Microsoft

The promise of technology to advance and meaningfully improve people’s lives has never been greater. That is why we are incredibly excited that Microsoft + Nuance have joined forces as one organization. As a pioneer in conversational AI and ambient intelligence, Nuance combines the power of cutting-edge technology and deep domain expertise across an array of industries – including healthcare, financial services, telecommunications, retail, among others – to design innovative solutions that amplify human intelligence and revolutionize how people interact with technology, so they can be their best selves. Nuance’s world-class technology has earned them a market-leading reputation as more than 77% of U.S. hospitals and 550,000 healthcare...

Every day, millions of young people in every country and territory around the world use Minecraft as a platform to connect, solve problems together and explore their creativity in all sorts of ways. Players can truly build whatever they imagine in Minecraft, and now, this extends to their visions for world peace. Today we are honored to launch an immersive Minecraft learning experience at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway. The “Active Citizen” project educates young people about Nobel Peace Prize laureates past and present and fosters an understanding of the skills needed to drive positive change in the world. “Active Citizen” is now available for millions of learners around the world in Minecraft: Education Edition, a special...

Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve taken a data-driven approach to decision making while prioritizing the safety and well-being of our employees. For nearly two years, our hybrid workplace model has anchored each of our work sites to one of six defined stages, allowing us to quickly adjust our guidance depending on health data, local government guidance, the availability of vaccines and vaccination rates and other considerations. Based on this approach and improving local health metrics, our Washington state work sites will move to our sixth and final stage of the hybrid workplace model, effective Feb. 28, 2022. From this date, employees will have 30 days to make adjustments to their routines and adopt the working preferences...

Editor’s note: In recognition and celebration of Black History Month, Lauren Gardner and Bill Borden, executive co-sponsors of Blacks at Microsoft (BAM) employee resource group, got together (virtually) for a personal conversation about history, action, inclusion and the powerful impact of the Black and African American community inside and beyond Microsoft. This is an edited version of their chat. Learn more about Black History Month here. LG: Bill, as you know, this year’s theme for Black History Month at Microsoft is “every act makes history.” What does that mean to you? BB: It’s a simple statement, but it’s powerful if we reflect on it. We can all think of countless acts of sharing, sacrifice and taking a stand that have had...

Across every industry and geography, companies are working hard to keep pace with evolving business needs and build on their existing digital investments. In my role leading the product team for the core of Azure, I spend a lot of time with customers learning what they need to be successful as they integrate cloud technologies into their business strategy to digitally transform. As many have experienced firsthand, the pandemic has pushed more businesses to adopt wider use of cloud computing technology. A new survey finds it’s also driving more companies to deploy a hybrid (mix of on-premises and one or more public clouds) or multicloud (multiple public clouds) approach. The survey, conducted by The Harris Poll and sponsored by...