Microsoft’s Responsible AI Principles & Copilot with Mike Borg Cardona
Microsoft MVP and Chief Content Officer Aaron Back was on location at Directions NA, which took place in Orlando, Florida, from April 16-19.
In this video, Aaron speaks with the Principal Program Manager of Microsoft, Mike Borg Cardona. The two discuss Microsoft Copilot, a key theme at the conference, and responsible AI.
Highlights
00:08 — Aaron asks Borg Cardona to introduce himself and describe his role at Microsoft. Borg Cardona has worked with Microsoft’s business applications for the last 18 years. Today, he works exclusively with Dynamics 365 Business Central. He notes that he is responsible for “delighting users” and creating a productive experience. By leveraging AI technologies, and the rest of Microsoft’s business applications, Borg Cardona and his team are finding that they are able to help users reach the next level of productivity.
01:23 — Artificial intelligence is a key theme at Directions NA. Borg Cardona participated in a session at the conference that showcased some of the new features of Microsoft Copilot, specifically embedded into Business Central. Aaron asks for the highlights of these features.
01:46 — In March 2023, Microsoft announced Copilot, which is “really the world’s first AI assistant across both ERP and CRM,” explains Borg Cardona. With Microsoft Copilot, although still in its infancy, its first skill set is around copywriting. Within Business Central, this helps users create compelling and engaging product descriptions, which helps them bring those products to market faster.
03:06 — Borg Cardona explains how Copilot seamlessly integrates into Shopify. “Copilot will help you with generating that marketing text and providing suggestions that you can use, and also tailor that to your own brand as well. So you can choose a tone of voice, you can choose which quality of your product you want to emphasize…then with a few quick edits and review, you’re ready to publish that to your online store and start selling on Shopify.”
04:00 — Aaron notes how a key focus within the discussion around artificial intelligence was the time savings that AI can provide for users, in addition to focusing on the validity and actuality of the AI-generated information. Borg Cardona explains that AI principles that Microsoft has embedded into the design phase of these capabilities, which ensures the human is a central part of the process.
05:35 — Aaron asks Borg Cardona to define the differences between Open AI ChatGPT and Azure’s Open AI services. “So across Dynamics 365 Copilot, we are betting on Azure Open AI. So Azure Open AI is built for enterprise, it’s got sort of Microsoft’s grade of compliance, security, and privacy, and it’s built on responsible AI principles…that is why Azure Open AI is currently what we are focused on,” says Borg Cardona.
07:36 — Aaron notes that Microsoft, during Directions NA, was clear to highlight that Microsoft Copilot is called so for a reason, and not called Microsoft Autopilot. “The word copilot allows you or connotates, that it’s an assistant to the human because you’re keeping the human in the loop.”
09:00 — “This is AI built by humans,” Borg Cardona notes. “We’re simply saying humans are the creators, they’re still at the very center of the experience. They’re in control. But when they need assistance…this is when you call upon Copilot to really assist you.” Aaron agrees with this notion because it doesn’t hinder creativity. Rather, Copilot is an assistant to human creativity.
10:10 — Aaron asks Borg Cardona about what Microsoft customers, partners, and ISVs are excited about. AI is a huge topic for customers and partners, explains Borg Cardona — especially the capabilities around generative AI. “We want to be the democratizing force, really, behind this technology, and be the technology partner to help them out to make sure every partner in our community can really get started with AI.”
