Microsoft debuts AI for frontline workers
Microsoft (MSFT) continued its AI push on Wednesday with the debut of an AI-powered version of its Dynamics 365 Field Service platform. The software, which is meant to be used by frontline managers and workers, is designed to speed up response times for things like services and repairs in the field.
The Windows maker says the new offering will speed up everything from work orders to maintenance and installation requests and should help frontline workers by providing real-time troubleshooting capabilities through access to remote experts.
In a blog post, Charles Lamanna, corporate vice president (CVP) of business apps and platform at Microsoft, said that the company’s recent Work Trend Index survey found that 60% of frontline workers struggle with having to do repetitive tasks. AI, the executive said, could address that.
“Microsoft is committed to investing in innovative solutions to help frontline workers thrive,” Lamanna wrote. “With AI transforming productivity across most segments of the workforce, our survey found that 65% of frontline workers are optimistic that AI will help them in their jobs.”
Copilot in Dynamics 365 Field Service, with Outlook and Teams integrations, is designed to help workers quickly create work orders, improve scheduling, and draft responses to customer messages.
The idea is to make it easier for frontline managers to ensure they’re responding to customers and setting up appointments with the appropriate technicians without having to spend all of their time filling out forms.
Microsoft also announced its Shifts plugin for Microsoft 365 Copilot. A plugin for the company’s Shifts app scheduling app, the offering will pull data from various sources including Teams chat history, SharePoint, and emails to give managers a more efficient means of scheduling employees to cover shifts and help bring on new workers.
Redmond-based Microsoft is banking heavily on AI to help push growth across its productivity, consumer, and cloud segments. During the company’s recent earnings call, CEO Satya Nadella focused heavily on customer uptake of AI products.
On July 18, Microsoft said it will charge customers $30 per user per month for its Microsoft 365 Copilot. The announcement boosted shares of the tech giant by around 4% on the day.
Microsoft is racing to ensure that it gets ahead of enterprise competitors in the AI wars. The company has dedicated billions to the technology including through a multi-year, multi-billion dollar deal with ChatGPT developer OpenAI.
But rivals including Google (GOOG, GOOGL) Amazon (AMZN), and others aren’t sitting on the sideline. And with the battle for AI dominance just heating up, it’s still early to call any one of those companies the dominant force in the space.
Daniel Howley is the tech editor at Yahoo Finance. He's been covering the tech industry since 2011. You can follow him on Twitter @DanielHowley.
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