40 COVER STORY Transformative AI Not only has the pandemic accelerated the shift to remote and hybrid work, but it has also had a large impact on the development of AI-powered solutions and according to Microsoft’s research centre, advanced AI and AI machinery has an “unprecedented opportunity” to transform the way people work. For instance, AI is helping to overcome the challenges of people working in different time zones. “We stopped thinking about space and locations when we began to work remotely,” says Teevan, highlighting the challenge caused by employees not always working in the same physical places as colleagues. “AI provides the opportunity to help employees make sense of data and different working zones.” For example, AI summarisation technology embedded into Teams provides individuals who are unable to attend online and hybrid meetings due to time zone differences with an outline of the key topics and action points, ensuring that everyone remains part of the discussion. Sales teams are also managing the different work zones of contacting customers both in person and online such as through video calls better with AI through Microsoft Viva Sales, which streamlines sales activities so that users no longer need to jump between multiple applications, appointments and emails. Powered by Azure and OpenAI, Viva Sales generates suggested email responses for sellers to use in various scenarios, including replying to an enquiry or creating a sales proposal. Viva Sales also uses natural language processing technology to generate call summaries, detect questions, calculate key performance indicators and extract action items, all to save time for sales members and to remind them to follow up on emails. The power of AI helps contact centre employees to focus on important tasks too. Vehicle manufacturer Mercedes-Benz is using Azure OpenAI to power the Mercedes Virtual Assistant, which uses conversational AI capabilities to respond to customer queries. Rather than calling helplines, car owners can submit questions either by chat or voice input and directly receive a relevant response, including images and descriptive videos to help them get to know their vehicle, helping to alleviate the pressure for workers in call centres. “As leaders look to embrace AI, it becomes more critical than ever to prioritise having a data-driven business, fortified with digital and cloud capabilities,” says Judson Althoff, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Microsoft. “This approach will help organisations leverage generative AI as an accelerant to transformation.” Enterprises are quickly realising the value of AI to deliver products and speed up the supply chain process. Global consumer goods company Unilever, for example, has partnered with Accenture and Microsoft to migrate to Azure and becoming a cloud-only enterprise, and to use Azure OpenAI to drive increased automation across its manufacturing operations and advanced analytics to help employees make better informed decisions. Meanwhile, India-based HDFC Bank is using Azure, Power Platform and Microsoft 365 to enhance its data-sharing capabilities, modernise and migrate its application portfolio and provide a secure digital workplace for its
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