Copilot Podcast: Microsoft’s Alfredo Ramirez on AI Skills, Democratized AI, Copilot Capabilities within the Ecosystem
In episode 7 of the “Copilot Podcast,” host Aaron Back is joined by Alfredo Ramirez, GM of GTM & Strategy for BizApps, Microsoft. The two discuss new Copilot capabilities inside of Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, Supply Chain, and Business Central, as well as the necessary skills needed to survive in the AI-empowered business age.
Highlights
01:00 — Aaron references the AI Summit Preconference, which took place at Community Summit North America 2023. Alfredo spoke at the Preconference, noting the ways that SMBs could benefit from Copilot capabilities across Microsoft Business Applications, as well as putting context around Microsoft’s AIM program. Aaron asks Alfredo to define Microsoft’s AIM program.
01:52 — AIM stands for “accelerate, innovate, and move,” notes Alfredo. The program is focused on encouraging customers to move to the cloud in order to take advantage of the “new, AI-empowered business age.”
“We provide guidance, we provide assessments, we provide funding offers, to help customers understand where they are, what they need to move, and what their options are in order to move into the cloud.”
04:32 — Aaron asks Alfredo to describe the new Microsoft Copilot capabilities available inside of Microsoft Dynamics 365.
The new capabilities specific to Retail, Customer Engagement, and Supply Chain “are really about deeply understanding the jobs to be done in these types of functions and looking at how generative AI can accelerate them.” For Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, new Copilot capabilities have been launched to help leaders launch personalized customer engagement campaigns. On the Supply Chain side, Microsoft announced a few innovations around demand planning. In Business Central, Microsoft Copilot is being applied to assist with product enrichment content.
10:15 — Aaron and Alfredo discuss the recent news around Copilot Pro, in which the 300-seat minimum has been removed.
“It’s going to be, I think, a really exciting development to see how AI continues to be democratized and more broadly used,” adds Alfredo.
11:29 — Aaron asks Alfredo to speak to the new AI skills required in today’s AI-focused business world, from the perspective of a business user, an IT professional, and a decision-maker.
Alfredo notes the need to ask good questions when interacting with AI — known now as prompt engineering. Regardless of the role you’re serving, it’s important to understand the context of your business and being able to define the questions you are asking of AI.
17:36 — As the conversation comes to a close, Alfredo explains that Microsoft has been “delighted with the adoption and the pace of adoption that we’ve seen for Copilot since its launch.” He shares a few customer stories of successful Copilot implementations, including Dominos UK, GJ Pepsi, and other major retailers.
