Microsoft Launches Mico: Human-Centered AI Visual for Copilot Voice Mode

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I unpack how Microsoft is empowering business users with new Copilot agents that simplify app creation and workflow automation — no coding needed.Highlights00:11 — Microsoft has launched a series of new agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot customers in the Frontier Program: App Builder and Workflows, designed to accelerate the creation of AI-driven apps and workflows. These agents make it incredibly easy for general business users to utilize natural language in order to create apps, workflows, and even additional agents.00:46 — The Workflows agent allows users to automate tasks such as email, mail apps, and calendar management across Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Planner, and other services like Approvals. Steps of the automation are displayed in real time and follow the same Copilot conversation, making it easy to add more or edit existing workflow steps.01:24 — In a blog post, Charles Lamanna, President of Business and Industry Copilot at Microsoft, outlined a use case for these new agents: "Imagine you're preparing for a product launch with a few multi-turn interactions. Create an app for a product launch process where teams can track launch milestones, assign tasks, and view campaign progress in a dashboard."01:37 — "Send a Teams update every Monday with upcoming launch deadlines and key tasks from Planner. Post reminders for approval deadlines in Teams channels. Build an agent that answers product launch questions like: “What’s the next milestone?”, “How do I submit creative assets?”, or “When is the launch event?”, using SharePoint resources and Teams conversations."02:08 — Regarding Microsoft's strategy for Copilot: step one involved integrating Copilot everywhere to ensure easy access and increasing familiarity. Step two was the launch of Copilot Studio Lite, which allows any user to build agents easily. Now, step three is focusing on finding the off-the-shelf agents available to make complex tasks such as app development and workflow automation seamless. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I compared the diverging strategies of SAP and Oracle as the AI revolution reshapes enterprise tech.Highlights00:22 — SAP versus Oracle. It was interesting on SAP's recent Q3 earnings call: the financial analysts seemed to be really preoccupied with this notion — was SAP going to get into the hyperscale business? Or was the fact that Oracle is in the cloud infrastructure business something that SAP sees as a disadvantage? I think those are entirely the wrong questions.01:00 — SAP is never going to go in that direction. Where SAP's future is — and what CEO Christian Klein kept coming back to over and over, and I believe very persuasively — is it's all about the data, and AI, and agents, and the way that apps are evolving to pull all of that together. It's about the business data cloud. It's about certain partnerships.01:45 — It reported a 22% increase in cloud revenue, but in constant currency, that was 27%. Its current cloud backlog was up about 27%. So, strong numbers for them — much, much faster than Oracle's apps business is growing. But Oracle thinks it is going to be ahead on the AI front, and with the database, infrastructure, and its vertical market apps, it thinks it's going to have a real case to be made here.02:27 — But from SAP’s side, Klein was asked about the hyperscale business. Really? His point was: no, no, no, this is not going to happen. Instead, we're going to double down — triple down — at SAP on the things that we do best and that our customers are looking for us to deliver.03:44 — A big point that Klein made about this — and why he's so confident about SAP's ability as he said, we are seeing more and more that the buying decisions are being made around business outcomes. That's the focus. Certainly, the CIO is involved, but the decisions are moving up into the C-suite and the boards of directors.05:08 — I think the competitive dynamics between SAP and Oracle are going to really intensify over the next two or three years because the opportunity here around the AI Revolution, with agents, AI data, and applications, is incredibly big and powerful. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Bonnie Tinder is the founder and CEO of Raven Intelligence, an independent B2B peer review site that amplifies the voice of the customer. She focuses on software customers, consulting partners, and software vendors and helps identify the best partners for their needs. In this episode, she shares powerful insights from leading organizations on how AI is being used not to replace employees, but to enhance experiences, streamline operations, and drive better business outcomes through purpose-driven, human-centered deployment strategies.Episode 56 | Human-Centered AI StrategiesThe Big Themes:Augments, Not Replaces Humans: AI should enhance the human experience, not eliminate it. Real-world examples, such as Marriott’s use of AI to improve the check-in process, demonstrate that AI can remove operational friction and allow frontline staff to focus on hospitality and customer engagement. In the energy sector, utilities are embedding AI into safety systems to make work more accurate and proactive. These examples show that the most successful AI deployments begin by identifying pain points in human workflows.Cultural Readiness Is Crucial for AI Success: AI adoption is not just a technical project; it is a cultural transformation. Multiple examples made it clear that even the most advanced tools can fail without the right introduction. One university CHRO compared AI implementation to sneaking vegetables into meals. By avoiding technical jargon and focusing on small improvements, they saw stronger adoption. People often resist what they do not understand, especially when it feels like a threat. Leaders who frame AI as a tool for reducing stress, reclaiming time, and increasing impact are more likely to succeed.AI Should Start with Outcomes: Real AI value begins with the business goal, not the technology itself. Companies that succeed with AI are the ones that begin by identifying the result they want to achieve. Whether it's streamlining hotel check-ins, reducing safety risks in energy infrastructure, or accelerating clinical breakthroughs, effective strategies start with specific problems. These companies ask their teams where the friction lies, and then choose tools to fix those issues. This is a shift from a technology-first mindset to an outcome-first mindset.The Big Quote: “I hope you know business people will all start to get to the point of like, yes, the nature of work is going to change. But AI is not going to spell doom and gloom for every worker on Earth. It's going to give many, many, many of them an opportunity to do better things." