Month That Was (MTW) Unplugged - Feb-Mar 24

With everyone back in action, a lot of conversations on taming the beast called "GenAI" and the holy grail of use cases, February was a busy month for everyone. Anyone and everyone is trying to "figure out" their narrative, offerings and consumption of the ever-expanding possibilities in the GenAI space. The space is heating up and so is the weather in Hyderabad. The picture above depicts "Durgam Cheruvu", a once placid lake now surrounded by towers, offices, malls, street food vendors and of course its two edges tied by a hanging bridge. Still, it's a wonderful place to take a quick walk or run with a 4km (approx. 2.5 miles) path around it.

Talking about running, that reminds me of classical - "Crawl, Walk, Run" approach for new initiatives. The important part is to "MOVE" and not stay still in whatever we are driving. Best wishes for your success in all your endeavors.

From the world of AI

OpenAI's NEW AI "SORA" Just SHOCKED EVERYONE with the text to video capabilities. This was not the first, but definitely worth taking a look at! You can check out the details here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK6y8DAPN_0.

If you are looking for the back story, I found an interesting video with a realistic view of the offerings, its challenges and shortcoming and of course the brilliance. You can check that out here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agTJpLS7cjY

Updates from Microsoft        

• Microsoft AI Tour keynote session by Satya Nadella | February 8, 2024 - The AI tour started in Hyderabad on Jan 31, followed by Satya himself being in Bengaluru and delivering a keynote that you can check out here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY2CpA05IWI.

Key takeaways were around "AI Flywheel for unstoppable you" and focus on "The next platform shift". Satya outlined top 3 AI Transformation imperatives and opportunities viz. (1) Unlock Productivity, (2) Build transformation AI solutions and (3) Co-innovate with trust and safeguard business.

• This Is AI … for sustainability - The event forced the attendees to reimagine how to think about Sustainability and had a great lineup of speakers - Judson Althoff , Melanie Nakagawa, Shelly Blackburn, Satish Thomas and many more. You can register and watch it here - https://vshow.on24.com/vshow/AI_Sustainability/exhibits/AIS2.

• Empowering employees with generative AI at their fingertips - Check out - Empowering employees with generative AI at their fingertips. Do remember - (1) The mean return on investment for companies worldwide is $3.50 for every $1.00 invested in AI, with 5% realizing an average return of $8.00 for every dollar invested. (2) 70% reported being more productive, and 71% said they saved time on administrative tasks, AND (3) 68% reported that Copilot improved the quality of their work and jump-started the creative process
• Microsoft customer service and support agents become super agents with Copilot in Dynamics 365 Customer Service - Microsoft rolled out Microsoft Copilot in Dynamics 365 Customer Service to its customer service and support agents in 2023. Copilot helps agents be more productive, respond to customers with insight and empathy, and better balance their personal and professional lives. Check out details here - Microsoft Customer Story-How Microsoft customer service and support agents become super agents with Copilot in Dynamics 365 Customer Service

• The Right Way to AI: A great article from Microsoft Workload. It covers what we’re learning about successful AI adoption from the companies getting it right. If 2023 was all about AI’s promise, 2024 will be all about the proof. Five steps to nail your AI rollout: (1) Get your data house in order, (2) Be intentional about your rollout, (3) identify champions to lead the way, (4) prioritize skilling, and (5) help people build new work habits. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/the-right-way-to-ai
• Announcing 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards nominations - It is time of the year when the entire partner community can bring out the best of stories, the impact created and help bring the learnings to market. It’s a 400,000-strong Microsoft partner ecosystem now, with partners from over 100 countries/regions around the world contributing to this ecosystem. The nominations will be accepted until 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time (PT), on April 3, 2024. If you are interested, head to - Announcing 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards nominations - Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

Updates from Inner Circle Conversations        

<Complete section truncated for the newsletter due to NDA with MS and updates can't be shared publicly>

Updates from Infosys        

• Launch of MIET - We at Infosys Microsoft Practice launched our M.I.E.T (Microsoft Immersive Experience Theatre) - an immersive experience for our clients and teams across locations where we can see solutions and offerings in action. Watch out this space, there is more to come.

