AI is rapidly advancing, with new business cases arising regularly. How can partners in the industry ensure they stay relevant? In a recent conversation with Cyril Belikoff from Microsoft Azure, The Channel Company highlighted the importance for partners to understand how to implement and profit from AI technology effectively.
Trends in AI Transformation
With nearly a quarter of partners already implementing AI solutions, many still need help to harness their full potential. Belikoff points out four key areas where Microsoft has observed notable transformations; the 2024 Forrester Total Economic Impact Study (TEI) commissioned by Microsoft validates these trends: customer engagement, employee experiences, reinvention of business processes, and innovation in research and development.
These transformative possibilities extend across various sectors and disciplines, underscoring the broad impact of AI regardless of company size.
Monetizing Generative AI
Generating revenue is essential for business sustainability and growth. However, numerous channel partners still need to learn how to capitalize on generative AI effectively. To illustrate the positive outcomes that Azure partners and their clients have experienced through AI integration, Belikoff highlighted two prominent success stories:
- Choice Market’s adoption of Microsoft Smart Store Analytics led to a retail revolution, resulting in increased sales overnight and a 30 percent reduction in shopping time.
- Atrium Health's innovative Microsoft AI tool streamlined the process of generating clinical records during patient consultations, saving doctors up to 40 minutes each day.
These instances highlight the wide-ranging uses of AI across various industries, revolutionizing traditional methods to drive business growth.
Critical AI Investments
For partners aiming to tap into the potential of AI, Microsoft's pivotal pre-sales and post-sales investments in AI and security offer a roadmap for success. Belikoff noted, “The first thing to acknowledge is that while we have these great investments in AI and AI is really driving the next wave of innovation, it is not in isolation from everything else in our customers' businesses.”
Incorporating AI into cloud services provides ample opportunities for Microsoft Azure partners, particularly in infrastructure migration, database management, and application modernization. Belikoff added, “Helping our customers migrate and modernize that infrastructure and then apply AI to it is plenty of work for all of us but also presents plenty of opportunity.”
AI Tool Optimization
Innovations like Microsoft Copilot, AI Stack, and CoPilot+ PCs usher in a new era of enhanced AI experiences for partners and their clientele. “These three categories are the breadth of the investments that we’re making and that our partners can use with their customers.”
Recently, Microsoft has shared updates to integrations with various models, or comparisons to various models, such as OpenAI's GPT-4o and 4o mini, along with Meta's Llama models that handle voice, video, and text inputs and outputs. They have also introduced enhancements to Microsoft Fabric enabling real-time intelligence powered by AI, delivering a transformative unified data and analytics platform for customers.
As channel partners navigate the dynamic AI landscape, Microsoft Azure is a stalwart ally, offering not only technical expertise, but also strategic collaboration to navigate the intricacies of AI integration and monetization.
For more insights from Cyril Belikoff, check out the full discussion on the AI In Action Newsroom. To explore further, visit the Azure for Partners website.