Microsoft

Microsoft Research Maps 2026 AI Agenda: From Lab Assistants to Trusted Agents

Microsoft Research forecasts 2026 as a pivotal year where AI evolves into collaborative 'digital coworkers' across sectors, emphasizing security, agentic systems, and quantum advancements that align with human-centered goals and redefine enterprise resource planning.

Analytics and AI

Cognizant and Microsoft Target the Last-Mile Problem in Enterprise AI

Cognizant and Microsoft have expanded their AI partnership to co-develop industry-specific solutions and integrate Microsoft's AI stack into Cognizant’s services, primarily benefiting sectors like financial services and healthcare, as they aim to enhance AI deployment and operational impacts through deeper collaboration and streamlined workflows.

Analytics and AI

AI Growth Will Outrun Power Capacity Without Industry Collaboration

As AI's electricity demand surges, energy executives emphasize the critical need for rapid infrastructure development and strategic energy planning to sustain digital transformation.

Analytics and AI

SAP, Oracle Lead the Charge as AI-Driven Performance Management Market Targets USD 6.33B by 2030

The employee performance management market is expected to grow from $3.52 billion in 2025 to $6.33 billion by 2030, driven by a shift towards continuous, analytics-enabled performance cycles embraced by major firms like Adobe and Microsoft, with AI-centric platforms at the core, as organizations increasingly link performance to skills-based talent strategies and digital transformation efforts.

Analytics and AI

Anthropic Set to Donate MCP to New Linux Foundation Agentic AI Foundation

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) donation to the Agentic AI Foundation, under the Linux Foundation, aims to ensure its neutral governance and collaborative development within a multi-vendor environment.

Analytics and AI

Microsoft’s Canada Investment Puts Digital Sovereignty to Work

On December 9, 2025, Microsoft announced a C$7.5 billion investment to enhance AI and cloud infrastructure in Canada, building on a broader C$19 billion program, aiming to support digital sovereignty and local AI development while contributing to sustainability.

Analytics and AI

Why Hyperscalers Are Investing $67.5B in India

Microsoft and Amazon plan to invest a total of $52.5 billion in India's AI and digital infrastructure, reflecting a broader trend of significant investments from tech giants aimed at enhancing the country's digital economy and capacity to support advanced technologies.

Automation

AI Agents as Digital Coworkers: What ERP, HCM Buyers Must Prepare for by 2026

AI agents are evolving into integral digital coworkers, compelling ERP and HCM buyers to reassess workforce planning, governance, and technology frameworks by 2026, as enterprise software transitions to accommodate AI-driven workflows and digital employees, while also emphasizing the importance of governance and integration in a hybrid human-digital labor model.

The AI Responsibility Gap: A Looming Threat to Business?

Analytics and AI

Project Gecko Focused on Creating Affordable, Customizable AI Systems

Microsoft's Project Gecko aims to create affordable, customizable AI systems for the global majority by utilizing local languages and multimodal content, featuring the MMCTAgent framework that enhances AI interactions.

Analytics and AI

ServiceNow Advances Enterprise AI Through Integrations with Microsoft

ServiceNow announced integrations with Microsoft, including Microsoft Agent 365, to create seamless AI orchestration and governance for businesses, enabling autonomous workflows and visibility across Microsoft 365 and the ServiceNow AI Platform.

IBM office building | IBM announces expansion to its software portfolio in AWS marketplace

Analytics and AI

IBM Embeds AI Consulting Tools Inside Microsoft Copilot, Cites 250,000 Hours Saved

IBM integrates its Consulting Advantage with Microsoft Copilot to enhance efficiency for consultants, saving over 250,000 hours annually, by optimizing access to proprietary information within familiar Microsoft 365 applications while maintaining governance and oversight.

Analytics and AI

Microsoft Leans on OpenAI’s Custom Chip Designs to Accelerate In-House Silicon Strategy

Microsoft is deepening its collaboration with OpenAI by leveraging the startup's custom chip designs for its own semiconductor strategy, while addressing concerns about AI hardware depreciation, which may influence enterprise decisions on long-term cloud and AI investments.

Analytics and AI

Microsoft Expands MCP into Dynamic, AI-Ready Foundation for Dynamics 365 ERP

Microsoft is transforming its Dynamics 365 ERP by upgrading its Model Context Protocol from a static toolset to a dynamic, real-time gateway, integrating analytics and allowing extensive access to ERP functions for improved AI-enabled operations by December 2025.

Analytics and AI

Microsoft Takes Lead in Global AI and Cloud Transformation Partnership

Microsoft is leading a global partnership to transform enterprise AI and cloud adoption, positioning itself as a strategic enabler of change through integrated infrastructure, AI solutions, and workforce training.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Unlocking Digital Impact

Inetum redefines transformation through platform ecosystems and AI innovation.

Lift-and-Shift ERP Strategies NTT DATA and Microsoft

Cloud Platform and Technology

NTT DATA to Accelerate AI-Driven Transformation with Microsoft Cloud Unit

NTT DATA has established a global business unit for Microsoft Cloud to leverage its expertise in accelerating secure, AI-driven digital transformation for enterprises.

