A new survey reveals that artificial intelligence is
already transforming the way we work – but without the right tools, many businesses risk being left behind
And yet, despite the benefits, uncertainty lurks. An example from the Microsoft survey was the issue of expertise, with only 36 per cent of staff believing they had the skills necessary to use AI effectively in their jobs.
Younger workers (Gen Z) were generally more confident about their AI skills than their older counterparts. It’s easy to downplay generational differences, but with AI this will matter. Just as the PC transformed the workplace for Generation X, and the internet did for millennials, the careers of anyone under the age of 30 will be heavily shaped by AI.
This makes efficient adoption of AI by businesses not just a productivity issue, but a staff recruitment and retention issue, too. The majority (55 per cent) of leaders surveyed in the LinkedIn report say they are concerned about having enough talent to fill roles in the year ahead, with 71 per cent saying they’d rather hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced candidate without them. Is the next generation of AI-ready talent going to want to work somewhere without the right tools for the new job at hand?
Download the Microsoft
report here
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It is starting to dawn that AI won’t just be about turning on big data machine learning in a far-away facility. Making it work will require huge increases in processing power and intelligence to be embedded in everyday devices such as smartphones and laptops.
Against that yardstick, much of today’s tech might already be obsolete. The Microsoft survey found evidence for this, with a third (32 per cent) of ITDMs rating their organisation’s current device portfolio as not being up to the demands of AI, while 25 per cent of employees didn’t think that their laptop was powerful enough to cope with it.
Even without AI to contend with, 29 per cent of employees said their device slowed them down, with 26 per cent revealing that their work laptop would regularly crash or freeze. ITDMs were similarly dissatisfied, with 40 per cent reporting that their organisation was falling behind industry standards. More than half (60 per cent) agreed they could expand their daily use of AI if only they had access to the right tools.
The rise of generation AI
Power up your devices
79% of leaders say their company needs AI to stay competitive
f you’re an IT decision maker (ITDM) on the hunt for a workplace
productivity boost, AI is fast becoming a powerful ally. AI, it is said, will
transform customer service with natural language bots. Content creation will go from a skilled chore to something any office worker could accomplish.
Sales and marketing will analyse customer behaviour in minute detail. Data entry, customer service, meeting assistants, fraud detection, cybersecurity… no aspect of business will be left untouched by the potential of AI.
It’s a positive story backed up by a recent Microsoft survey of more than 1,600 employees and decision makers in the UK, which found that nearly half (46 per cent) of ITDMs already use AI in their organisation’s day-to-day work.
When asked where they use – or expect to use – it to drive value, priority areas included analytics (40 per cent), customer service (34 per cent), content creation (33 per cent), operations (32 per cent) and cybersecurity (30 per cent). No business function has been untouched by AI’s rise, however, with other key applications including research and development, design, sales and finance.
These findings echo the Microsoft and LinkedIn 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Report, which found that generative AI is being used by 75 per cent of global knowledge workers, a near doubling in only six months. Nine in ten users believed it saved them time, with almost as many agreeing that it made work more enjoyable while helping them to be creative. Executives were positive, too – with 79 per cent of leaders agreeing that their company needed to adopt AI to stay competitive.
The new Microsoft Surface
Screen time
AI users in
the workplace
function faster with the tech
I
the power of AI?
Are you ready to unlock
AI and cloud integration
• New Microsoft Copilot key gives quick access to Copilot experiences
• Windows Studio effects deliver new AI-powered camera functions with automatic framing, eye contact and background blur
• Access to Windows 365 cloud PC, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Azure Virtual Desktop (Microsoft virtual desktop platforms aimed at SMBs and enterprises)
• Integrated device management through Microsoft Intune
For years, powerful central processing units (CPUs) have been seen as nice to have. However, the demands of AI which increasingly require a new generation of neural processing unit (NPU) are changing minds.
“Research conducted by us in 2023 found that the majority of UK ITDMs plan to increase their enterprise hardware budget. They understand that when it comes to device quality, customers get what they pay for,” says Microsoft head of Surface Commercial UK, Alan Slothower. “Organisations need to back IT leaders so that they can empower the workforce with the tools and skills they need to drive commercial value in the era of AI.”
Microsoft has positioned its recently announced Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 for Business as the first examples of how this new generation of AI-enabled devices should perform. They are both based on Intel Core Ultra processors which feature the latest integrated NPU to handle AI-specific workloads, like Windows Studio Effects. The company says this makes a range of features possible, such as automatic framing, detecting a person in the camera field and cropping or zooming in as they move, and eye contact, which corrects eye movement for the viewer if a device user needs to look down from camera to screen.
Microsoft’s pitch for these devices isn’t just about power and features. Getting the best out of AI will require devices designed with it in mind. The PCs everyone has grown used to were good in their day, but AI is a different world. Return on investment will be about getting everything right, from the machine learning systems in the cloud to the humblest device and user experience.
The right stuff? Business chiefs fear they won’t fill roles this year
The new Microsoft Surface
Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6
Security
• Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-In for enhanced multi-factor authentication
• The Surface Pro 10 features an integrated Near Field Communication (NFC) chip
• Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 chip for enterprise-grade security and BitLocker encryption support
Hardware
• Intel Core Ultra 5 or 7 processors with Intel AI Boost NPU
• PixelSense displays, featuring anti-reflection coating. The Surface Pro 10, additionally, has a 114-degree field of view supporting up to 1440p resolution
Need for speed
IT leads want more powerful laptops
Tech support Employees need help
with AI skills
of workers report
that their laptop
regularly crashes
or freezes
26%
Perfect Surface The Microsoft Pro 10 for Business is
AI-enabled
32%
of IT heads think their company’s devices
aren’t up to the
demands of AI
of bosses would hire a less experienced candidate with
AI skills
71%
Machine yearning
IT leads want more powerful laptops