The brand new yr brings alternative for considerate reflection in regards to the previous yr, each personally and professionally. 2022 was a yr of firsts for me—first time having clam chowder at Pike Place Market as an area, first time going looking for heels with my daughter, and first time delivering an Azure keynote at Encourage as a Microsoft worker when pre-COVID-19, I used to be a Accomplice listening within the viewers. And right here is one other first; the beginning of a brand new weblog sequence the place I plan to share extra about noteworthy and provoking information and AI improvements we’re releasing throughout Microsoft. Given the Nationwide Retail Federation’s Massive Present this week, I’ll additionally spotlight how these improvements influence retail.
Let’s discover what’s new for Azure Information & AI this month:
Microsoft underscores resilient retail at NRF
A bellwether for financial and societal developments, the retail trade continues to be on the entrance line of adaptive innovation. And moderately than attempting to foretell the longer term, retailers are working to realize better enterprise agility essential to thrive in it. Which means, like Majid Al Futtaim Retail, they automate tedious processes so staff can deal with higher-value duties. Like Grupo Bimbo, they unify disparate information factors in actual time in order that staff can entry a central supply of fact when and the place they want it. And, like CCC Group, they keep laser-focused on delivering differentiated buyer experiences to construct loyal followers. Throughout every of those organizations, information is seen as an accelerant for progress, powering extra customized buyer experiences, cost-efficient provide chains, and proactive responses to market developments.
Enterprise agility requires folks, processes, and applied sciences to work in concord, and to align on how huge quantities of information are managed, analyzed, and actioned to reply to market calls for. More and more, these efforts deal with driving sustainable progress that limits carbon emissions, for instance through the use of machine studying to extra precisely forecast demand to scale back extra stock and waste.
We all know cloud applied sciences like databases, containers, and AI can allow extra correct choices, however it may be difficult to make sure these applied sciences communicate to one another in the precise means on the proper time on a world scale. That is the place Azure and the Microsoft Clever Information Platform—the outline we use to check with the entire Information & AI Azure services we provide shine. With managed databases like Cosmos DB, analytics providers like Azure Synapse, and main AI choices, retailers can benefit from the “by design” integration the Microsoft Clever Information Platform affords, which suggests they can make investments extra time in creating worth moderately than integrating and managing their information property.
The Microsoft Clever Information Platform got here to life via new immersive demo experiences this yr at NRF and I’m going to briefly spotlight what we showcased on the convention. Earlier this week at NRF, Microsoft’s Alysa Taylor and Shelley Bransten spoke on the subject of Resilient Retail and shared examples of organizations digitizing their companies to do extra with much less. You’ll be able to learn extra about their talks on our Trade weblog.
Microsoft additionally met with prospects at our NRF sales space to debate methods for making sense of all their information. For instance, these two demos spotlight how tight integrations between information, analytics, and AI may also help make resilient retail a actuality.
Vast World Importers (WWI), a world grocery store chain, needs to maximise the worth of their information property. By utilizing Azure Synapse pipelines with Cosmos DB, they get actual time insights that are robotically shared with the precise choice makers via instruments like Azure Information Explorer and Energy BI. They’re in a position to monitor their provide chain information in actual time and use predictive AI to scale back prices. They’re additionally in a position to govern their information property from a single utility one pane of glass utilizing Microsoft Purview.
Subsequent, Vast World Importers faucets into the facility of Azure AI to construct a extra related buyer expertise. They use Azure Kind Recognizer to detect and redeem promotional affords. Azure Cognitive Search helps prospects discover product info extra rapidly by recognizing their search intent and helps WWI ship extra customized suggestions. Pre-built AI capabilities, akin to speech recognition and laptop imaginative and prescient, additionally differentiate the procuring expertise and supply a extra accessible move.
The overall availability of Azure OpenAI Service
As Eric Boyd talked about in his weblog, we introduced the overall availability of Azure OpenAI Service as a part of our ongoing partnership with OpenAI. Azure OpenAI Service gives a commercialization platform for companies to leverage superior AI fashions like GPT-3.5, Codex, and DALL*E to create revolutionary purposes. Clients of all sizes throughout industries are utilizing Azure OpenAI Service to do extra with much less, enhance experiences for finish customers, and streamline operational efficiencies.
Microsoft Accountable AI Dashboard now obtainable
The digitization of retail allows retailers to satisfy buyer expectations with growing precision, from offering customized suggestions on-line to restocking stock primarily based on laptop imaginative and prescient in bodily shops. Customers count on the expertise behind their retail expertise to use information and AI responsibly. In December, we started rolling out our new Accountable AI dashboard in Azure Machine Studying, which incorporates capabilities like equity evaluation, interpretability, error evaluation, and causal inferencing. And at the moment, we’re excited to announce the overall availability of the Microsoft Accountable AI dashboard. Retailers can leverage the Accountable AI dashboard to optimize the patron’s expertise in addition to construct belief and constructive notion for his or her manufacturers.
