AI agents — what they are, and how they’ll change the way we work
An agent takes the power of generative AI a step further, because instead of just assisting you, agents can work alongside you or even on your behalf.
Today, we’re seeing a once-in-a-generation technology shift with AI. By using the power of natural language, AI is dramatically reducing the friction between humans and computers and reducing the barriers of computing for many roles within organizations.
Over the past year, I’ve spoken with many customers around the world about how their use of AI has evolved. They have gone from playing with consumer-facing solutions such as Bing Chat and ChatGPT, to deploying AI use cases that could reinvent their industries.
Examining how people approach the use of disruptive innovations is a passion of mine and the reason why I launched the Pivotal podcast earlier this year. Pivotal focuses on the inflection point where people learn what a technology is capable of and start using it to achieve a purpose, making an impactful change for their organizations or communities. That inflection point is fascinating, because it is through learning, building, experimenting, and deploying that we can draw important lessons on what works and what doesn’t.
In season one, we looked at how trailblazing innovators are leveraging technology solutions in all sorts of ways, from driving action on sustainability and scaling the teaching of digital literacy in developing countries, to accelerating conservation research and improving the experience for frontline workers.
I’m excited to launch a second season of the podcast, featuring 12 stories of innovators who are using AI and other cutting-edge technologies to solve problems for those they serve.
On the forefront of the unfolding AI transformation
Since Microsoft began integrating generative AI within our solutions such as Bing, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Microsoft Power Platform this year, people everywhere have been developing a new way of working alongside machines.
But we have always believed that our customers are the ultimate experts of their domain. By sharing our learnings, our AI capabilities, and our technology stack with them, we know our customers will leverage this technology in unexpected places and find surprising new ways to drive impact.
In season two, we talk to these innovators about what sparked their AI initiatives, what problems they are trying to solve, and how they have empowered their teams to experiment with AI while doing so in a responsible way.
Nota harnesses AI to revitalize local journalism
Season two opens by exploring how Nota, a tech startup, is using AI to help small newsrooms across the United States survive in the digital age.
Over the last two decades, large portions of the United States have become “news deserts” as small newspapers struggle to compete against media conglomerates and lose advertising revenue to digital platforms. The Brookings Institution has estimated that as many as 65 million people in the United States currently live in a county with only one local newspaper or none at all.1
According to Josh Brandau, Nota’s CEO, when a region loses its local newspaper, that vacuum reduces the quality of civic engagement within the communities of that region. Without a solid understanding of current events, citizens become more susceptible to misinformation.
Josh describes how a lack of resources within small newsrooms means that journalists must take on a variety of roles outside of reporting, including web-optimizing their content and producing multimedia stories.
Using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, Nota has built AI-assisted tools that help ease the burden on journalists. Their tools help newsrooms generate SEO-optimized content from news articles and can even create video summaries of those articles that yield greater engagement on social media platforms. These tools empower small newsrooms to drive traffic and produce more digital advertising revenue. They also free up local journalists to focus on the craft of reporting the news.
Josh’s passion for journalism began as a kid growing up around newsrooms, and he had a long career in the news industry before founding Nota. He shares how that experience has fueled Nota’s mission to help save small news outlets in underserved areas, and why this is such an important goal to support the fabric of local communities.
We’re really endeavoring to provide tools where journalists can get back to what they are effectively the best at, which is finding, uncovering, telling us about the communities that we live in and connecting us to those around us.
Josh Brandau, CEO, Nota
Join us to explore all the possibilities with technology
Season two features guests who are using AI and other cutting-edge technologies across different industries and use cases, from sports and education to retail, agriculture, and customer service.
Their stories remind us that people lie at the heart of any effort to drive change with technology. That is why the focus of the podcast is on the human side of tech implementation. We take the time to explore how these innovators prioritized their use cases, secured buy-in from stakeholders, and fostered the right culture to support the change they seek.
We hope you’ll join us by listening to season two of Pivotal, and get inspired by the possibilities that technology can enable for you.
New episodes of Pivotal will be released every other Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts.
