Cisco devices on MDEP will arrive in early 2026. The real value of AI comes when it joins the team For years, we’ve been conditioned to think of AI as the eager intern – helpful but constantly needing supervision. That mental model is breaking down fast. The agentic AI systems that I’m seeing don’t just assist, they act. They don’t suggest, they get it done. They don’t wait for instructions, they own outcomes. This shift is creating something genuinely new: hybrid teams where humans and AI agents divide and conquer the work based on strengths. AI handles the tedious, repetitive, data-heavy tasks that make humans question their life choices. Humans focus on creative, strategic, relationship-driven work that AI still can’t touch. It’s not revolutionary. It’s happening now. Miha Kralj is global senior partner of hybrid cloud services at IBM VIEWPOINT Cisco releases new AI agentic capabilities Microsoft will provide 20 million people in India with AI skills by 2030 as part of a $17.5 billion investment to expand the country’s cloud infrastructure and integrate Microsoft AI into public sector platforms. The four-year investment will focus on “three pillars: hyperscale infrastructure to run AI at scale, sovereign-ready solutions that ensure trust, and skilling programs that empower every Indian to not just join the future but shape it,” according to Puneet Chandok, president of Microsoft India and South Asia. “[I’m] happy to see India being the place where Microsoft will make its largest-ever investment in Asia,” said India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The youth of India will harness this opportunity to innovate and leverage the power of AI for a better planet.” Microsoft commits $17.5bn towards India’s AI and cloud transformation Satya Nadella, CEO and chairman of Microsoft, announced Microsoft is doubling its skilling commitment in India during a keynote speech in New Delhi
26 The National Retail Federation (NRF) is hosting Retail’s Big Show on 11-13 January 2026 at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The event is the retail industry’s number one resource for staying informed and ahead of consumer trends. Attendees can expect to learn about the latest technology from keynotes, product demonstrations and hands-on workshops. NRF has arranged more than 175 sessions, which will feature representatives from Microsoft. Kathleen Mitford, corporate vice president of global industry marketing, and Keith Mercier, vice president of worldwide retail and consumer goods, will explore how AI and intelligent agents are reshaping retail with personalised shopping and smart merchandising; and Cathy Leous, global account team director, will join a roundtable discussion with representatives from Avalara, Celonis, Logicbroker and more to talk about the ‘phygital frontline’ where retailers can empower their in-store associates with AI. Actor and entrepreneur Ryan Reynolds will also speak with Ethan Tandowsky, chief financial officer at Adyen, in a keynote session titled ‘From gin to global fandom: Ryan Reynolds and the new rules of brand building’. Reynolds will unpack how the principles behind his success translate to today’s retail landscape; how he leveraged digital media to create outsized reach; and how his approach offers a blueprint for building brands that resonate. Plus, attendees can visit more than 1,000 industry partners on the expo floor such as Adobe, Avanade, Deloitte, Kantar, PwC and Zebra Technologies, as well as the Startup Hub, the Foodservice Innovation Zone to explore the newest food and beverage technology, and guided walking tours through the city’s latest retail spaces. Find out more about the event at: www.nrfbigshow.nrf.com. 11-13 January 2026 | New York, USA NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show Photo: Jason Dixson Photography NRF features more than 175 sessions and over 1,000 industry partners on the expo floor MARKETWATCH: EVENTS
27 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 3-6 February 2026 Barcelona, Spain www.iseurope.org Tech Expo Global 4-5 February 2026 London, UK www.techexevent.com/global ARC US Forum 9-12 February 2026 Orlando, Florida, USA www.arcweb.com/events/arcindustry-leadership-forum-2026 EuroCIS 22-26 February 2026 Düsseldorf, Germany www.eurocis-tradefair.com MWC Barcelona 2-5 March 2026 Barcelona, Spain www.mwcbarcelona.com Enterprise Connect 10-12 March 2026 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA www.enterpriseconnect.com 11-12 February 2026 | Cairo, Egypt AI Everything Middle East & Africa AI Everything Middle East & Africa (MEA) will take place from 11-12 February and will bring together AI enterprises, startups, investors