April 28, 2021

In an era of distractions, Microsoft wants AI to be your coworker

Microsoft is aiming to adapt its productivity suite to a short-attention-span world, bringing years of research into products like PowerPoint, Outlook, and Excel. This article outlines how after years of slavishly digitizing and formatting words, numbers, and images, future versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint will be much more aware of your work and how you do it. Intelligent algorithms will find patterns and meanings in the data and use the insights to help you get through your day more efficiently. This transition to smarter work software has already begun.

Read More...

Why Promoting Healthier Workplace Habits Will Boost Your Business

Too many existing workplace environments lack adequate value when it comes to mental health and physical fitness, according to Sam Corcos in his Entrepreneur article, "Why Promoting Healthier Workplace Habits Will Boost Your Business." Corcos acknowledges, "we're living in a fast-paced era with higher stress levels than ever," so it's crucial you show your employees you care about their health and well-being. Half of millennials and 75% of Gen Zers have left a job for mental health reasons, according to a recent study by Mind Share Partners, Qualtrics and SAP. Combine this high exit rate with the fact that according to the Centers for Disease Control, depression reduces cognitive performance one-third of the time—and you have a petri dish of too many unnecessarily-high unhealthy work environments. "To help your employees mitigate these health risks and improve mental clarity and motivation, become part of the solution," writes Corcos. An example of what you can do? Improve the nutritional quality of the food and drink offered in the building. Vending machines and office parties with snacks and drinks high in sugar not only provide an eventual crash in energy levels and mental clarity after consumption, but they also contribute to long term health problems. Instead, Dr. Casey Means suggests offering glucose-stabilizing snacks such as nuts, seeds, berries, sliced veggies, hummus, olive tapenade, bean dips, nut butters, grain-free nut-based crackers, roasted seaweed and roasted chickpeas. She says that, "these types of snacks tend to generate less of a glucose spike, thereby helping employees maintain energy levels and mental clarity while also providing their brains and bodies with health-promoting nutrients." At the same time, encourage employees to monitor their glucose levels and corresponding daily energy and mental sharpness, as well as overall physical and mental health. Corcos includes other solutions to a healthier workplace, so be sure to read the entire article. Ultimately, the modern workplace needs to value the physical and mental health of its employees.

Read More...

April 27, 2021

Where Artificial Intelligence Will Disrupt Next

With so many possible artificial intelligence (AI) applications, predicting trends can be challenging, especially in an age when innovation reigns supreme and new breakthroughs occur every day. So, in an effort to gain further insights into the future of AI, researchers from Stanford University and the Brookings Institution analyzed keywords in patents to identify where the technology will have its greatest impact on jobs and companies in the years ahead. Read this article to learn about their predictions about the future of AI and gain insights into what industries will be most impacted by artificial intelligence and its applications.

Read More...

Get started with Power Apps - Learn

Ready to create your first app? Learn the basics of Microsoft Power Apps and how you can make your business more efficient. Explore the different technologies and easily build an app:

Read More...

Analytics & AI solution video

This video is a quick introduction to Microsoft Analytics and AI, explaining how to expand the reach of your data insights and gain increasing levels of efficiency and personalization. By harnessing the power of Microsoft Analytics, you can inform and drive intelligent automation through AI and machine learning. 

How AI is transforming healthcare

Artificial intelligence (AI) is driving massive innovation in the healthcare and life sciences industries. It's expediting advances in drug research and discovery, allowing for better and faster diagnoses, and enabling far greater efficiency in business processes. Considering how many can benefit from AI advancements in the healthcare industry, it's a sector where technology stands to have the one of the biggest impacts on society. Read this article to learn how #AI, machine learning, and robots will continue to shape the future of the healthcare industry and enhance patient experiences in the upcoming decades.

Read More...

Teams quick start guide

Whether you are new to Teams and need to learn the basics or you are using Teams and want a handy reference, this Quick Start Guide for Teams is a must-have-close-by-tool. It includes start up necessities, such as buttons, tabs and channels, but also includes the how-to tasks you need to know only when you're ready to do them: start an impromptu meeting, make video and audio calls, share a file, add apps, and search for stuff, for example. Keep this guide handy and share it with other users!

View: Teams quick start guide