Cloud-base AI will disrupt the way we do business

Software technology is expanding into new industries very rapidly, reshaping society and how businesses operate. As can be seen in this clip from the World Economic Forum, we are now in the early stages of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It is really exciting to see how technology is enabling us to move much quicker and how it is redefining every aspect of our lives, from what it means to be human to what it means to work.

A lot has been said about how businesses are handling their digital transition. When companies shift to data storage and computing in the Cloud, they are taking their first big step towards a much bigger transformation. Digital progress is a revolution in the making and every breakthrough comes with potential applications of technology that shake up the players of the global business economy.

Superintelligence is among us, with innovative business applications

Look at Artificial Intelligence (AI), for instance. Some super intelligent machines are able to replicate specific human tasks. Not so long ago, in March 2016, Google’s AI won the fifth and final game against the Korean Go genius Lee Sedol. Other robots have played against the best chess players in the world before, but this victory attracted considerably more attention from the media because this 2,500-year-old game is more complex than chess or other strategic games, as it requires playing in a more intuitive way.

Real-world applications of ‘humanized’ technology sounds like a faraway concept, however, it is already present around us. The development of self-driving cars is a reality, people are buying drones for Christmas gifts and we are familiar with personal virtual assistants on different devices.

In regards to business applications, the examples are also wide and varied. To name a few: AI-based facial recognition is used for security or marketing purposes, machine learning helps companies collect fresh business insights, and the financial services industry has started using AI and algorithms to make stock trades without any human intervention.

This democratization of AI technology among households and the workspace is set to grow even larger. Today, AI is a hot topic among IT players, who are increasing their efforts to make this technology more accessible to everyone. Last September, Microsoft Corp. announced the creation of a new Microsoft AI and Research Group, bringing together Microsoft’s world-class research organization with more than 5,000 computer scientists and engineers focused on the company’s AI product efforts.

The goal of the Redmond crew is to infuse AI into everything they deliver across the company’s computing platforms and experiences. So, we can expect to hear about integrated Cloud-based AI more often.

Cloud-base AI will disrupt the business landscape

It is worth asking whether these first steps of AI technologies will evolve into the next phase of Cloud computing. According to an interesting analysis recently published on CIO.com (August, 2016), this forthcoming technology may be sufficiently disruptive to alter the existing dynamics of the consolidated market of Cloud computing, in contrast with other models such as the mobile or the Internet of Things (IoT), that have not had such a big impact from the Cloud perspective. AI requires a new computing infrastructure and support for brand new programming paradigms and frameworks, which supports CIO’s analyst viewpoint.

From a business aspect, the fact that the roadmap of technology players will pass through integrating AI with the Cloud is very good news for enterprises of any industry and size. This would mean that every company utilizing solutions from the Cloud will be able to incorporate superintelligence capabilities in their services and have access to the many and future applications of AI.

Some compare the AI ‘revolution’ to the ‘Mobile shift’ that the business arena went through a few years ago. The Mobile-first transformation opened doors to disruptive new business models for industries that would never before have been expected. Take the way Uber or Airbnb have shaken-up their respective industries, for example. AI is opening a new way for companies that want to become truly disruptive by relying on the Cloud. Mobile was only a few years ago, now we are getting closer to an AI-first world that will disrupt the way we do business, once again.

Cloud-powered AI for Office 365

Many businesses are already driving digital transformation through IT, changing the way they engage with their customers, empower their employees, optimizing their operations and transforming their products.

Empowering the workforce is a cornerstone of business transformation and this is what Office 365 aims for. During the last annual Microsoft Ignite conference in Atlanta, Microsoft revealed that Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Sway and Excel will be backed up by different Cloud-powered AI capabilities for Office 365, such as Tap for Word and Outlook – a new feature that helps existing content from inside an organization to be easily re-used by mining the Microsoft Graph and surfacing what is most relevant to a company at the moment when a document or email is being written.

Microsoft is also leaning towards AI to help transform business processes and customer relationships. Soon, a Relationships Assistant in Dynamics 365 for Sales will be introduced that leverages the AI capabilities of the Cortana Intelligence Suite to bring together multiple pieces of customer data from across the network, providing an at-a-glance portfolio of relevant information that helps inform future engagements.

Would you like to learn how the DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND THE CLOUD OPPORTUNITY is changing the IT business world? Or are you interested in learning how you can best LAND OFFICE 365 SALES AND EXPAND YOUR CLOUD BUSINESS?
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