Microsoft Ignite 2023, the annual event for developers and IT professionals, took place last week. This event announced significant changes for Windows, Microsoft 365, and Azure that will profoundly impact businesses.
At BeSharp Experts, your independent advisor in the realm of Microsoft licenses, we are eager to share the most notable announcements and innovations with a special focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Copilot – The new standard in conversational AI
Copilot is the new name for Bing Chat, Microsoft’s conversational AI service assisting users in finding information, completing tasks, and getting things done. Available in Bing, Edge, and Windows, Copilot provides a natural and intuitive way to interact with your device and the web. Microsoft aims to make Copilot available to everyone, rebranding Bing Chat Enterprise as Copilot. Users with a Microsoft Entra ID gain access to Copilot with commercial data protection features at no additional cost.
Expansion of the Copilot experience
Microsoft Copilot, a suite of tools enhancing productivity through AI, took center stage during Ignite 2023. Microsoft aims to make Copilot an essential component of every role, from office workers to developers and IT professionals. Some key announcements include:
- Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365: A personalized dashboard demonstrating how Copilot influences organizations. New features in Outlook and Microsoft Teams help users better prepare and collaborate during meetings.
- Microsoft Copilot Studio: A low-code tool allowing customization of Copilot for Microsoft 365 by connecting to critical business data. IT teams can create custom copilots for internal or external use, utilizing organization-specific workflows.
- Microsoft Copilot for Service: A role-based support copilot helping businesses accelerate AI transformation in customer service. It uses generative AI to support customer interactions and provides agents with real-time insights.
- Copilot in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides: A copilot combining generative AI and mixed reality to assist frontline workers in efficiently completing complex tasks.
- Microsoft Copilot for Azure: An AI companion for IT, featuring a role and goal-based chat experience. It simplifies daily IT management tasks, provides insights into workloads, and unlocks untapped Azure functionality.
Microsoft’s own AI chips for Azure
Microsoft is developing its own AI chip, Azure Maia, and an Arm-based CPU, Azure Cobalt, to power its Azure data centers. These custom silicon chips, expected to launch in 2024, will enhance the performance and efficiency of Azure’s cloud computing and AI services, while reducing reliance on Nvidia’s GPUs. With this move, Microsoft aims to realize its vision of an AI-based future, offering faster, more cost-effective, and scalable solutions than competitors. By creating its own AI chip, Microsoft also seeks to distinguish itself from other cloud providers, such as Amazon and Google, who have already invested in custom silicon for their AI platforms.
Microsoft Mesh & Immercive spaces
Microsoft announced at Ignite that Microsoft Mesh and Immersive Spaces in Teams, currently in public preview, will be generally available in January 2024. Immersive spaces turn Teams meetings into a 3D experience with avatars, currently available in the classic Teams for Windows and VR headsets. Microsoft plans to expand this feature to the new Teams desktop app. Powered by Microsoft Mesh, a 3D immersive experience, it is available on PCs and Meta Quest VR headsets, positioning itself as Microsoft’s version of the metaverse.
SharePoint Premium
In this era of digital transformation and AI, every organization must manage a growing amount of content across various platforms and applications. Microsoft is expanding its content management portfolio beyond SharePoint to tackle this challenge. SharePoint Premium is a new offering providing structure, security, and governance for your organization’s content, enabling Copilot to leverage it more effectively. SharePoint Premium includes various services set to be available between now and the first half of 2024, as announced during Microsoft Ignite 2023.
Microsoft Planner
Managing projects can be challenging, especially when you have to use different apps for different tasks. That’s why Microsoft is creating an integrated project management solution that simplifies your workflow and boosts productivity. Microsoft Planner, available from spring 2024, combines the best features of Microsoft To Do, Microsoft Planner, and Microsoft Project for the web into one seamless experience within Microsoft Teams. Whether you want to create a personal to-do list, assign tasks to your team, or track the progress of a complex project, Microsoft Planner helps you get things done faster and easier.
Microsoft Fabric: A game-changer for data and AI
Data and AI are crucial for transforming businesses, products, and services, but they are often challenging to access, analyze, and integrate. Microsoft Fabric is a new AI-driven platform that unifies data estates on an enterprise-grade foundation, allowing users to connect, discover, and share data, as well as build, run, and optimize AI models and applications. Microsoft Fabric supports various data and AI scenarios, including business intelligence, machine learning, data engineering, and analytics.
Microsoft Fabric integrates with Copilot, Microsoft’s intelligent chat assistant, helping users communicate with data and AI via voice or text. Copilot can answer questions, provide guidance, and make suggestions based on the context and intention of the user. Copilot can also collaborate with other users and applications, such as Power BI, Azure Synapse, or Teams. Copilot is powered by Microsoft’s advanced AI technologies and can learn from user behavior and feedback. By integrating with Copilot, Microsoft Fabric also offers a new and engaging way to interact with data and AI, using natural and conversational interfaces. Microsoft Fabric is currently in the preview phase and will soon be available to more customers and partners. Microsoft invites data and AI enthusiasts and professionals to join the Microsoft Fabric community and provide feedback.
Windows AI Studio
Windows AI Studio is a new platform for developers who want to experiment with AI models on their Windows PCs. It provides a user-friendly interface to set up your workspace and access various tools and models. Whether you’re new to the field or an experienced expert, Windows AI Studio can help you create, test, and deploy AI applications with ease.
Security Copilot
Security Copilot is a set of AI-driven features that help customers manage their security posture and respond to threats across Microsoft’s security solutions. Leveraging Microsoft’s expertise and innovation in AI, Security Copilot provides customers with insights, recommendations, and automation capabilities to enhance their security operations and reduce complexity. Security Copilot is designed to address the challenges customers face in the evolving threat landscape, such as an expanding attack surface, skills shortage, and alert fatigue.
Loop for productivity
Microsoft Loop is a versatile app that helps you collaborate and organize your work. You can access it from any device, whether it’s web or mobile (iOS and Android). If you are a commercial customer with a Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard, or Business Premium license, you can enjoy all the benefits of Loop.
Here are some new and upcoming features that will increase your productivity:
- Workspace Status (in private preview): Get a quick overview of your project’s progress, deadlines, and status changes.
- Workspace Descriptions: Set up your project with a clear purpose and smart suggestions for relevant files.
- Power Automate Integration: Automate your workflows and tasks and receive notifications in Loop tables when something changes.
- Teams Integration (in preview by the end of 2023): Start a workspace from Teams with one click and have it filled with the documents and notes from your meeting.
At BeSharp Experts, we are excited about these thrilling announcements from Microsoft Ignite 2023, and we are ready to assist our clients in optimizing their Microsoft software investments in light of these innovations. Feel free to contact us for tailored advice and guidance.