and policymakers from 60 countries. The event will be hosted by Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, in strategic partnership with Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and organised by GITEX Global. It will feature discussions with a line-up of AI experts and leaders on building next-generation AI infrastructures and responsible scaling, alongside frontier showcases in AI, semiconductors, cybersecurity, digital health, fintech and more. “AI today is no longer a trend; it is a core driver of economic and societal transformation,” said Ahmed Elzaher, CEO of ITIDA. “Hosting AI Everything MEA Egypt is part of Egypt’s mission to remain at the forefront of the global technology revolution. This summit cements our position as a regional hub for innovation and trusted global partner in the AI era.” Find out more and register to attend at: www.aieverythingegypt.com RSA Conference The 35th RSA Conference will take place from 23-26 March and provide attendees with a programme of keynote presentations, track sessions, tutorials, seminars and networking events, as well as an expo floor featuring over 600 exhibitors. The conference brings together the cybersecurity community to discuss creating a safer society, as well as learn new skills and brush up on the latest trends. The 2025 event attracted nearly 44,000 attendees, 730 speakers, 650 exhibitors and 400 members of the media, which was a new conference record. Find out more and register to attend at: www.rsaconference.com 23-26 March 2026 | San Francisco, California, USA
COVER STORY When a client requests an urgent fund transfer, financial advisors need instant access to account details and approvals, as delays can affect revenue and client trust. The same urgency applies to farmers, who must decide the optimal time to harvest to maximise yields, and to warehouse operators, who rely on real-time insights to manage stock and keep supply chains flowing. In every sector, speed, accuracy and actionable data – and the intelligence to interpret it – are more than just operational concerns, they are key to organisations achieving a competitive edge in fast-moving markets. “Across every industry, generative and agentic AI are deriving insights from data and redefining how organisations operate, compete and grow,” says Alysa Taylor, chief marketing officer for commercial cloud and AI at Microsoft. In finance, investment banking firm UBS is innovating with AI through its Smart Technologies and Advanced Analytics Team (STAAT), which combines advanced data analytics with machine learning to power intelligent insights. Built on Microsoft Azure, STAAT Assist automatically extracts key client information and populates transfer requests, enabling advisors to review and approve them with a single click, surfacing opportunities and speeding up the client experience. In agriculture, Land O’Lakes, a farmer-owned cooperative, built its Oz assistant on models within Azure AI Foundry to provide fast, accurate, mobile-friendly responses to BY ALICE CHAMBERS Organisations are increasingly embedding AI into their operations to work smarter and faster. Microsoft’s Alysa Taylor explains how Microsoft and its partners are helping businesses turn AI and data into insights that have a real-world impact intelligence Rising 28
agricultural questions. Meanwhile, American clothing firm Levi Strauss & Co. is using an Azure-native orchestrator agent embedded in Microsoft Teams to coordinate multiple subagents, enabling employees across corporate, retail and warehouse environments to access fast, accurate answers to questions like ‘what are the upcoming corporate holidays?’, ‘what is the travel and expense policy?’ and eventually ‘how do I process a return for an online order?’. “These are examples of what we call ‘frontier firms’,” says Taylor. “They are organisations blending human ambition with AI-first innovation to maximise their potential and impact on society. These companies aren’t just deploying tools, they are embedding intelligence into every workflow, decision and process to amplify insight across their business.” Microsoft identifies four key trends that set frontier companies apart from others. “First, they empower employees to automate repetitive work so they can focus on creativity and strategy,” explains Taylor. “Second, they reimagine customer engagement through personalised, data-driven experiences. Third, they transform business processes for greater accuracy, speed and efficiency. Fourth, they accelerate innovation by bringing new product and experiences to market faster.” One practical example comes from Lucerne Cantonal Hospital in Switzerland. Working with Microsoft and partner Polypoint, the 29
