Each year Future Decoded brings together Microsoft's global customer and partners for two days of insight, showcases, and talks on the tech giant's latest cutting edge developments.
Image credit: Microsoft
As a Gold Certified Microsoft partner we're keen followers of the company's product and technology roadmap, so it was a delight for us to attend their huge Future Decoded event at a packed ExCel Arena for the second year in a row.
Key for us, and evidently for Microsoft, was the increased focus on AI, which took centre stage throughout much of the event. At the beginning of day one Microsoft released a flagship new report on the state of AI adoption, the headline stat being that half of UK bosses think AI will render their existing business models obsolete within the next five years. Despite this, just over half have no strategy in place to address the challenges it brings.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took centre stage on day two of Future Decoded
The corporate mantra of 'every company is a software company' got a fresh update, as speakers throughout the two days reiterated the need for all companies to become AI companies to keep pace with rising consumer and enterprise demands, and to cope with the sheer volume of data that organisations, consumers, and workers generate on a daily basis. Dozens of companies were showcased, from TfL using AI to make sense of the 1,000 Oyster card taps per second across their network, to GOSH and the British Heart Foundation. Indeed healthcare was a big theme at the event , with everything from 'seeing eye' apps to how the NHS is using AI to improve patient outcomes on display at the event.
On the lighter side of things, a quirky timeline of Microsoft's history let attendees walk through the ages from 1975 to the modern day;
Most exciting for us was Microsoft's drive to show how accessible AI is for organisations. Microsoft's Azure Cognitive Services, which we at Screenmedia have already been putting to use around our studios, provide off-the-shelf, manageable solutions for companies to take their first steps in testing out AI solutions, conducing feasibility studies and putting their first AI-powered products into the marketplace.
If you want to know more about what we learned about at Future Decoded, or chat to us about how you could start using AI to improve your products and services, get in touch and we'd love to talk.
Colin
Technical Projects Director