The Monthly Tech-In: July 2023

Hello again! For us in Seattle, it's sunshine season and we figured you too might be getting ready for your next getaway. Whether you're staycation-ing, traveling abroad or powering through your work day, we hope you’ll take a few minutes before you go to learn about some major advances that can speed up scientific discoveries.

We’ll also fill you in on Microsoft’s largest event of the year for partners, introduce you to a resilient engineer, and share a story about family farmers using AI in Argentina.

You might call it our time to tech-in with you on our summer of innovation.

Keeping up with the conversation: Summer of innovation

For some of you, school may be the last thing on your mind this time of year, but did you know chemistry helps create 96% of all manufactured goods? Today, scientists often tap a mind-boggling amount of computing power to simulate new chemicals and compounds before they study them in the lab. These virtual experiments lead to innovative solutions such as new medicines and clean fuel.

Now, there will be even more tools to speed up scientific progress. At the Azure Quantum: Accelerating Scientific Discovery virtual event, Satya Nadella announced an ambitious goal: “To compress the next 250 years of chemistry and materials science progress into the next 25.”

One new system will help get us there: Azure Quantum Elements, which combines high-performance computing, AI and quantum computing. A big part of its power lies in Copilot in Azure Quantum. With it, scientists and product developers can use conversational language to find and visualize data; or quickly develop, configure and run simulations. Some customers are already noticing project duration dramatically shrink from six months to one week using these tools.

Last week during Microsoft Inspire, we celebrated our 400,000-strong partner ecosystem that supports customers all over the world. For those seeking extra credit, we asked Bing to create a word scramble to test your knowledge. (*Answers below.)

At the event, we recognized the great achievements of our partners, including the winners and finalists of the 2023 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards. We also announced AI-powered advancements to empower our partners, including Bing Chat Enterprise, Microsoft Sales Copilot, Power Automate Process Mining and an expanded AI partnership with Meta.

Leadership that’s not artificial

Shrivaths Iyengar started wearing artificial limbs when he was 6. At Microsoft, the engineer worried that coworkers would be reluctant to follow a leader who had disabilities. Instead, he discovered that his experiences made him a stronger, more empathetic manager who enjoyed problem solving with his team.

‘Uncharted realms where dazzling creatures mesmerize’

Have an image in your head you want to bring to life, but don’t know how to draw? How about letting Bing Chat and its Image Creator channel your inner artist? For the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, we challenged creators to experiment with AI and they surprised us – and themselves – with their fantastic sea creatures.

Bank on this system to lower carbon footprint

Summer plans could mean keeping close tabs on finances. Some banks are also keeping close tabs on their environmental impact. Thanks to a partnership between Microsoft and Temenos, those banks are able to do so with carbon emissions calculators with new features. Canada’s EQ Bank used this new tool and found they lowered their footprint by 93% by using cloud banking instead of on-site datacenters.

AIM’ing to solve problems at the speed of light

We led this issue with quantum, and here's something else that's super-fast: a one-of-a-kind computer. Built by a multidisciplinary group working together at the Microsoft Research Lab in Cambridge, U.K., the Analog Iterative Machine (AIM) can reduce bottlenecks in solving a particularly difficult but important type of math problem, at the speed of light. This kind of optical computing could address societal challenges like detecting fraud and cutting down the time it takes to do an MRI scan.

Keeping family traditions alive with AI

For many families, summer means traditions like reunions and cookouts. In Argentina, one family found that AI could help them sustain and evolve agricultural traditions that began with their great-grandparents. Elizabeth Panella and her siblings inherited vineyards, and like many small farmers, they struggled without a lot of modern resources. Now, AI-powered tools help them compete against bigger vintners by watering, fertilizing and harvesting more efficiently and sustainably.

How’d you do? Word scramble answer key: Partner of the Year, Bing Chat Enterprise, Sales Copilot, Open Source, Azure.