Data and AI: Your new, favorite co-workers

In the Azure “Here’s how” Series we dive into the ins and outs of migrating business applications to the Azure cloud and the integration of AI. Certified partners, Microsoft experts, and clients share their insights, best practices, and use cases to help you set up a successful migration trajectory and achieve AI success. This time we share how anyone can put their data to work.

Putting your data to work

Many people are afraid to lose their jobs to AI, but you can also put the rise of AI in a different light. It will certainly take over certain repetitive tasks. Yet by doing so, it can help people to unlock their creativity again. Instead of viewing AI as a threat, we can look at it as an opportunity. We simply have to learn how to make AI work for us by putting our data to work. So, yes, jobs will change because of AI – but they will change for the better.

 Where IT meets business

A prerequisite for infusing AI into your operations is that your applications and data must run in the cloud. The key to a successful cloud migration is to ensure everyone is on board. Is the project only driven from the Business? Or is IT eager to migrate and modernize, yet there is no support from the Business? Chances are you will not be able to reap all the benefits of the cloud. To successfully drive the transformation, you need someone at the top of your organization to sponsor a migration. And you need others to believe in its potential.

After all, investments in technology such as AI are no longer a mere IT matter. All departments within the organization can benefit from having an AI solution. It can make employees more efficient, and it boosts productivity. It can also help protect your organization better against economic headwinds by improving organizational turnover. Think about intelligent future-oriented analyses, predicting market trends, and identifying relationships. AI can also make the mapping of customer spending much easier, giving you more real-time insight into purchasing habits. As such, one could see investment in AI becoming essential business support, ultimately driving business value.

Activating data

Having a lot of data does not automatically drive more intelligent insights. You first need to make the data smart to let it work for you. A cloud computing platform like Azure can help you achieve this. Migrating to the cloud gives you access to a scalable, reliable, and secure infrastructure to host websites, databases, AI, machine learning workloads, IOT and more. You will be able to modernize your analytics, build new functionalities directly in the cloud and infuse your applications with AI capabilities. By activating the potential of your data, you enable a digital transformation that drives faster data insights, revenue and growth – securing your competitive edge.

The new culture of working

To unlock the potential of data and AI you do not only need to migrate to the cloud and ‘make your data smart’. You will also need to adopt a learning mindset and establish a data-driven culture in the organization. Rather than fearing all the things you need to stop doing because of AI, focus on what you can start doing instead.

We were never meant to devote most of our time to storing and processing information anyway. With the help of AI, you can automate the repetitive tasks of jobs and become more efficient. Think about the possibility to base your strategies on predictive analyses instead of historical ones. You can even use AI to incorporate these analyses into a PowerPoint presentation, request recommendations based on data patterns, and tailor the AI solution so it caters to your organization specifically. This leaves us with more time for discovery and creativity.

Once we choose to fully integrate data and AI into our way of working – cross-department, for everyone to use – it can transform any organization. We can work faster, smarter, and independent of information. So start looking at data and AI as your new co-workers who can help you succeed.

Want to learn more about Azure cloud migration and AI? Here you will find more of our Azure “Here’s How” Blog Series, customer cases, whitepapers, and training materials. Embrace the future of digital transformation and unlock the true potential of your team and ideas!