Tag: Customer Spotlight

In this episode of “Digital Now,” Chris Capossela, chief marketing officer at Microsoft, explains the richer relationship that has developed between the company and its customers. “When they do well, we do well,” he says, explaining Microsoft’s evolution as an “empowering agent.”

“Digital Now” is a video series hosted by Andrew Wilson, chief digital officer at Microsoft, who invites friends and industry leaders inside and outside of Microsoft to share how they are tackling digital and business transformation, and themes like the future of work, security, artificial intelligence, and the democratization of code and data.

Also in this episode, Capossela and Wilson explore why companies must embrace “ruthless prioritization,” how innovation will be the way out of a tough economy, and why the impact of a company’s hits – think Windows, Office and Azure – far outweighs that of its misses.

Our annual partner conference, Microsoft Inspire, just concluded. The conversations I had with Microsoft’s partner community echo those I have had recently with leaders from both established organizations and earlier-stage enterprises. Leaders across industries share a commitment to innovation as the only path forward through uncertainty in global markets, especially as they continue to strengthen their security posture, reduce their carbon footprint, inject more visibility into their supply chains, and promote more inclusive prosperity in the communities where they operate.

I see this shared commitment as part of a trend I call digital perseverance. It is the ability of organizations to thrive despite risk when they harness and wield digital technology to achieve their business goals and do more with less. Here are examples of organizations that have embraced digital capabilities to persevere in collaboration with Microsoft.

Last week, Oracle and Microsoft announced the availability of Oracle Database Service for Microsoft Azure. Earlier this month, we completed the acquisition of Miburo to boost threat intelligence research into new foreign cyber threats, and Netflix announced Microsoft as technology and sales partner for its new consumer subscription plan. P&G has selected Microsoft as its preferred cloud provider to enable scalable predictive maintenance, controlled release, touchless operations and manufacturing sustainability optimization from diapers to paper towels. American Airlines has chosen Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform, applying AI, machine learning and data analytics to reduce time waiting on the runway, saving thousands of gallons of jet fuel per year and giving connecting customers extra time to make their next flights.

The industrial metaverse has the potential to simultaneously improve supply chain resiliency, business efficiency and sustainability. When organizations make or move goods, they leave a carbon footprint. With the industrial metaverse, they can simulate manufacturing processes and supply chain scenarios infinitely in the cloud before a product is made or moved. The result: less waste, water consumption and carbon emissions — all while creating better products more efficiently and sustainably.

Manufacturers set new quality standards with digital twins and mixed reality
Belgium-based AB Inbev, the world’s largest brewery, is creating a digital model of their breweries and supply chain with Azure Digital Twins, enabling brew masters to make the highest quality beer and front-line operators to remotely monitor quality and traceability data. Bosch is using an Integrated Asset Performance Management (IAPM) solution powered by a digital twin on Azure that enables rotating machines, like turbines and electric motors, to indicate when they need maintenance to run with optimal costs and maximum efficiency. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, a global leader in industrial robots, is building a digital environment for robotics, which enables collaboration in the industrial metaverse and remote operations of robots utilizing Microsoft technologies like Azure IoT and Azure Digital Twins. Hyundai Motor Group is establishing an electric vehicle battery asset management platform with Azure Digital Twins to increase battery management efficiency. Denmark-based Novo Nordisk, a leader in the global production of diabetes medicine, is using technologies like HoloLens 2 and Dynamics 365 to make production processes more efficient while maintaining the highest quality standards and complying with authority requirements and regulations.

AI and supercomputing technologies unlock mobility innovations across the value chain
Croatian automotive company Rimac Technology is combining its high-performance engineering with Azure high-performance computing to build powerful electric vehicles through virtual prototyping. Automotive supplier thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology is standardizing its complex customer relationship management with Dynamics 365, reducing the time-to-quote by 75 percent. U.K.-based Wayve is scaling the development of AI-based models for autonomous vehicles with Azure supercomputing technologies. Germany-based Volocopter is working with Microsoft to develop an aerospace cloud system on Azure to address the cloud computing requirements of urban air mobility and autonomous aviation. With Azure OpenAI Service, CarMax is imagining new ways to make the process of buying a pre-owned vehicle hassle-free, bringing integrity, trust and transparency to the used car industry. With HoloLens 2, Volkswagen and Microsoft are putting augmented reality glasses in motion, unlocking new entertainment experiences for passengers.

Sustainability is today’s differentiator across industries for a better future
Norway-based energy company Equinor is establishing a Microsoft Power Platform Center for Enablement to nurture greater innovation through low-code development, helping the company achieve its sustainability goals as it transitions toward renewables. Czech Republic’s energy supply company innogy is using Microsoft Power Apps to create detailed proposals for custom home photovoltaic systems 25 percent faster. Grupo Bimbo, the Mexico-based producer of baked goods and snack foods, is rolling out Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability to all its global operations to collect, track and analyze strategic metrics of its sustainability strategy, working toward zero waste and zero carbon emissions. French start-up Metroscope is working with Azure Kubernetes Service and Microsoft security services to develop digital twin solutions for energy production plants which improve monitoring and efficiency with the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 900,000 tons per year. With Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability, the Las Vegas Raiders, a U.S. National Football League team, can monitor energy, water and waste metrics and usage and keep track of HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) electrical usage.. For example, its sustainability metrics dashboard helps analyze weather data and regulate the temperature within its stadium.