See how one can be taught extra about Accountable AI.
Full textual content search capabilities come to Azure Cosmos DB for Apache Cassandra
Azure Cosmos DB has seen large momentum throughout the retail trade, given its potential to robotically and immediately scale when visitors is unpredictable with out sacrificing efficiency or price effectivity. Microsoft runs each the Home windows retailer and Xbox Reside on Azure Cosmos DB for this very goal. This month, we’re saying a number of efficiency enhancements to Azure Cosmos DB to make it simpler and quicker for builders to question information shops in Azure Cosmos DB. These embrace the power to do full textual content searches in Azure Cosmos DB for Apache Cassandra via a local integration with Azure Cognitive Search, and help for GraphQL and REST via Information API builder.
For extra technical element about these and different updates to Azure Cosmos DB, go to our developer weblog.
JSON help for Azure Cache for Redis Enterprise usually obtainable
Assist for JSON paperwork in Azure Cache for Redis Enterprise tiers, delivered by way of the RedisJSON module, has been made usually obtainable as of November 2022. This turns Azure Cache for Redis Enterprise right into a high-performance NoSQL doc retailer and drives effectivity for builders to modernize their purposes. The brand new RedisJSON module replace is properly suited to retail prospects trying to retailer, search, and index product catalogs and shopper information by way of a single atomic operation.
To be taught extra on Azure Cache for Redis Enterprise and the RedisJSON module please take a look at the weblog.
Microsoft named a Chief within the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Perception Engines
In December, Microsoft was named a frontrunner within the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Perception Engines, which evaluates the capabilities of varied distributors out there for offering enterprise-scale seek for app improvement. Organizations profit, irrespective of the trade, however Cognitive Search is an exceptionally highly effective software for retailers, serving to them to rapidly discover and analyze information associated to buyer conduct, gross sales, and stock. It can be used to personalize the procuring expertise for particular person prospects primarily based on their previous interactions and preferences.
Study extra and obtain the report.
Clients innovating with Azure Information & AI
I’d like to shut my inaugural “what’s new” weblog publish with my favourite means of constructing the whole lot I’ve coated above actionable—by sharing examples of our prospects succeeding. I share them as a means of serving to spark the understanding—perhaps even slightly creativeness—in order that others can higher envision how this wonderful new Information & AI expertise can be utilized in their very own organizations.
I hope you loved studying this month’s version of what’s new in Azure Information & AI. We stay up for sharing extra insights and inspiration within the months forward.
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Grupo Bimbo transforms the information evaluation of economic areas with Microsoft Options
Mexico—The worldwide baking firm carries out lots of of hundreds of transactions globally and wanted a means for collaborators to rapidly entry and act on insights to enhance gross sales. By adopting Energy BI and Azure Synapse, Grupo Bimbo was in a position to unify inner and exterior information, improve enterprise agility, and democratize insights for elevated productiveness throughout the group. Learn the complete Case Examine.
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How on-line market CDON used AI to turn out to be a market chief
Sweden—CDON started as a small on-line retailer of CDs, DVDs, and video games and rapidly grew to become the Nordic’s largest on-line market. When CDON realized legacy applied sciences had been holding it again, the corporate appeared to Azure to speed up its innovation and scale. Now their builders use Azure Cognitive Search, Azure DevOps, and different providers to higher perceive the consumer expertise on their web site and improve personalization for higher efficiency. Learn the complete CDON Case Examine.
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How AEON Group elevated earnings and maximized stock with information and AI
Japan—Since opening its first retailer in December 2005, Maibasuketto, a member of the AEON Group’s grocery store enterprise, has expanded its footprint at a tempo of 100 shops yearly. To make sure its progress was sustainable, the corporate launched into an initiative to optimize retailer ordering and operations utilizing Azure Cognitive Providers, maximizing provide chain and stock primarily based on promoting patterns all through the day.
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How Fashable reimagines trend design with Azure Machine Studying and PyTorch
Portugal—Utilizing Azure Machine Studying, Fashable created an AI utility that generates unique clothes designs to rapidly get a pulse on shopper preferences. This helps trend firms perceive buyer demand, get to market quicker, and scale back clothes waste by solely producing what they know will promote. Learn the complete Fashable Case Examine.
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WTW accelerates supply time with Azure Migration and Analytics
United Kingdom—Working in additional than 140 international locations with over 40,000 staff, Willis Towers Watson (WTW) has a long time of expertise working with the world’s largest loyalty packages. To effectively govern the exponential progress in information for these packages and apply improvements in superior analytics and AI, WTW moved its workload to Azure. Now their staff have extra time to deal with uncovering insights for purchasers. Learn the complete WTW Case Examine.
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