The Record - Issue 18: Autumn 2020

49 be top-of-mind considerations going forward. Finally, but importantly, we know sustainability will become a much bigger focus. If this global pandemic has taught us anything, it has taught us that no business is 100 per cent resilient, but that businesses that are fortified with some form of digital capability, having built at least reasonable levels of ‘systems of intelligence’, are more resilient than others. Technology is at the centre of how companies will survive these situations and how they will thrive in the future moving forward. We have seenmore digital trans- formation happen out of necessity during the first two months of the crisis than we have seen in the last two years alone. In short, we say the keys to successful response and recovery are for manu- facturers to operate remotely everywhere, simu- late everything and automate anywhere. But this transformation is not just about tech- nology. By thinking first about how we can help people achieve more, we can uncover the true role of technology. It is just a tool, a way of helping people do amazing things, solve bigger problems, create more rewarding experiences and generate more value. That is the era we are in today. I see tremendous opportunity for leaders, for enter- prises, for our economies, and for everyone. With so many opportunities available, how do you think Microsoft’s partner ecosystem has evolved? And how are partners positioned to help manufacturers? With hundreds of thousands of partners, our ecosystem is stronger than ever. Together, we are powering breakthrough innovations for customers around the world. Our partners are embedding Microsoft technologies into their own solutions and delivering more differenti- ated, long-term value for customers. They are delivering consistent, repeatable, high-fidel- ity managed services on the Microsoft Azure cloud. They are going all-in on artificial intel- ligence (AI), helping make it accessible to and valuable for everyone. They are building