Blue and green circles
Read Time, 2 min.

“AI is the new electricity. Just as electricity transformed almost everything 100 years ago, today I have a hard time thinking of an industry that I don’t think AI will transform.” – Andrew Ng, AI Expert.

Today, AI is embedded into our lives. We access it on a daily basis. Mobile banking, social networking; the spam filters on our inboxes. Phones that respond to our voices.

We’ve all heard the hype, yet AI is one of the lesser understood technologies of our time. When it comes to business, many questions remain. How are companies using AI to transform their business? What exactly are the technologies being used to do it?

Microsoft and EY surveyed 277 companies, across 7 sectors and 15 countries across Europe to learn which AI technologies are already being used – and how.

What technologies and data solutions are within the scope of the study?

Developing a Culture of Adoption

Business leaders acknowledge the potential of speech recognition, computer vision, virtual agents, and other advanced AI technologies. However, their use is far from prevalent. The current focus is on narrower specific use technologies that support existing business. But, with these narrower efforts, companies are building their ability to utilise more advanced AI solutions in future. 

New Possibilities for Machine Learning

Machine Learning came out as the most commonly used of all the AI technologies among the companies surveyed.

Of the different types of Machine Learning, ‘supervised learning’ came out on top. This is where structured data is fed to software in order to find patterns.

Alongside Machine Learning, Smart Robotics was found to be the most useful of the technologies. This may be because they’re the most commonly used starting points. Whether they hold wider, longer term potential is unclear.

AI holds the potential to transform business in a radical way. But business leaders need to understand the full range of AI technologies and their applications. Only then will they grasp the opportunities and threats the technologies pose.

Free AI report: Artificial Intelligence in Western Europe - How 277 major European companies benefit from AI

Discover how your Western European peers use AI to digitally transform their organization

Discover more related articles per industry:

Education

Finance & Insurance

Government

  • a woman sitting at a desk using a computer

    4 reasons Citrix and Windows Virtual Desktop are better together for government agencies

    Government agencies all over the world experience a huge transformation. Obviously, because of the COVID-19 pandemic the trend of remote work has taken off in ways nobody could have imagined a year ago. Since offices closed and civil servants needed to stay in their homes, remote work collaboration was the only option to continue serving […]

  • a woman sitting on a sidewalk

    How to digitally transform citizen services

    “Having a website, call centre and information desk isn’t enough. Citizen services need to be streamlined to empower citizens and government employees alike.” The eBook ‘The digital transformation of citizen services’ is honest in its appraisal of the urgent challenge facing governments worldwide, whose citizens expect their digital experiences to match the quality of those […]

Healthcare

  • Asian female scientist working in a lab with conical flasks

    Navigating the odyssey of biomedical research

    In the healthcare industry, collaboration among multiple stakeholders is essential in driving biomedical research. Universities, Hospitals, Pharma, and Biotech are part of a complex and connected ecosystem. Healthcare institutions face critical obstacles when it comes to aggregating, harmonizing, and exploiting data for their studies. The lack of seamless knowledge sharing is hindering the progress of […]

  • A woman undergoing a scan

    Predictive maintenance is improving quality of life for cancer patients

    With cancer affecting more than 17 million people annually, a figure set to rise dramatically in the coming years, efficient and cost-effective treatment is essential. Since deploying Microsoft Azure IoT, IBA Worldwide, a leading developer of medical equipment for cancer treatment, has been able to reduce the cost of maintenance and improve repair times for […]

Manufacturing

  • Two field workers fixing airplane turbines

    Infographic: Enabling Connected Field Service

    Empowering manufacturers, no matter where you are in your field service journey

  • A Maersk container

    Maersk and Onomondo: a partnership that’s making all the right IoT connections

    “I suppose you could say we were dating at first,” says Michael Karlsen, CEO and co-founder of Onomondo, as he recalls his company’s first meeting with Danish shipping behemoth A.P. Moller – Maersk in February 2019. He admits that the two companies were an unlikely corporate couple: the small, Copenhagen-based start-up IoT operator Onomondo with less than 20 employees, and the massive, 79,900-strong Maersk with its global fleet of over 700 vessels and 3.5 million containers.   The match was made by the Danish Energy Authority. “They knew we were very interested […]

Retail

Discover more related articles per dossier:

Customer Stories

  • Vanoord ship in St Peterburg

    Van Oord eliminates manual processes to access real-time data and insight from any location

    By taking advantage of cloud-based AI solutions, one of the world’s largest dredging fleets was able to enhance its processes, free up resources, and focus on future innovation and growth. Imagine the scenario. Multiple ships in locations around the world, all with equipment documentation and certifications requested on a regular basis by internal staff, legislative […]

Digital Transformation

  • Citizen-Experience-Image

    A focus on Citizen Experience drives public sector transformation

    In recent times, providing a responsive and efficient service that meets citizens’ expectations has become a priority for public sectors across the EU. But as citizen experience (CX) – such as improving citizen satisfaction and providing efficient digital services – takes center stage, many national, regional and local government organizations are falling behind. Governments must […]

Security & Privacy

Tips

  • Asian woman looking at a tablet

    Microsoft Cloud for Retail: Connect your customers, people, and data

    Retailers have experienced times of tremendous uncertainty. It’s time to lean into change and thrive by becoming a resilient retailer that drives sustainable profitability and growth. We work closely with our partner ecosystem to offer proven solutions that help retailers in 4 key areas to become resilient and experience sustainable success:  Maximize the value of […]