With the official debut of Microsoft Ventures in late May, the momentum is already underway in our first few months. Our aim is to use this fund to place bets on innovators who align to our investment focus – cutting-edge technologies that better enable digital transformation. The reception we’ve received, from both the entrepreneurs who are aligned with our ambitions and the VCs who see us as a valuable partner, … Read more »
Reflecting the significant investment Microsoft Corp. is making in cloud computing in Europe, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and president Brad Smith on Monday shared new details about how this momentum is taking shape. Nadella stated that Microsoft has more than doubled its cloud capacity in Europe in the past year, noted that the company has invested over $3 billion (USD) across Europe to date, and shared that Microsoft intends to … Read more »
This week delivered plenty of powerful news from Microsoft, from game-changing announcements about artificial intelligence to new avenues for business transformation demonstrated at Microsoft Ignite 2016 in Atlanta. Here’s the highlights. Microsoft announced on Thursday that it’s forming a new group to expand its artificial intelligence efforts by bringing together the company’s world-class research organization with more than 5,000 computer scientists and engineers. Harry Shum, a computer vision luminary and … Read more »
This week at Microsoft Ignite, we showed how we are infusing artificial intelligence (AI) broadly across Microsoft to help our customers. Our approach to this fundamental shift is to democratize AI and to make it accessible and valuable to everyone. We’re focused on building an AI stack spanning infrastructure, services, apps and agents and reaching key customer audiences — consumers, enterprises, developers. We are creating tools to make it easier … Read more »
We have all heard the mind-blowing statistics around growth in the number of mobile and digital devices, and the amount of data generated every day. These trends represent the digital shift our society is undergoing, and they are also having an acute impact on the business world. Every company in every industry around the world is now being challenged to transform from being an organization that uses digital technology, to … Read more »
As summer officially turned into fall, this week brought plenty of extraordinary news at Microsoft and beyond. Plans to build an “innovation corridor,” researchers’ technology-based battle against cancer and six students’ invention to help blind people are just a few of the remarkable and ongoing efforts that were announced in recent days. In an in-depth feature story on Monday, we learned about the scientists, engineers and programmers in Microsoft research … Read more »
A group of engineering students knew exactly what they wanted to build at a student technology competition, and they had just 15 hours to do it. As they worked furiously alongside other MIT students, the young women hit a series of snags. They had to wait in long lines to use the 3D printer and laser cutter they needed to shape various parts for their project. Some of the supplies … Read more »
Today, I’m pleased to announce the availability of Microsoft Azure from datacenters in Germany that offer a first-of-its-kind model developed in response to customer needs. The Microsoft Cloud Germany provides a new, differentiated option to the Microsoft Cloud services already available across Europe. Customer data in the two new German datacenters is managed under the control of a data trustee, T-Systems International, an independent German company and subsidiary of Deutsche … Read more »
At Microsoft’s research labs around the world, computer scientists, programmers, engineers and other experts are trying to crack some of the computer industry’s toughest problems, from system design and security to quantum computing and data visualization. A subset of those scientists, engineers and programmers have a different goal: They’re trying to use computer science to solve one of the most complex and deadly challenges humans face: cancer. “We’re in a … Read more »
We are at the threshold of unprecedented value creation for industry and society, driven by the accelerating pace of change enabled through digital technology. Whether it is about bringing together patient records so they can be shared quickly for better patient outcomes, or changing the focus from disease management to wellness in healthcare, digital transformation is changing how we work and live. Called the Fourth Industrial Revolution, this significant disruption … Read more »
In this edition of Weekend Reading, we have stories on how Microsoft HoloLens is helping thyssenkrupp Elevator service technicians make quicker fixes, how researchers achieved a major milestone in speech recognition and the beginning of the more than 4,200-mile Old Glory Relay, sponsored by Microsoft. Stairs are great for a workout and a necessity during emergencies. But when you need to get up several floors fast, nothing beats an elevator. … Read more »