30 hospital built an AI-powered shift-scheduling solution within Teams to cut planning time by two-thirds and free up caregivers to focus on patient care. Before the solution, nurses described creating monthly schedules for three daily shifts, seven days a week as “a game of Tetris”, where moving one cell triggered a cascade of adjustments. More than 100 nurses spent two to three days each month organising these schedules. With AI handling the planning, staff now have time to provide better patient care and manage their teams more effectively. “We have too few nurses and too much work, so if there is a way to give time back to the nurses, we want to do it,” says Michael Döring, the hospital’s chief nursing officer. Frontier firms like Lucerne Cantonal Hospital are seeing measurable results, achieving up to three times higher returns from AI investments than late adopters, according to Taylor. “This isn’t just about efficiency, it’s about unlocking new markets, business models and revenue streams,” she says. “AI is transforming how organisations engage with customers through personalisation at unprecedented scale. Ralph Lauren is a powerful example. The company built Ask Ralph, an AI-powered conversational styling companion using Azure AI. It delivers real-time outfit recommendations, styling tips and gift ideas, turning every customer interaction into a datadriven, high-margin engagement that deepens loyalty and drives new revenue opportunities.” German automotive manufacturer MercedesBenz is using Azure AI to optimise its global production network across more than 30 plants. “Innovation is deeply rooted in our DNA and fast forward to today, AI for us is our best colleague,” said Daniela Dimitrova, chief information officer at Mercedes, at Microsoft Ignite 2025. “With the Microsoft AI tools, we put a lot of power in the hands of our employees. We are bringing AI to the factory floor so we can analyse production data and improve efficiency across our factories.” For example, Mercedes employees are alerted when there is a decrease in efficiency and can ask Digital Factory Chat, a self-serve platform to investigate the cause and analyse potential machine malfunctions. By deploying the AI solution, Mercedes reduced energy consumption by more than 20 per cent. Mercedes is not alone in realising these kinds of gains; organisations across different sectors are accelerating similar outcomes and entering new markets with the support of Microsoft partners. “Our partner ecosystem is the force multiplier,” says Taylor. “Partners design and build AI apps and agents, stand up secure data foundations, deploy and manage solutions at scale, and co-sell through our programmes and marketplace so customers realise value faster. That end-to-end motion – from advising on strategy to operating the solution – is how customers move from pilots to production and unlock new growth.” For example, in the highly regulated life sciences sector, pharmaceutical company Hetero needed more than a basic infrastructure upgrade – it required a secure, scalable foundation that could support AI-driven COVER STORY “ Cloud and AI are no longer technology choices; they’re becoming the business model itself” ALYSA TAYLOR, MICROSOFT Finance professionals at UBS are using AI-powered intelligent insights to review and approve client requests quickly
insights and streamline complex quality and compliance processes. Working closely with Hetero and its subsidiary Audree Infotech, Cloud4C deployed a cloud-native architecture on Azure, addressing long-standing challenges around data fragmentation, manual reporting and operational bottlenecks. The new architecture gave Hetero a single environment capable of supporting advanced analytics, automation and real-time decisionmaking across 11 manufacturing plants. By modernising its core systems and introducing AI-powered workflows for root cause analysis and quality control, Hetero has cut infrastructure costs by 40 per cent, automated more than 4,000 documents each month and saved 13,500 working hours. “Cloud4C’s work with Hetero is a clear example of partner-led transformation that improves operations and creates headroom to enter new markets,” says Taylor. Hetero’s shift to a unified cloud architecture demonstrates the first step every organisation must take in bringing data into one governed, accessible environment so AI can generate meaningful impact. “We’re starting to see a new set of technology patterns take shape across every sector,” says Taylor. “They’re not tied to a single product or workflow but to a fundamental shift in how organisations operate. The companies leading