Automated security, AI Act and more

Did you know Guinness sales spike by more than 800 per cent on St Patrick's Day?

Well now you do.

2024 is absolutely whizzing by, isn't it? St Patrick's Day is just around the corner as we head towards the end of Q1 and, just like Microsoft, we're showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. There's new product releases to cover, AI updates that will shape the world, and more and more Cloud Direct events coming your way in the next two weeks!

In this edition...

?? Copilot for Security is announced

?? An AI world-first

?? New accreditations

?? What's coming up

So grab a cup of tea and I'll run you through everything you need to know quicker than you can say hedgehog in a hurry!

Supercharged security ??

Just yesterday (13 March), Microsoft unveiled the latest edition to its Copilot cohort in Copilot for Security, the industry's first-ever generative AI solution that will help keep businesses safe. Informed by more than 78 trillion security signals processed by Microsoft every single day, Copilot for Security will protect businesses with great scale, speed and accuracy.

In its second Copilot for Security Economic Study, Microsoft found that...

• Experienced security analysts were 22% faster with Copilot
• Accuracy was increased by 7%
• 97% of analysts said they would want to use Copilot again

As part of its release, Copilot for Security will feature a pay-as-you-go licensing model to open up its availability to organisations of all shapes and sizes. With a consumption-based pricing model, business can get the ball rolling quickly and scale up or down as required.

So, what's the wait time on Copilot for Security? Luckily it's not long at all, with general availability kicking in on 1 April 2024.

There's loads more to cover that is well worth reading up on, so visit the Microsoft website to find out more.

AI Act approved ??

Since artificial intelligence exploded into the zeitgeist, there has been much concern around how it should be governed. This week, the European Union agreed upon a world-first framework to constrain its risks concerning bias, privacy, and the way the world operates.

All AI platforms operating within the European Union will fall under its jurisdiction, though varying levels of severity will be imposed. AI systems considered "high-risk", such as those used in critical infrastructure, education, healthcare, law enforcement, border management or elections, will have to comply with strict requirements, while low-risk services will face lighter regulation. The UK and the US are expected to follow suit.

What does this mean for businesses looking to make the most of artificial intelligence? There is no real change. Complying with these regulations requires the safe and secure storage of data, which should already be the case, and the responsible use of technology.

The framework is also is targeted at the risk posed by open-source models. That means that platforms like Microsoft Copilot, which operates within the confines of your existing environment and doesn't use your data to train public AI models, continue to be the safest way to reap the rewards of artificial intelligence for your business.

Find out more about the latest legislation.

Another string to our bow ??

As the team at Cloud Direct continues to develop its Data & AI function, I was delighted to get a call from Microsoft this week to let us know we have been accredited with the Kubernetes on Microsoft Azure advanced specialisation!

This is the latest in a long list of Microsoft accreditations that we are extremely proud of, and it's all thanks to the hard work our team are putting in to demonstrate its knowledge and expertise across the Microsoft tech stack.

What's on? ??

As always at Cloud Direct, there's an event just around the corner – or in this case, several!

Next week the team are headed into London (I'm staying at home, the city's no place for hedgehogs!) for our FSI industry breakfast event that will explore the next chapter of transformation and artificial intelligence in the sector. Join us on 21 March at the Gherkin!

We've also go the first part of our webinar bootcamp for retailers, which dives into transforming the customer experience with Microsoft technologies (26 March), closely followed by a similar webinar that covers the transformation of public services (27 March).

There is plenty more in the pipeline, so be sure to keep yourself up to date by checking in on our events page.

So there's a whistle stop tour of all things Microsoft and Cloud Direct in the past couple of weeks, and there is plenty more bubbling away in the background. I'll be back in a fortnight with another update, but for now I'm off to help the team!

See you soon,

Eric ??