Cybersecurity solutions empower hybrid work and drive customer trust
The Food Standards Agency is overseeing food safety in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, keeping the U.K.’s food supply safe and secure with Microsoft Purview. The City of Marion in Australia is also using Purview to provide residents with secure government services. Adobe is giving Acrobat users the ability to apply Purview Information Protection labels and policies to their most important documents. The global exam provider Pearson VUE aces data safety with Microsoft Sentinel across a multicloud and hybrid cloud environment. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is shaping the future of work for state employees eight years ahead of schedule, enabling its 40,000 employees to work securely from anywhere with the help of Defender for Office 365, Microsoft 365 and Surface tablets. With Azure Active Directory and Microsoft Sentinel, iHeartMedia is delivering a more streamlined user experience and lower licensing costs in the audio media world where security is non-negotiable. Tower in New Zealand is enhancing its employees’ remote work experience with Microsoft Endpoint Manager. With attack simulation training in Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Malaysia-based telecommunications company Celcom has reduced the time spent on creating attack simulations by 70 percent, improving awareness for its workers to recognize cyberthreats and phishing attempts.

Access to digital technology connects communities and helps people in need
U.K.-based nonprofit Barnardo’s is connecting hundreds of thousands of families and children in need to valuable social services each year, deploying Microsoft Cloud services and Microsoft Surface devices to help employees be more effective. Part of the United Nations, Switzerland-based International Organization for Migration is moving to the Microsoft Cloud to focus on its humanitarian mission of supporting end-to-end migrant journeys, helping 30 million people every year with practical solutions to migration issues stemming from social, cultural, environmental and economic causes. The Housing and Urban Development Company of São Paulo in Brazil is working with Dynamics 365, Power Apps and Microsoft 365 to identify community needs and create housing projects through a centralized customer relationship management system. Singapore-based Nanyang Polytechnic is working with Microsoft to open the Centre for Applied AI to nurture AI talent for the workforce of the future and empower small- and medium-sized enterprises with the tools and expertise they need to embark on their digitalization journey. Thanks to broadband access provided through the Airband initiative and local broadcasting partner Telecaribe, 650 children from eight schools around Ovejas, Colombia have been able to experience internet connectivity for the first time.

With digital perseverance as an imperative, companies have continued to deliver outsize business value and outcomes, despite significant challenges in recent years. We remain incredibly inspired by what they have achieved and how they are positioned to navigate the landscape ahead. Further, we are committed to serving as their digital technology partner of choice on that journey.

Tags: AI, Azure, Digital Twins, Dynamics 365, HoloLens 2, metaverse, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Cloud, Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Teams, Security, Surface, sustainability

Judson Althoff visits Kroger’s QFC store in Redmond, WA, one of two pilot locations featuring connected customer experiences powered by Microsoft Azure and AI. Also pictured, Wesley Rhodes, Vice President of Technology Transformation at Kroger.

Computing is embedded all around us. Devices are increasingly more connected, and the availability of data and information is greater now than it has ever been. To grow, compete and respond to customer demands, all companies are becoming digital. In this new reality, enterprise technology choices play an outsized role in how businesses operate, influencing how employees collaborate, how organizations ensure data security and privacy, and how they deliver compelling customer experiences.

This is what we mean when we talk about digital transformation. As our CEO Satya Nadella described it recently, it is how organizations with tech intensity adopt faster, best-in-class technology and simultaneously build their own unique digital capabilities. I see this trend in every industry where customers are choosing Microsoft’s intelligent cloud and intelligent edge to power their transformation.

Over just the past two months, customers as varied as Walmart, Gap Inc., Nielsen, Mastercard, BP, BlackRock, Fruit of the Loom and Brooks Running have shared how technology is reshaping all aspects of our lives — from the way we shop to how we manage money and save for retirement. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this month, Microsoft customers and partners highlighted how the Microsoft cloud, the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) play an ever-expanding role in driving consumer experiences, from LGE’s autonomous vehicle and infotainment systems, to Visteon’s use of Azure to develop autonomous driving development environments, to ZF’s fleet management and predictive maintenance solutions. More recently, at the National Retail Federation (NRF) conference, Microsoft teamed up with retail industry leaders like Starbucks that are reimagining customer and employee experiences with technology.

