From tech adoption to tech creation: Customers across industries are using advanced cloud and AI tools to build their own digital solutions

Four people working together in office

In December, we shared the State of Tech Intensity study, which highlighted a trend we are seeing in our work with customers: many organizations are going beyond simply adopting the latest tools and technologies and are building their own unique digital capabilities. This shift is accelerating change in these organizations and helping them propel their businesses forward in new ways. Leveraging innovative technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning built on Microsoft’s cloud, there were numerous examples this past quarter of initiatives our customers across multiple industries are pursuing — and how many are putting technology at the heart of their business strategies.

Rendering of car chassis
Example of software-driven connected chassis functions by ZF Friedrichshafen.

In automotive, manufacturers are redefining experiences to shape the future of mobility, while also helping address challenges that conventional computing alone cannot solve. Through our partnership with Ford, we’re exploring the potential for using quantum algorithms to solve urban traffic congestion. Bosch is leveraging Microsoft Azure data services to create one of the world’s first connectivity-based, wrong-way driver warning solutions aimed at helping drivers avoid serious accidents.

Global technology company ZF Friedrichshafen is transforming into a provider of software-driven mobility solutions, leveraging Azure cloud services and developer tools to promote faster development and validation of connected vehicle functions at a global scale. Ericsson is integrating its Connected Vehicle Cloud, which connects more than 4 million vehicles across 180 countries, with Microsoft’s Connected Vehicle Platform to accelerate the delivery of safe, comfortable and personalized connected driving experiences with our cloud, AI and IoT technologies. We are also helping Scania build a modern workplace foundation to break down communication barriers and meet ever-growing security requirements through cloud-based collaboration tools like Microsoft 365 and Teams.

Maersk container ship
Maersk strengthens a global operation with fast thinking and an integrated security solution.

In transportation and logistics, Danish company Maersk, one of the largest container shipping and supply vessel operators in the world, is leveraging Microsoft’s security capabilities in Azure and Microsoft 365 to streamline and automate classification for more than 6.6 million documents every month, improving communications and reducing the risk of data loss and regulatory non-compliance. Maersk has also implemented Identity Protection to further enhance its security posture.

Two people in KPMG office
KPMG’s digital shift fuels AI-empowered audits and more, reducing risk across every industry.

In highly regulated industries like insurance, where regulatory compliance and high security standards are a top priority, customers are choosing Microsoft as their trusted cloud provider to help ensure these needs are met while building new digital capabilities. KPMG is bringing the latest advances in cloud and AI to highly regulated workloads in tax, audit and advisory. This move is helping its clients achieve greater accuracy and decision-making capabilities, increased productivity and cost efficiencies with tools such as Dynamics 365 and Teams. German-based Allianz, along with our partner Syncier, is reimagining the insurance industry experience by creating a new cloud-based marketplace built on Azure with customized platform solutions and related services tailored to the industry. Automobile insurer GEICO is turning to Azure to modernize its internal business applications and create a frictionless experience for its customers, from real-time updates to performance and security. AXA, an insurance provider spanning more than 60 countries, is reimagining how it engages with its 105 million customers around the globe using Microsoft 365 productivity tools for its workforce.

In the public sector space, we appreciate the opportunity to work with the Department of Defense to develop and deploy their general purpose enterprise cloud infrastructure. Under the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract, we look forward to helping the DoD bring the latest technology to our men and women in uniform in the years ahead.

Photoillustration of NYC
Businesses are connecting people in new ways, from enhanced productivity to cloud transformations to helping people discover their favorite music and video.

Our customers in communications, services and media have a unique opportunity to meet the growing global demand within their industries — by advancing their business with cloud-centric strategies. Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications company, is using Microsoft Teams and the Microsoft Power Platform to work more collaboratively across the organization. They are also leveraging insights from PowerBI to break down data silos and create a unified source of truth to help meet the needs of more than 18 million customers. Japan-based NTT has chosen Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform for modernizing its global IT infrastructure and customer solutions in the areas of advanced analytics for cybersecurity threat intelligence and the hybrid-IT management platform. Our strategic collaboration with Nokia will apply our cloud, AI, IoT and machine learning expertise across mission-critical networking and communications to drive economic growth and productivity for both enterprises and service providers. We also further expanded our partnership with AT&T by announcing our first joint-offering, AT&T Network Edge Compute (NEC) technology, which weaves Azure services into AT&T’s network edge locations closer to customers, unlocking new scenarios for edge computing across industries.

KKBOX Group is harnessing the power of our cloud for new music and video streaming experiences for customers as well as AI technologies to help people more easily discover and listen to music. And in October, SAP selected Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud provider, deepening the relationship between our two companies in a differentiated way. Through this partnership, we have helped customers like Coca-Cola, Walgreens Boots Alliance and CEMEX with their transformation initiatives by successfully moving their SAP workloads onto Azure. This agreement signals a shared commitment to fostering the growth of the cloud ecosystem.

As we enter a new decade, I am extremely excited to see what new digital capabilities will emerge from our customers. From transforming businesses to advancing industries, the opportunity for our customers has never been greater, and we are ready to help them take the next step in their digital journey through close partnerships and new technologies.

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