AI is driving deeper into organizations and has the potential to revolutionize everything from basic productivity functions to customer journeys to how people interact with technology. Those are key messages delivered by Alfredo Ramirez, general manager of go-to-market and strategy for BizApps at Microsoft, in a discussion with John Siefert during the recent AI Copilot Digital Summit.
Copilot Evolution
Ramirez cited a few points to indicate where we are today with Copilot and AI. The first is that AI is here – it’s durable and it wasn’t just a fad of 2023. “We’re seeing that AI is going to continue to permeate everything that we do and transform our core business processes,” he said.
The second is that AI applications are starting to drive deeper into the business. When AI tools first became available, they were like neat toys. But very quickly, developers began building applications to optimize business processes. Early use cases included creating meeting summaries with action items. Now, organizations are determining how to use Copilot beyond baseline productivity enhancements.
The third point about the current state of AI and Copilot: Everyone wants to know the impact and ROI of this technology. “We’re starting to see some really interesting ways to understand that,” he acknowledged. Over time, Copilot and AI have been causing micro-transformations that often turn into macro impacts in an accelerated environment. Further, every organization is becoming process-driven, so it’s vital for leaders to understand the core processes that drive their business. “If we don’t understand them, we can’t improve them.”
Future-Agile Systems
Business and tech leaders often talk about wanting to make their systems future-proof. However, there’s been a shift in focus and now they want to determine how to make systems future-agile – that is, able to evolve and adapt to the business’s changing needs.
“It’s a change in the delivery mechanism,” Ramirez said. It enables scaling geographically and in size. AI transformation has become more about creating layers of adaptability and flexibility within core processes. It allows organizations to change how they engage with technology and software. “It’s causing us to completely rethink things…You’re fundamentally reshaping the way that we as humans interact with software, so that’s quite exciting.”
Reimagining the Customer Journey with Copilot
No one company operates exactly the same from a process perspective. However, one area with potential to operate in similar fashion across organizations in a given industry is the customer’s journey. This gives an opportunity to reimagine the optimization of that journey for customers through these tools.
“It’s an opportunity to accelerate turning that into a connected digital life cycle, and then put AI into it,” Ramirez suggested. The digital transformation journey is being enhanced and accelerated through AI. Microsoft considers two ways it can help its customers accelerate their customer journeys:
- Build libraries to help customers get started with different use cases by industry or functional area
- Help customers and partners ideate
Microsoft goes beyond providing its feature sets. “It’s more so like a co-creation process with customers,” Ramirez described. “Where can we drive the most impact through transformation in your process and leveraging AI that will ultimately change how you run your business?”
It’s important for Copilots to also be in line with an organization’s brand, which helps further with ideation and design. “Having personality infuse its way through the AI is truly the definition of having a reimagination machine. It enables the personality of that organization to come through in the innovation,” Siefert noted.
A Copilot that represents what the brand represents, as well as customized AI, is something Ramirez expects to see through innovations from customers.
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.