In fact, there is no shortage of customer examples of tech intensity. They span all industries, including retail, healthcare, automotive manufacturing, maritime research, education and government. Here are just a few of my favorite examples:

Together with Microsoft, Kroger – America’s biggest supermarket chain – opened two pilot stores offering new connected experiences with Microsoft Azure and AI and announced a Retail as a Service (RaaS) solution on Azure. This partnership with Kroger resonates strongly with me because I first met with the company’s CEO in 2013 soon after joining Microsoft. Since then, I have witnessed the Kroger-Microsoft relationship grow and mature beyond measure. The pilot stores feature “digital shelves” which can show ads and change prices on the fly, along with a network of sensors that keep track of products and help speed shoppers through the aisles. Kroger may eventually roll out the Microsoft cloud-powered system in all its 2,780 supermarkets.

In the healthcare industry, earlier this month, we announced a seven-year strategic cloud partnership  with Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA). Through the partnership, WBA will harness the power of Microsoft Azure cloud and AI technology, Microsoft 365, health industry investments and new retail solutions with WBA’s customer reach, convenient locations, outpatient health care services and industry expertise to make health care delivery more personal, affordable and accessible for people around the world.

Walgreens Boots Alliance will harness the power of Microsoft Azure cloud and AI technology and Microsoft 365 to help improve health outcomes and lower overall costs.

Customers tell us that one of the biggest advantages of working with Microsoft is our partner ecosystem. That ecosystem has brought together BevMo!, a wine and liquor store, and Fellow Inc., a Microsoft partner. Today, BevMo! is using Fellow Robots to connect supply chain efficiency with customer delight. Power BI, Microsoft Azure and AI enable the Fellow Robots to provide perfect product location using image recognition to offer customers different types of products by integrating point of sale interactions. BevMo! is also using Microsoft’s intelligent cloud solutions to empower its store associates to deliver better customer service.

Fellow Robots from partner Fellow, Inc. are helping BevMo! connect supply chain efficiency and better customer service. The robots are powered by Microsoft Azure, AI and Machine Learning.

In automotive, companies like Toyota are breaking new ground in mixed reality. With its HoloLens solution, Toyota can now project existing 3D CAD data used in the vehicle design process directly onto the vehicle for measurements, optimizing existing processes and minimizing errors. In addition, Toyota is trialing Dynamics 365 Layout to improve machinery layout within its facilities and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist to provide workers with expert support from off-site designers and engineers. Also, Toyota has deployed Surface devices, enabling designers and engineers to fluidly connect in real time as part of a company-wide investment to accelerate innovation through collaboration.

A Toyota engineer uses Microsoft HoloLens to perform a process called “film coating thickness inspection” to manage the thickness of the paint for consistent coating quality on every vehicle.

Digital transformation is also changing the way we learn. For example, in the education space, Law School Admission Council (LSAC), a non-profit organization devoted to law and education worldwide, announced its selection of the Windows platform on Surface Go devices to digitize the Law School Admission test (LSAT) for more than 130,000 LSAT test takers each year. In addition to the Digital LSAT, Microsoft is working with LSAC on several initiatives to improve and expand access to legal education.

One of the thousands of Microsoft Surface Go devices running Windows 10 and proprietary software to facilitate a the modern and efficient Digital LSAT starting in July 2019.

Beyond manufacturing and retail, organizations are adopting the cloud and AI to reimagine environmental conservation. Fish may not be top of mind when thinking about innovation, but Australia’s Northern Territory is building its own technology to ensure the sustainable management of fisheries resources for future generations. For marine biologists, a seemingly straightforward task like counting fish becomes significantly more challenging or even dangerous when visibility in marine environments is low and when large predators (think: saltwater crocodiles) live in those environments. That is where AI comes in. Scientists use the technology to automatically identify and count fish photographed by underwater cameras. Over time, the AI solution becomes more accurate with each new fish analyzed. Greater availability of this technology may soon help other areas of the world improve their understanding of aquatic resources.

Shane Penny, Fisheries Research Scientist and his team using baited underwater cameras as part of Australia’s Northern Territory Fisheries artificial intelligence project with Microsoft to fuel insights in marine science.

With almost 13,000 post offices and more than 134,000 employees, Poste Italiane is Italy’s largest distribution network. The organization delivers traditional mail and parcels but also operates at the digital frontier through innovation in financial and insurance services as well as mobile and digital payments solutions. Poste Italiane selected Dynamics 365 for its CRM, creating the largest online deployment in Italy. The firm sees the deployment as a critical part of its strategy to support growth, contain costs and deliver a better, richer customer experience.

Poste Italiane’s selection of Microsoft is part of their digital transformation program that aims to reshape the retail sales approach and increase cross-selling revenues and profitability of its subsidiaries BancoPosta and PosteVita.

These examples only scratch the surface of how digital transformation and digital capabilities are bringing together people, data and processes in a way that generates value, competitive advantage and powers innovation across every industry. I am incredibly humbled that our customers and partners have chosen Microsoft to support their digital journey.

Tags: AI, Azure, Cloud, customers