• Innowave 4.0 ("Practice Thought Leadership Initiative in its fourth year of execution) - Closure of Stage 1 as all thought leadership articles move to next stage of evaluation by judges. You can check out the thought leadership artefacts released to market from previous versions of Innowave here - https://www.infosys.com/services/microsoft-dynamics.html (Section: Insights)

• E.ON turns to Windows 365: E.ON, one of Europe’s largest energy companies, chose Windows 365 to replace an existing on-premises virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution that was difficult to scale and costly to maintain. By introducing Windows 365, E.ON empowered more employees to work from anywhere, simplified management with Microsoft Intune, and supports Windows 11 on all Cloud PCs for a harmonized environment. You can check out this customer story here - Microsoft Customer Story-E.ON turns to Windows 365 to deliver a scalable, reliable, and modern cloud solution for flexible work

• Infosys SALES EFFECTIVENESS Story at MICROSFT AI Event in MUMBAI: Infosys has adopted Microsoft D365 Sales and is now infused Generative AI capabilities with sales copilot. Saaransh Khanna share a LinkedIn post on this. Mumbai marked the third region for the Microsoft AI Tour. The event brought together industry leaders like Srividhya V.S. from #Infosys and Anand Tomar from #McDonald's for a fireside chat with Emily He . The panel explored how Generative AI can drive innovation, efficiency, and growth. It was an exciting discussion to hear how Infosys has adopted Microsoft D365 Sales and leveraging Generative AI capabilities with Sales Copilot.
• Infosys Responsible AI: Vision & Purpose - We at Infosys published our responsible AI vision under Infosys Topaz umbrella and this publicly available here - This covers the seven key tenets - (1) Transparency & Clarity, (2) Fairness & Eradicating Bias, (3) Equal Access & Inclusivity, (4) Safeguarding Human Rights, (5) Human + AI, Not Human vs AI, (6) Ethical Innovation, and (7) Global Responsible AI adoption.

Before we close        

This is the section which i had added few months back to talk about industry voices and aspects which are impacting the industry and world at large. Understanding of these elements in important in strategy definition, tactical planning and operational imperatives. Have a read...

• SAM ALTMAN WORRIES AI COULD GO "HORRIBLY WRONG" - Sam Altman, at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, said he fears that things could go "horribly wrong" with AI and called for an international body to regulate AI, comparing such an initiative to what the International Atomic Energy Agency does for nuclear power. You can check out the same here - Sam Altman Worries AI Could Go "Horribly Wrong" (futurism.com)

• Four chokepoints accounting for more than half of global trade - A great read from Aparna Bharadwaj (Global Leader - Global Advantage practice, Global customer insights specialist at BCG and a friend/batchmate from IIML 2003 batch) shared a very interesting perspective. As per her LinkedIn post, more than 50% of #globaltrade faces the risk of disruption at four major chokepoints around the world: the Suez Canal, the Strait of Hormuz, the Straits of Malacca and Taiwan, and the Panama Canal.
• HBR On Leadership / Episode 45: A great podcast on how the Best Leaders Drive Innovation. You can listen in Linda Hill views on this here - How the Best Leaders Drive Innovation (hbr.org). I found few aspects very interesting, sharing snippets from the podcast - "People who shepherd innovation can’t rely on formal authority. Instead, they need to understand how to get teams to co-create with them, which requires mastering three key roles: architect, bridger, and catalyst, or the ABCs of innovation". At another place it said - "You cannot tell people to innovate. You can only invite them.” So, true!

Before I close, if you like this newsletter, please do Help Spread the word and share the link to your network to Subscribe on LinkedIn. Have a wonderful month ahead! Till next time...