Business Tech News: Microsoft Is Pushing The Business Benefits Of AI
Here are five things in business tech news that happened this week in business tech news and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
Microsoft is emphasizing the benefits of custom AI solutions for businesses, highlighting enhanced decision-making, cost efficiency, and accelerated innovation. By integrating AI into platforms like Microsoft Copilot Studio, Azure OpenAI, and Dynamics 365, companies can develop tailored AI agents that automate complex tasks, leading to improved productivity and reduced operational costs. These custom AI tools are designed to be accessible, requiring minimal coding expertise, thus enabling a broader range of businesses to leverage AI capabilities. Microsoft's approach focuses on aligning AI solutions with specific business objectives, ensuring that AI implementations are both effective and sustainable. This strategy supports organizations in achieving faster innovation cycles and maintaining a competitive edge in their respective industries. (Source: ZDNet)
Why this is important for your business:
It's true but…be careful. AI features (and they're features right now) can be used to make your employees more productive and I strongly suggest getting them trained on all the latest that Microsoft or Google has to offer. But we're still a ways from relying on AI to automate our core processes. My advice is to use this time to clean up your data and get familiar with what AI can (potentially) due for your business so that you're ready to implement when the technology become more reliable.
CrowdStrike's 2025 State of SMB Cybersecurity Report reveals a significant gap between cybersecurity awareness and actual protection among small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). While 93% of SMBs acknowledge cybersecurity risks and 83% have plans in place, only 36% invest in new tools, and a mere 11% have adopted AI-powered defenses. Smaller businesses are particularly vulnerable; among those with fewer than 50 employees, only 47% have a security plan, and over half allocate less than 1% of their annual budget to cybersecurity. Cost concerns heavily influence decisions, with 67% prioritizing affordability over advanced threat protection. Additionally, 50% feel overwhelmed by the plethora of cybersecurity tools available, and nearly 70% rely on third-party guidance for purchasing decisions. Ransomware remains a top threat, especially for businesses with under 25 employees, where 29% reported such incidents in the past year. (Source: Business Wire)
Why this is important for your business:
Spoiler Alert: CrowdStrike offers tools to help address some of the concerns noted above. But they're not misleading people with these survey results. Cyber threats continue to be a disruptive and expensive part of running a business and these threats are only becoming more pervasive – and powerful – thanks to AI tools. Yes, you should be investing in a suite of cybersecurity products to protect your business. More important you should be getting continuous training because most cyber breaches are caused by employees.
Aurora Innovation has launched the first commercial driverless trucking service in the U.S., operating Class 8 autonomous trucks between Dallas and Houston, Texas. These trucks, equipped with the Aurora Driver system, have completed over 1,200 miles without a human driver. The service, in partnership with Uber Freight and Hirschbach Motor Lines, aims to address challenges in the trucking industry, such as driver shortages and high turnover rates. Aurora plans to expand its driverless operations to El Paso and Phoenix by the end of 2025. (Source: Aurora)
Why this is important for your business:
Autonomous vehicles for private use are still a ways to go, thanks to the complexities of city driving and the potential liabilities facing the companies developing these technologies. But autonomous trucks that can travel hundreds of miles of highways and then be taken over by humans for the last leg? That seems much more acceptable and my prediction is – given the enormous cost savings that can be achieved – the trucking industry will be the first to be disrupted by autonomous vehicles.
Epicor has introduced new AI capabilities—Epicor Prism and Epicor Grow AI—aimed at enhancing productivity in supply chain industries. Unveiled at the Epicor Insights 2025 conference, these tools encompass over 200 use cases across functions like finance, production, and customer service. Epicor Prism offers a natural language interface, enabling employees to interact with ERP data efficiently. It facilitates quick information retrieval, decision-making, and automation of tasks, reportedly saving users significant time per query. For instance, the Knowledge Agent within Prism can reduce support time by up to 55 minutes per question. Epicor Grow AI provides predictive analytics by integrating data from various sources, including ERP and third-party systems. It assists in forecasting demand, optimizing inventory, and recommending related products during order entry, thereby improving sales and customer experience. (Source: Business Wire)
Why this is important for your business:
Epicor is very popular manufacturing and distribution ERP software that's used by both big and mid-sized enterprises. I attended this conference (and will write about it separately) and found their AI offerings to be exciting and consistent with what other good software companies are doing. Whether you're using Epicor or not, my advice is to find out what your software vendor is doing with AI and how it impact your business so that you can determine its ROI. Attending a conference like this is worthwhile (Disclaimer: Epicor is a client of my company. I have not been compensated to write this. This news information is publicly available)
Talkdesk has launched the Utilities Experience Cloud, an AI-driven platform designed to enhance customer service for utility providers. This solution integrates contact centers with operational systems, enabling both self-service and live agent support across channels like voice, chat, and SMS. Leveraging agentic AI, it assists customers with issues such as outages, billing, and account management. The platform offers real-time integration with systems like CIS, OMS, and GIS, and includes pre-engineered workflows tailored to common utility inquiries. Virtual agents can be deployed with a single prompt, providing personalized interactions based on customer data. An intelligent outbound messaging feature allows proactive communication during events like storms or routine billing cycles. The no-code approach facilitates rapid implementation, reducing IT resource demands. Overall, the platform aims to streamline operations, improve customer satisfaction, and modernize the utility customer experience. (Source: ITBrief)
Why this is important for your business:
Talkdesk continues to introduce new products and services aimed at industry groups like utility providers. The features this product includes are important for those in that industry, yet have broader appeal to other industry groups as well. (Disclaimer: Talkdesk is a client of my company. I have not been compensated to write this. This news information is publicly available).
Each week I round up five business tech news stories that impact your business (and mine) and explain why.
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