The sudden manner in which mainstream media has hooked onto the generative AI story would make many think it’s brand-new technology. The truth is, AI has been developing for decades.

As I mentioned in my last blog post on generative AI, the “new thing” about AI is that it’s now business as usual. As AI technology develops, we develop with it, helping clients inspire designs; overhaul how internal knowledge is shared and discovered; reinvent mission-critical processes and much more.

The problem when complex technology is described by most media is that vast areas of understanding get boiled down into snappy catchphrases.

Don’t worry, AI is not going to steal your job or replace you. In fact, what you gain is a tool that supercharges the everyday. With AI, you can make routine processes easier and more efficient. And it can also help take employee and customer experiences to another level.

Beaming the future to the present
This week, I’m attending the Ai4 conference, where Avanade’s CTO Florin Rotar joined fellow industry leaders to showcase all that’s possible in the emerging AI era. It’s clear that generative AI will become as pervasive as the mobile phone and the internet. As Florin has noted before, it’s very much the new wave in computing. This wave is rooted in large language models (LLM) such as GPT-4, and applications such as ChatGPT, but things move quickly.

Back at Microsoft Build, the developer conference heavily focused on AI potential, we looked closely at Project Florence, in which computer vision models are being developed. These models allow field agents to record footage of processes and their challenges in real time. AI then comes into play, generating the reports, reviewing the equipment and offering insight-driven improvements for the business to consider. Project Florence has now been woven into Azure and into computer vision cognitive services. Business improvement applications are becoming more readily available all the time.

However, value realization from AI is not just about the technology. As Florin highlighted in his presentation this week, organizations that use AI to empower people to be the best version of themselves are most successful. He also pointed out that as an IT community, we have traditionally not focused enough on people. Based on what we heard from attendees, that’s changing. We had many great conversations with IT and business leaders keen to understand how we can help them ready their organizations and people for AI. In Florin’s presentation, he identified three keys to AI success:

1. AI-first is people-first. Focus on enabling humans to be their best.
2. Agree the values and purpose to anchor your AI readiness journey.
3. Encourage organizational curiosity, but durable responsible AI is key.

Establishing durable responsible AI requires that you both embed the necessary tooling and enable your people to use it.

By 2025, 85% of business and IT leaders expect AI to increase revenue growth.

The real AI concerns
If there are genuine concerns about generative AI, it’s in the field of data and intellectual property (IP) security and compliance, and the dissemination of false information. The implementation of a robust, responsible AI framework and governance model is where the focus needs to be. This is how Avanade is now helping its clients. With the power and security of Azure, we can implement an AI framework that’s secure, safe, and protective of IP.

Guardrails are essential to avoid incorrect information or false records and prevent false, or sensitive information from being disseminated publicly. Microsoft is already creating a secure ecosystem for AI models that remove such risks from AI tools. This means highly regulated verticals, such as healthcare, utilities or finance, have an adherence to law built into their AI tools.

According to Avanade research, 63% of business and IT leaders do not completely trust the data their company uses today.

Ahead of the curve
Avanade is currently working with over 300 clients globally on generative AI. Early signals are that CIOs and CTOs need help with strategy, road mapping, governance, and support with the latest Microsoft AI models and co-pilots.

This is why we’re here. We can help further your knowledge, explore the possibilities, and build with the latest generation of AI tools. We’ll show you first-hand how generative AI can create transformative value at your organization. We can:

• Introduce generative AI concepts and capabilities
• Showcase the advantages of Microsoft’s generative AI technologies
• Bring you the benefits of partnership with OpenAI
• Help you discover the ethical and responsible AI frameworks critical to success
• Explore use cases and best practices to realize value fast with generative AI

68% of executives believe the benefits of generative AI outweigh the risks.

Learn and build with generative AI today
Avanade can fast-track your AI journey so you can start building business value with generative AI today.

When you’re ready to work with generative AI tools, consider registering for a 2-hour session or a 2-day, hands-on workshop, where we’ll dive deeper into AI use cases, explore trust issues and responsible AI frameworks. We’ll then map out how to rapidly deliver ROI at your organization.

We’ll deliver a plan to get started with a quick-win, proof-of-concept together with Avanade experts. Learn more about our workshop and contact us to register today.