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I unpack Microsoft AI’s push for empathetic AI with new features designed to make Copilot more relatable and engaging.Highlights00:18 — Microsoft has launched the Mico 1 character — a visual presence that appears and interacts with users when they tap into Copilot's voice mode. Now, this cloud-like entity is optional and actively listens, reacts, and even changes color in response to the direction of the conversation. The aim is to give Copilot a friendly face and make interactions more natural.00:59 — Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, said the following: “When we started talking about this idea of an AI companion a few years ago, it seemed distant and uncertain. Now it's real. It's here. We can't wait for you to feel the difference.” In a press release, Microsoft stated that Copilot is designed to be empathetic and supportive rather than sycophantic.01:32 — Now, I can't ascertain whether Microsoft has truly delivered the AI companion of pop culture fame — think HAL 9000 without the murderous intent. However, personalization and natural interaction have become their mission in recent months, and Mico is certainly an important piece of the puzzle. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I dive into how ServiceNow is redefining enterprise automation with its new AI Experience platform.Highlights00:15 — ServiceNow has for a long time been intriguing in the way that it does not necessarily map to or compete directly against lots of the other major Cloud Wars Top 10 companies. ServiceNow has gone a different sort of route, everything they're doing from AI and workflows. The company has taken another big step with a service they introduced recently called the AI Experience.00:56 — I had a chance earlier this week to speak with ServiceNow's President, Chief Product Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Amit Zavery. Now, one of the big things that Zavery said is: "Look, just as customers got sort of over the hump of saying, okay, I've got to integrate all my applications and my databases and my systems now along comes AI."01:28 — A concern among customers has been there's going to be lots of new pieces, and the customer is going to be stuck in the middle again. Amit said that a key point here is it [AI Experience] ties together these different data types, voice, images, data, text, and everything from the people, the data and the workflows that are happening around the company.02:28 — Amit further said: "What we want to try to do here is this automation, happening with AI end-to-end, across company." So, it's not just the processes, but how the company works up and down, across the organization, and with customers and with suppliers. He said: "We're trying to ensure that customers can use AI to cut technical debt, rather than add to it."03:13 — Another big point about this was, there's lots of productivity, lots of innovation here again. He said: "Trust has never been more important." He said that the AI Experience, in tandem with the AI Control Tower from ServiceNow, is going to give customers the ability to feel very comfortable that they understand they're on top of where these AI deployments are happening.04:28 — And he talks about how ServiceNow being very open in this platform. He said: "We're finding new ways to work with the other big tech companies to ensure that customers get what they want, and that we're not forcing customers to, again, get into that big game of integration. We want more innovation and less integration." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Amit Zavery, President, Chief Product Officer, and Chief Operating Officer at ServiceNow, sits down to talk with Bob Evans in this special episode of Cloud Wars Live. They dive deep into how ServiceNow’s AI Experience is transforming enterprise workflows through automation, governance, and personalization. Zavery outlines a bold vision for delivering real ROI and trusted AI at scale.Reimagining Workflow with AI Experience The Big Themes:ServiceNow’s AI Experience Is About Unified, Actionable Intelligence: Amit Zavery describes ServiceNow’s AI Experience as more than a conversational interface, it’s an orchestrated, end-to-end workflow platform that integrates voice, text, image recognition, agents, and enterprise systems. It’s designed to eliminate the “spare part world” of fragmented tools and disconnected apps. By delivering one multimodal, multilingual interface, ServiceNow enables users to not just find information, but actually complete tasks and workflows.AI Governance and Control Are Built In, Not Bolted On: The AI Control Tower is ServiceNow’s answer to one of the biggest enterprise challenges: AI governance. With this feature, companies can discover, monitor, and manage all AI usage, not only from ServiceNow but across third-party systems, too. CIOs and CISOs gain the ability to track who is using what AI systems, what agents are doing, and what data is being accessed.Industry-Specific Use Cases Drive Real-World AI Value: Enterprise AI Zavery says must be contextual, curated, and tightly integrated with business processes. ServiceNow is collaborating with customers like AstraZeneca (pharma), BT (telecom), and Rossmann (retail) to deploy agentic AI that delivers real value in vertical-specific environments. These aren’t generic AI chatbots; they’re intelligent agents embedded in workflows that help store managers order inventory, researchers manage supply chains, and employees navigate complex rules.The Big Quote: “I call it the spare part world we are in right now, and it’s a very difficult thing for a lot of the leaders to really keep up with it. One to know, what are you using? How are you using it? What is the ROI on it? What are the costs associated with that?” Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I show how SAP’s seamless data strategy is driving real business value in the age of AI. Highlights00:14 — SAP reported a very nice third quarter last week. Some highlights from SAP Q3, and then I'll do the comparisons with its competitors. So, the cloud revenue overall is up 22% to $6.14 billion. Ad their current cloud backlog, which is pretty close to RPO (Remaining Performance Obligation), the term some companies use, was up 23% to $18.1 billion.01:24 — SAP is at the top, up 22% to $6.14 billion. Second place, Workday: 14% to $2.17 billion. Then Oracle, up 11% for its SaaS products to $3.8 billion. And Salesforce: most recent quarter revenue is up 10% to $10.24 billion. SAP’s growth is more than twice as high than what Oracle and Salesforce did, and it's about 60% higher than the growth rate for Workday.02:10 — There’s a lot to think about here. What’s making this happen? I think a few things are going on. One is, certainly there’s a tendency for longtime SAP on-premise customers to slide along and go with SAP.03:06 — The other thing I think SAP has done well is evolving their applications. First, it was the Cloud ERP Suite, now the Business Suite. It's trying to make things simpler for its customers with a seamless experience, same interface, same data model. SAP, along with the others, has been doing a very good job of infusing agentic AI into their applications.04:03 — So, very nice quarter here from SAP for Q3. It continues to dramatically outpace what its competitors are doing. But there’s a lot of back and forth, a lot of vying to close that gap on the part of competitors. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I unpack how Salesforce is reinventing IT support with its new Agentforce platform.Highlights00:11 — Salesforce has launched Agentforce IT Service. This product suite is described by the company as an agent-first, conversational-first IT support solution. Unlike lengthy back-and-forth interactions with service desk staff, the new system introduces a conversation-based resolution model that’s available 24/7.01:15 — Muddu Sudhakar, SVP and GM, IT and HR Service at Salesforce, said, "The fragmented, legacy ITSM model is fundamentally broken. By building Agentforce IT Service natively on the Salesforce and Service Cloud platform, we are driving a conversation-first, agent-first revolution — with product and technology innovation that transforms IT and HR..."01:43 — Agentforce IT Services represents a significant breakthrough that’s sure to save IT teams hundreds of hours with its unique agent-first, conversation-first approach. Support is instant and personalized. Salesforce has made a remarkable entrance into the ITSM space, making a powerful impact with its unified, agent-driven strategy. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I discuss the recent AWS outage, identifying five reasons that this outage will significantly impact the company's reputation.Highlights00:30 — AWS experienced a big outage this week, impacting multiple companies and services at a time when AWS, relative to its hyperscaler competitors, is in a decline. I think there are five core reasons that its reputation will suffer from this outage.01:15 — The magnitude of the outage will greatly impact the company's reputation. There is an enormous range of business customers directly affected by this, reaching millions of people across multiple industries.01:50 — There's never a "good" time for events like this to occur, but this outage happened at the beginning of the holiday season. In the minds of many business leaders, this season is where they get a large percentage of their annual revenue through online services. With this disaster, can AWS be fully trusted?02:30 — AWS is the slowest-growing hyperscaler. In a vacuum, it reached nearly $31 billion in revenue with a 17.5% growth rate in Q2. However, AWS is growing at a much slower rate compared to its hyperscaler competitors — Microsoft, Google Cloud, and Oracle.03:37 — AWS also has the slowest-growing RPO or backlog. AWS reported its backlog up to 25% to almost $200 billion. Again, in the world of the vacuum, that's terrific. But relative to the others, this wasn't very good at all.04:38 — This outage came at a time when the other hyperscalers are distinguishing themselves with powerful AI strategies and services. AWS has had some AI properties but not at the scale of Microsoft with Copilot and ChatGPT, Google Cloud with the launch of Gemini Enterprise, and Oracle with its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I look at why a new Harvard-Microsoft licensing deal could be a defining moment for generative AI in medicineHighlights00:11 — Harvard University's Graduate Medical School has entered into a licensing agreement with Microsoft, enabling the company to access consumer health data. Now, Microsoft plans to utilize this wealth of health data to enhance Copilot with health-related content, which many view as part of the company's strategy to reduce its reliance on OpenAI infrastructure.01:06 — Healthcare was one of the first use cases identified for AI, and although Microsoft already has healthcare-focused AI tools, this partnership could provide the most accurate healthcare AI tool for general use cases. This situation represents a widening gap in reliance on OpenAI's large language models. Microsoft is expanding its reach with models developed by other providers.01:53 — But this also poses a threat to any dominance that OpenAI might already have in the healthcare space. ChatGPT is reported to provide sometimes inaccurate responses. While things have undoubtedly improved since ChatGPT burst onto the scene, the reliance on imperfect data can create significant risks. Consequently, Copilot could easily rise to the top spot in this domain. Visit Cloud Wars for more.