108 FEATURE Delays in progressing ideas from conception to customer delivery are often caused by fragmented data, unrealistic planning and slow execution by cross-team hand-offs. “Microsoft’s three IQ intelligence layers remove this friction by unifying data, accelerating decisions and automating workflows across departments, such as research and development, manufacturing and supply chain,” says Miller. “When organisations unify data, simulate continuously and automate workflows, speed and execution improve dramatically, but optimisation is an ‘evergreen opportunity’ which should never be considered complete; it’s ongoing as targets and the business evolves.” Microsoft’s Fabric IQ addresses the challenges of fragmented data by enabling scenario analysis and confidence‑aware decisioning. Foundry IQ uses AI-driven scenario testing to help teams make earlier, more confident decisions and continuously adapt as signals change. Work IQ turns manual hand-offs into automated workflows, while Agent365 ensures AI agents operate within clearly defined guardrails, so organisations can move from insight to execution faster. One company using Microsoft technology to move from insight to execution is Estée Lauder Companies, which operates nearly 25 luxury beauty brands across 150 countries. In 2025 the firm worked with Microsoft to develop an AI agent, ConsumerIQ, using Microsoft Copilot Studio and Azure OpenAI Service. The tool analyses documents, identifies trends and provides recommendations, reducing the time required to gather information from weeks to minutes. This allows Estée Lauder to respond faster to emerging trends, launch products more quickly, and strengthen customer engagement and brand loyalty worldwide. Meanwhile, beer and beverage producer Carlsberg teamed up with Microsoft to build ‘Global Brain’, an AI-powered knowledge assistant for its supply chain teams. The solution runs on Azure AI and Azure OpenAI Service in Foundry Models to provide natural language search and context-aware responses enabling over 10,000 employees to retrieve supply chain knowledge quickly – it reduced the time spent searching for information from 30 minutes to a few seconds. With guidance from Microsoft Unified and Azure cloud infrastructure, the system was developed in just two days. Kraft Heinz Company is also using Microsoft technology to improve efficiency. The firm, which has manufactured food and beverage products for 150 years, teamed up with Microsoft to create an AI agent using Azure OpenAI. The Cookbook, which is currently being piloted at a US production facility for Heinz Tomato Ketchup, enables employees to more easily analyse production data, including batch thickness and colour, improving efficiency. To move from insight to execution at speed without sacrificing accountability or customer trust, retailers must design AI systems that allow speed and responsibility to “reinforce” one another, according to Miller. “The most effective approach is a human-in-the-loop by design model, where risk determines autonomy and technology provides transparency at every step,” she explains. “In this model, low-risk processes can be automated within defined guardrails; medium-risk decisions use AI to generate recommendations with human approval; and high-risk scenarios remain human-led, with AI acting in an advisory role.” Agent365 operationalises these risk tiers while Fabric, Foundry and Work IQ act as governed capability layers to ensure decisions like reducing the price of a seasonal product line to clear the stock before the end of a quarter bring about the best results for retailers. This is achieved through scenario testing and drift Carlsberg worked with Microsoft to build an AI-powered assistant on Azure AI and Azure Open AI Service to help supply chain teams find information in seconds Photo: Unsplash/Elin Tabitha
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