Welcome to the AI Agent & Copilot Podcast, analyzing the latest AI Copilot and agent developments from Microsoft and its partners, delving into customer use cases, and exploring how AI plus the Cloud helps customers reimagine their business.
In this episode, Stephen James, CEO of sa.global, speaks with Tom Smith about his upcoming sessions at AI Agent & Copilot Summit. James is speaking in a fireside chat with John Siefert, CEO of Dynamic Communities and Cloud Wars.
Highlights
Early Investment in AI (02:30)
sa.global is primarily a Dynamics partner and became involved with AI early on, investing in sa.global Labs in 2019. The Labs’ objective was to deliver transformative AI in the context of enterprise business solutions. He highlights the shift from productivity to a transformative approach to AI, emphasizing the importance of aligning AI strategies with business objectives.
Preview: Practical Tips for Achieving Transformative AI (04:31)
James plans to share practical tips from sa.global’s practice to help organizations achieve transformative AI results. He emphasizes the importance of having senior leadership discussions about business challenges and potential ROI. He aims to stimulate attendees’ imagination by sharing real-world examples of transformative AI projects.
AI Agent & Copilot Summit is an AI-first event to define opportunities, impact, and outcomes with Microsoft Copilot and agents. Building on its 2025 success, the 2026 event takes place March 17-19 in San Diego. Get more details.
Learning from Customer Engagements (09:25)
James explains the importance of considering factors like ability to achieve, impact, and realize incremental delivery in AI projects. He shares that sa.global uses a consulting-style matrix to assess these factors and prioritize projects. Further, he emphasizes the need for senior leadership buy-in and the role of sa.global as a catalyst and enabler of technology initiatives rather than a technical supplier.
Future Outlook and Industry Focus (13:33)
James believes the focus with AI will shift towards industry-specific AI solutions, as seen with Microsoft’s industry-focused approach. Transformational AI requires a deep understanding of specific industries and processes, which is where sa.global’s industry knowledge comes into play. He emphasizes the importance of grounding AI solutions in specific taxonomies and relationships to achieve scalability, accuracy, and sustainability.
Ask Cloud Wars AI Agent about this analysis
