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Microsoft Ignite 2024 Overflowing with AI News
Look for announcements around generative AI’s ROI, plus additions to Azure, Teams, Excel, security and more.
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MICROSOFT IGNITE — Microsoft says organizations committed to investing in generative AI are reporting a 10-times return on investment.
That nugget comes courtesy of a report conducted by IDC on behalf of Microsoft as the latter’s annual customer and partner event begins today in Chicago. Not surprisingly, most of the announcements you’ll encounter this week revolve around AI. This roundup and upcoming coverage will not address each development; frankly, there are too many upgrades and a number of them are very targeted.
Instead, here at Channel Futures, expect a relatively high-level overview of select Microsoft Ignite news that impacts partners and your customers. For instance, we look at enhancements for Azure, day-to-day tools including PowerPoint, Teams and Excel, and for certain security platforms, among some other tidbits. For all of the intricate details, the Microsoft partner and technical portals will be good places to look.
For now, before you review our take on the most relevant partner news in the slideshow above, consider these additional takeaways from IDC’s report on generative AI in advance of this week’s conference:
Gen AI usage jumped from 55% in 2023 to 75% in 2024.
For every $1 a company invests in generative AI, the ROI totals $3.70.
On average, AI deployments are taking less than eight months and organizations are realizing value within 13 months.
Within 24 months, most organizations plan to expand beyond pre-built AI solutions to advanced AI workloads that are customized or custom-built.
The ROI of generative AI is highest in financial services, followed by media and telco, mobility, retail and consumer packaged goods, energy, manufacturing, health care and education.
Forty-three percent of respondents say productivity use cases have provided the greatest ROI.
The primary way in which organizations are monetizing AI today is through productivity use cases. In the next 24 months, a greater focus will be placed on functional and industry use cases.
The top barrier when implementing AI is lack of both technical and day-to-day AI skills. (We spy channel partner opportunity here.)
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