11 WELCOME Andy Clayton-Smith Executive Editor Technology Record Finding the balance For those still in the early stages of AI adoption, there’s an entirely understandable temptation to view new and highly autonomous tools simply as a way to speed the pace of work and drive efficiencies by automating tasks previously left in the hands of workers. Undoubtedly, by embracing generative AI and integrating it with existing operations, there are economies of scale to be had; however, for organisational leads with a more enlightened view of their evolving workplaces, the really powerful wins lie not in the ability to simply pare down headcount, but more in the opportunity to blend human expertise with highly advanced agentic partners, in a way that doesn’t seek to merely overhaul existing operations but to entirely change the business model. In his foreword to Microsoft’s latest Work Trend Index Annual Report, published in May of 2026, Dr Karim Lakhani of Harvard Business School posited that “work is no longer organised only around people, processes and applications. Increasingly, it is organised across people, agents and the systems that connect them”. In the cover story of this issue of Technology Record, corporate vice president, frontier industry advisory at Microsoft Frontier Company, Shelley Bransten, takes this proposition one step further, by highlighting recent examples of business leaders moving experimental AI pilots to become fully integrated platforms that can connect workflows, security and governance with ease. Along with commentary on the recently announced $2.5 billion investment in the Microsoft Frontier Company, a strategy that brings together 6,000 industry and engineering experts to work side-by-side with customers, we also have a wide array of insights from representatives of Microsoft partner businesses from Crestron to ClickShare and Shure to S&P Global Energy. As always, there is a wealth of news and opinion in this latest issue. I do hope you enjoy the read.
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