in this era of frontier firms aren’t just experimenting with AI; they’re embedding it into every workflow, decision and product. “They’ve shifted from running IT to running intelligence. Cloud and AI are no longer technology choices; they’re becoming the business model itself. That’s exactly what Microsoft Foundry was designed for. It’s a unified Azure platform-as-a-service that brings together everything organisations need to build, customise and deploy AI solutions at scale. Foundry enables teams to design and manage intelligent applications and agents that unlock insights from data, generate meaning at scale and continuously improve through iteration.” Working with Foundry, Microsoft Fabric was built to break down siloed data and provide organisations with a single, unified view across all operations. “At its core is OneLake, a logical data lake that provides a consistent, secure foundation for discovery, sharing and policy enforcement, enabling teams to collaborate on one trusted source of truth,” says Taylor. Fabric also integrates a range of database services – including Azure HorizonDB, Azure DocumentDB, SQL Database and Cosmos DB – so organisations can run workloads across hybrid and multi-cloud environments without Nurses at Lucerne Cantonal Hospital in Switzerland are saving two to three days each month organising work schedules, leaving more time for better patient care COVER STORY 32
Getting Started on Your Copilot Journey Discovery Purchase Copilot Licensing Extensibility/Agents tellmemore@synergy-technical.com Contact Us: 1 Environment Preparation 2 3 Pilot 4 5
34 switching platforms. And with Azure Copilot, teams can manage specialised agents across the cloud lifecycle, streamlining AI-powered workflows and data-driven insights so products move from concept to market more efficiently. Customers can use Microsoft’s broad library of AI models – from Microsoft, OpenAI, Hugging Face, Meta and Anthropic – to build customer copilots, autonomous agents or enhance their apps. “This is all about deepening our commitment to bringing the best infrastructure, model choice and applications to our customers,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO of Microsoft, when speaking about the addition of Anthropic’s Claude to Foundry. Now, Azure is the only hyperscaler to offer both OpenAI and Anthropic models to empower organisations to build the best possible AI applications. Across industries, Microsoft ensures its AI solutions meet the specific challenges and regulatory requirements each sector faces. “These technology patterns – unified cloud foundations, secure AI integration and domain-specific copilots – are repeatable across industries,” says Taylor. “Whether in healthcare, manufacturing or retail, we help organisations apply the same architecture to streamline supply chains, ensure compliance and accelerate innovation. By tailoring our approach to each industry’s unique needs, we enable companies to deploy AI responsibly at scale while driving measurable business impact. “In financial services, for example, we’re helping partners like BlackRock modernise operations by re-architecting its Aladdin platform on Azure AI,” says Taylor. “Aladdin Copilot allows analysts and portfolio managers to query complex financial data in natural language and get immediate, actionable insights, all within a secure, fully governed workflow that meets strict compliance requirements.” The AI pattern for BlackRock integrates model reasoning, data orchestration and compliance checks within a single, governed workflow, ensuring every insight meets strict financial regulations. This means financial services professionals can get accurate replies when asking questions like ‘what is my exposure to companies building AI processors?’. For Microsoft, the real opportunity isn’t just using AI but about embedding intelligence into the DNA of a business. “That’s when transformation truly happens,” explains Taylor. “It’s how organisations unlock new value, reshape processes and set the pace for what’s next. And this is exactly where our partners play a critical role. They bring deep industry expertise and an understanding of each customer’s unique challenges, helping them apply AI in ways that create measurable impact. Together, we’re not just deploying technology, we’re helping every organisation reimagine what’s possible and build the future of their industry.” “ Our partner ecosystem is the force multiplier” ALYSA TAYLOR, MICROSOFT COVER STORY Microsoft Ignite 2025 showed how Mercedes-Benz is using Microsoft AI in its factories to reduce machine malfunctions and energy consumption
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