Security

Why Microsoft’s D365 License Enforcement Is Exposing a Deeper ERP Crisis

Microsoft Dynamics 365 users in Finance, Supply Chain, and Commerce must urgently address access governance before stricter licensing rules take effect on November 1, 2025, as many organizations have uncovered significant security vulnerabilities and excessive user permissions amidst new compliance pressures.

Data and Data Management

Chris Niederman to Lead Snowflake’s Alliances & Channels Business

Snowflake has appointed Chris Niederman as Senior Vice President of its Alliances & Channels business, effective July 21, 2025, to enhance its global partner system and drive growth through Snowflake AI Data Cloud amidst a rapidly expanding partner network.

ERP Strategy and Planning

The ERP Elephant in the Room: Why Legacy System Decommissioning is Business Critical

Modern enterprises face significant challenges with legacy ERP decommissioning, as maintaining outdated systems poses financial, security, and compliance risks, making it imperative for organizations to strategically sunset these systems to unlock the full potential of their digital transformation efforts.

Analytics and AI

From Nashville with AI: Microsoft Shares Blueprint for ERP Transformation at IFS Connect

At the IFS Connect North America 2025 event in Nashville, Microsoft's Jennifer Martinez presented a strategic framework for enterprise AI transformation focusing on four pillars—enhancing employee experiences, reinventing customer engagement, reshaping business processes, and accelerating innovation—while emphasizing a three-stage implementation roadmap that includes embracing available AI tools, developing customized solutions, and prioritizing security and governance.

Cloud Platform and Technology

How Inetum’s BOS2 Win Signals a New Era for UK Public Sector Tech

The UK's civil service faces a digital skills gap with only 4.5% of its workforce in tech roles, presenting a significant opportunity for private sector innovation, exemplified by Inetum's strategic entry into the BOS2 procurement framework, which allows access to robust SaaS solutions that could transform public sector services amid rising demand for digital transformation.

Analytics and AI

Georg Glantschnig Explains Microsoft’s “Power of One” Stack

Georg Glantschnig of Microsoft emphasizes that future ERP systems must not only support but also run business processes, highlighting a shift towards agentic AI and adaptability over traditional rigidity.

Analytics and AI

SAP Designs for Human Empowerment: Sean Kask

At SAP Sapphire 2025, Chief AI Strategy Officer Sean Kask emphasized SAP's deep, ethically guided AI strategy, highlighting its focus on building competitive advantages through human empowerment and controlled experimentation amidst a landscape filled with AI hype.

Analytics and AI

From SAP Sapphire 2025: Sean Kask, Chief AI Strategy Officer, Opens SAP’s AI Playbook, Covers Agentic Intelligence, Strategic Differentiation, and the Race to Real Adoption

At SAP Sapphire 2025, Sean Kask, SAP’s Chief AI Strategy Officer, emphasized a customer-focused AI strategy that integrates various models and maintains ethical standards, showcasing the potential of tools like Joule to autonomously execute complex processes while leveraging proprietary knowledge graphs for contextual accuracy, positioning SAP as a leader in AI-powered enterprise solutions.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Unlocking Digital Impact: Inetum Redefines Transformation Through Platform Ecosystems and AI Innovation

Inetum, under the leadership of Kathy Quashie and Hemant Lamba, positions itself as a trustworthy partner in digital transformation for European clients by leveraging a platform-based strategy, deep client intimacy, industry-specific solutions, and a focus on AI readiness to deliver tangible business outcomes.

Analytics and AI

Leveling Up with Automation: How Lifetime Products Empowered its Workforce with Microsoft Dynamics 365

Lifetime Products successfully modernized its ERP system by adopting Microsoft Dynamics 365, enabling enhanced operational efficiency and employee development through automation and a collaborative workforce strategy that reallocates resources towards higher-value tasks.

Analytics and AI

Your Next ERP Will Think for Itself: Microsoft’s Bold Vision for Autonomous ERP

Microsoft is transforming ERP systems from traditional user-initiated processes to intelligent, autonomous platforms that execute tasks independently, emphasizing continuous business value and adapting to user needs rather than the other way around.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Finding the Right ERP Systems for Small Businesses in 2025

To thrive in the fast-paced landscape of 2025, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need an adaptable, cloud-first ERP system that enables rapid implementation, offers intelligent insights, and provides clear pricing, with solutions like GROW with SAP, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, and Oracle NetSuite emerging as top contenders.

Analytics and AI

IBM Launches Dedicated Microsoft Practice to Accelerate AI and Cloud-driven Business Transformation

IBM is strengthening its partnership with Microsoft by establishing a Microsoft Practice within IBM Consulting aimed at leveraging AI, cloud, and security solutions to deliver measurable business outcomes across various industries undergoing digital transformation.

image of Larry Ellison, Oracle CTO | CloudWorld

Cloud Platform and Technology

Lloyds Banking Group Deepens Strategic Cloud Partnership with Oracle to Drive Innovation and Agility

Lloyds Banking Group has expanded its partnership with Oracle to adopt next-generation multicloud infrastructure solutions, migrating critical databases to Oracle Database@Azure and deploying Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer, enhancing innovation and customer satisfaction in its digital transformation journey within the UK financial services sector.

Security

Dell Strengthens Cybersecurity for Microsoft Customers

Dell Technologies and Microsoft are enhancing AI adoption to protect data and improve cybersecurity for multicloud environments.