Empower business users with AI

AI delivers the greatest impact when not confined to technical teams. To unlock its full potential, organizations need to empower the people closest to business challenges—those who understand the context and can apply insights immediately. When business users and subject matter experts actively participate in AI-driven processes, they turn technology into tangible outcomes.

AI creates most value when business users participate

AI isn't just for developers and data scientists—it can empower everyone to achieve more. Research from McKinsey suggests that generative AI could automate nearly 60% of tasks that require applying expertise—work that was previously difficult to automate. Much of this potential comes from enabling business users and subject matter experts to work directly with AI tools. When employees across functions can apply AI to their day-to-day decisions and processes, organizations unlock efficiency, innovation, and new ways of creating value.

Let's look at how AI empowers business users in some real-world scenarios:

• Nonprofit organizations: Nonprofits use AI to improve fundraising and outreach. Staff can use AI tools to segment donors, personalize campaigns, and predict giving patterns, enabling them to maximize impact without adding overhead.
• Pharmaceutical: Employees in this sector manage enormous volumes of biomedical data. With AI models at their fingertips, they can quickly surface insights, test hypotheses, and accelerate research—without waiting on data science teams. This agility helps tackle the next wave of medical challenges faster.
• Sales: When Microsoft first used AI to score marketing leads, the results were off. The issue? A disconnect between data scientists and sales teams. Leads were being disqualified based on flawed assumptions. The fix was collaboration: sellers shared what data mattered most, and technologists refined the models. Now lead scoring is far more accurate, proving that business input is essential for AI success.
• Sustainability: Energy companies and manufacturers use AI to optimize resource consumption and reduce emissions. Business teams can analyze operational data to identify inefficiencies, predict equipment failures, and design greener processes—helping meet sustainability goals while cutting costs.

These examples show the power of putting AI in the hands of business users. With access to AI, they can uncover hidden insights, improve collaboration, and automate repetitive tasks—unlocking opportunities that were once out of reach.

AI for everyone

Research overwhelmingly finds that leaders and employees are maxed out, but business demands continue to rise. Many see agents as the way forward.

At Microsoft, our goal is simple: make AI accessible to everyone—from accountants to researchers—without requiring a data science background. AI should amplify human capabilities, not replace them. Think of it as a copilot that helps employees apply their expertise more effectively, combining human judgment with AI-powered insights to spark innovation and improve outcomes.

To achieve this, we're embedding intelligence into the business applications people use every day, so AI becomes a natural part of work—not an extra step.

For Frontier Firms, skilling isn't a one-time effort—it's an ongoing journey. As transformation accelerates, new skills and capabilities become essential. Many organizations face a widening skills gap, and bridging it's critical. We see this as an opportunity to innovate your skill-building strategy, aligning learning with business priorities and embedding AI literacy across roles and functions. Becoming a frontier firm means more than deploying tools—it requires a continuous, enterprise-wide approach to reskilling and change management.

Finally, we're committed to advancing AI responsibly. A human-centered approach is essential—one that values diverse perspectives and emphasizes listening, learning, and adapting as technology evolves. Together, we can ensure the next generation of AI is designed, built, and used responsibly.

But how does this approach work in complex jobs where expertise is key? Next, let's look at some examples of how business users can work with AI already embedded in the applications they use every day.