Leading Change: AI Everywhere
Originally published on LinkedIn Jan. 19, 2025
Just like last year, I am starting this year learning more about and with AI and it is EVERYWHERE. Granted, most people are focused on the new opportunities with Generative AI (GenAI) introduced over the last couple years, but there has also been renewed focus on the AI that's been around years, including Analytical AI and other capabilities that have been available to customers, but in many cases underutilized. Tom Davenport and Peter High distilled a bit of that last month in the Harvard Business Review that would be worth a look.
As someone who has been in the business applications space for a while, the evolution of Copilots and Agents has been amazing to watch. Whether "CRM is the new mainframe" remains to be seen, but I can understand the sentiments here about the shift from traditional CRM & ERP solutions to more Copilot and Agent-driven capabilities across the enterprise. I still view these Business & Industry Copilot capabilities being at the "top of the stack" since they depend on the successful implementation and adoption of core infrastructure, security, and personal productivity capabilities to fully realize the business value and achievement of mission outcomes at scale. Give the Cloud Wars episode with Bob Evans and Charles Lamanna a watch when you can.
When I'm learning with AI, it has been awesome to see the capabilities of platforms like Second Nature that provide individualized coaching anytime based on direct interaction with AI personas designed to give a more realistic experience of customer interactions. I spent a few minutes with one of these personas reviewing some of our messaging around how Microsoft uses AI to enhance security - another priority area for me to learn more about this year. Within minutes, I had an in-depth analysis of this customer conversation, along with relevant resources to supplement my learning.
As someone who has delivered training to sales & delivery teams over the years, this is huge! The realistic scenarios, analysis and insights, and on demand availability, go a long way in ensuring consistent evaluation and objective assessments of individual performance without disrupting the flow of actual customer meetings. The live workshop experience with peers and SMEs like Lino Tadros, further reinforces these learnings, so don't expect me to bow out of coaching our MCAPS Academy TechBoost and TechExcel attendees anytime soon! People have badges to earn!
I have a feeling I will be updating my walking deck more frequently over the coming months as things further evolve in the intelligent business applications space. And there's a reason I still start off with (a slightly modified) W2HO approach to every conversation, esp. with customers in sovereign clouds:
Which: Which specific AI or Copilot feature are you referring to? Some features have been available in GCC/GCCH for years already!
What: Is it using GenAI capabilities or other embedded AI? More native GenAI capabilities have been enabled for use in 2024!
How much: Is it included “in” existing use rights, or “for” additional cost? Premium licensed users have some AI & Copilot features included with their licensing!
Outcome: Better understand significance of roadmap and timelines across multiple AI & Copilot offerings, esp. what can be used now v. later, and whether it may require an add-on license or capacity
There are Copilots and AI capabilities across the Microsoft stack, and disambiguating this up front goes a long way in ensuring successful implementation and adoption long-term.
Reference
Tom Davenport and Peter High, "How Gen AI and Analytical AI Differ — and When to Use Each," Harvard Business Review, Dec. 13, 2024, at https://hbr.org/2024/12/how-gen-ai-and-analytical-ai-differ-and-when-to-use-each
Bob Evans, "Charles Lamanna of Microsoft: AI Agents and Copilots ‘Completely Change’ How We Work," Cloud Wars, Jan. 17, 2025, at https://cloudwars.com/ai/charles-lamanna-of-microsoft-ai-agents-and-copilots-completely-change-how-we-work/
Dynamics 365 US Government https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/microsoft-dynamics-365-government
Microsoft MCAPS Academy AI Navigator Badges https://www.credly.com/organizations/microsoft-mcaps-bye/badges?sort=most_popular&page=1&name=ai+navigator
Power Apps US Government https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/powerapps-us-government
Second Nature https://secondnature.ai/product/
Nivine Zakhari, "Business Applications AI & Copilot Updates (Dynamics 365 & Power Platform)" https://fedbizappscoe.powerappsportals.us/Fed%20Biz%20Apps%20AI%20Copilots%20(Jan%202025)%20External.pdf
Nivine Zakhari, "Leading Change: Ethical AI," Learning it All, Feb. 4, 2024, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leading-change-ethical-ai-nivine-k-zakhari-vtfee/