WHY MICROSOFT WILL WIN
ESTIMATED 2017 REVENUE
$96.2 billion
MARKET CAP*
$569.5 billion
EARLY INTEREST IN AI
In 1993, the company hired Carnegie Mellon computer scientist Xuedong Huang to lead its speechrecognition efforts; in 2016, Huang and his team’s algorithms exceeded humans’ transcription capabilities.
PHILOSOPHY
Machines will work with humans, not against them.
REVEALING QUOTE
“AI is at the intersection of our ambitions,” CEO Satya Nadella told an audience of Microsoft partners in September 2016, suggesting that it will let the company “reason over large amounts of data and convert that into intelligence.”
KEY ACQUISITION
Linkedin ($26.2 billion, 2016).
The business network gives Microsoft a deep well of company and employee data to make it smarter.
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT
Microsoft debuted a real-time AI system for its enterprise cloud customers in August, which could help it win business from companies that want to deploy initiatives such as dynamic pricing and retail personalization.
WHY IT IS AHEAD
Microsoft is the tech giant most focused on converting AI directly into revenue, helping companies in a wide range of industries be more productive and effective.