The possibilities for startups to use AI to move faster and smarter—and not break too many things—are at the top of the tech giant’s agenda. These include generative AI tools to boost developer productivity and happiness (GitHub Copilot) and AI assistants built into every work application (Copilot for Microsoft 365).

“It’s a seismic shift,” says Boyd. “Events like these are really important because they’re grounded in the reality of what AI can do today. What are the practical use cases? How you can leverage it to drive those productivity gains, to build that new consumer experience, to have the impact you’re trying to drive from it? And what can it do in terms of transforming business, individual experiences, the economy, the way we work?”

A comprehensive look at AI for startups

Headline speakers at the massive Microsoft AI Tour on February 7th include Alysa Taylor, Corporate Vice President, Azure and Industry, and US special guests Scott Guthrie, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President, Cloud and AI, as well as Steven Worrall, Managing Director, Microsoft Australia and New Zealand.

The more exclusive AI Deep Dive session the next day will delve into the real-world approaches startups are taking to the problems of putting AI, machine learning, and data analytics tools into practice right now.

Boyd believes that the best approach to overcome these obstacles is to embrace the “copilot mentality,” a way of thinking that is integrated throughout Microsoft Copilot’s line of AI-powered products for creativity and productivity that were released a year ago.

“What we’re seeing is the emergence of copilots for everything,” Boyd tells Startup Daily. “The AI assistant working alongside you in a practical, meaningful way to deliver business productivity and customer experience. That is across every software platform and every consumer experience.”

Boyd believes that the best approach to overcome these obstacles is to embrace the “copilot mentality,” a way of thinking that is integrated throughout Microsoft Copilot’s line of AI-powered products for creativity and productivity that were released a year ago.

Boyd tells Startup Daily, “What we’re seeing is the emergence of copilots for everything.” “The AI assistant assisting you in a useful, significant manner to improve customer satisfaction and business productivity. This applies to all software platforms and customer experiences.

Traveling quickly and in a large scale

From your emails to your presentations, Copilot’s technology—which is based on OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Bing’s Microsoft Prometheus model—is now incorporated into all Microsoft 365 apps. In the long run, that will alter how each of us operates.

If focus on particular domains in which companies are succeeding, the most significant innovations originate from platforms such as GitHub Copilot.

The programming platform, dubbed “the world’s most widely adopted AI developer tool” and currently utilized by one in three Fortune 500 organizations in the US, is assisting developers in coding 55% faster and facilitating noticeably faster software development.

“I’ve worked in startups, I’ve worked in big corporates and there’s always a backlog,” Boyd says. “If you bring in GitHub Copilot, you’re looking at how you can burn through those opportunities faster. How can I develop, code and deploy faster? How can I do that more seamlessly and drive that productivity?”

With GitHub’s Damian Brady, Senior Manager of Developer Advocacy, AI Deep Dive will go into the “how.” Additionally, demos of technologies like Fabric, the new AI-powered data analytics platform, and Azure AI Studio, Microsoft’s platform for creating generative AI solutions and bespoke copilots, will be available.

“We’re really diving into how to take the next step of building your Azure OpenAI copilot for your business,” adds Boyd.

Considering the AI user experience

For Boyd and the founders he has been working with, how firms go about creating generative AI solutions that actually benefit customers is a focal point.

“The value of the AI experience is often down to the data that it’s grounded in and the prompt engineering of your teams,” Boyd explains. “So knowing your unique context that goes into the copilot and the way that your customers interact with it – that’s another important area that people are focusing on.”

After spending time with entrepreneurs in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and other countries, Boyd claims that our local firms are among the finest to learn from because they were among the first to embrace. Boyd gives the example of a healthcare company he presently collaborates with, using generative AI to expand and speed up their product.

“We’re looking at a unique problem set, which is that there are an increasing number of people that need to access psychiatric services. But there is a massive over-demand compared to supply in that ecosystem,” Boyd explains. “But actually, what they are seeing in the market is often people are not getting interventions early enough in their healthcare journey to divert them away, and they end up in an acute experience.”

Psychiatrists may now lower overhead costs and spend more time with patients thanks to the “copilot” approach. Patients can also benefit from early intervention as generative AI chatbots can help with counseling and meditation.

“It’s using AI to deliver the right experience and driving productivity at both ends of that supply chain,” says Boyd.

Ethical and responsible AI

All firms will have to face the difficulty of creating copilots that follow particular ethical, legal, and customer standards.

The Federal Government’s recent declaration of its intentions to handle high-risk AI and create an expert advisory body to guarantee the safe and responsible use of AI has made it an extremely heated topic.

“We’re really of the belief that you’ve got to share in the responsibility of the way you are using AI,” Boyd concludes. “Be it transparency, be it working with regulators, be it working with government.”