So says Kristina Tikhonova, General Manager of Microsoft for Southeast Europe, and in the same breath adds that despite everything, we have many pioneers who are exemplary in implementing AI.
The introductory lecture at the business day of this year’s NT conference was given by Kristina Tikhonova, who said that Microsoft has introduced more than 700 updates and more than 150 new features in the Copilot solution this year alone.
The common thread of the business day at this year’s NT Conference, which held on to its reputation as the country’s largest technology and business event, was artificial intelligence. There were many different high-flying predictions to be heard about how it was supposed to help us, but also a lot of warnings about how to use it wisely and not rely too much on its omnipotence. The introductory lecture was given by Kristina Tikhonova, General Manager of Microsoft for Southeast Europe, who said that every euro invested in artificial intelligence is recouped 3.5 times, and on average, companies return their investment in artificial intelligence within 14 months. We asked Tikhonova for an interview.
Dealing with artificial intelligence is one of the more exciting jobs right now. What excites you most about your job and what is the biggest challenge for you?
What is particularly impressive is the span of the portfolio of solutions offered by Microsoft and what we are dealing with in the digital transformation of customers, the introduction of modern workplaces, raising productivity, renovating business processes, etc. This is where the clouds, infrastructure, and for the last two years, artificial intelligence technologies have been at the forefront. I’m fortunate to work in this industry because I think artificial intelligence is the biggest change of our generation. But as one of the leading providers, we have to be responsible in its implementation. However, for the biggest challenge, I would choose focus – constantly focusing on what I want to achieve and how to do it.
Is this your first time at the NT Conference? What is it like to be in the role of keynote speaker?
Yes, it is the first time I’m here. It’s a privilege to be on stage and unravel the red thread of the conference. For the last two and a half years at different events, I’ve been talking mostly about technology and what’s coming. Now that has come to fruition, artificial intelligence technology is coming into widespread use. At the same time, this means that it has an unlimited number of usage scenarios. In business environments, it will focus on several areas – employee user experience, productivity and creativity. The latter is something that we haven’t been attributing to AI before. There are also new business models and customer interactions. Programmers and developers also love artificial intelligence, as it shortens the development and review of software code from months or even years to minutes.
How do you use AI tools?
Personally, I think of AI as a co-pilot. I think that’s really the right label for it. An individual or user is a pilot, he has everything under control, and technology helps him do things faster, better, and go further. I start using co-pilot in the morning when I ask the digital assistant what awaits me that day – I find this very useful. On a day like today, I have a lot of meetings. At the same time, I get about 300 emails in my email inbox. Someone needs to sort them through and determine the importance. Copilot summarizes this task and defines what’s important—such as recent presentation updates. It saves me a huge amount of time. I often use Copilot to summarize – from email to meetings. Long email correspondence sums up nicely, as do conference calls and meetings. I’m even more excited if I join an online call late because of some meeting that’s been delayed – and immediately ask for a summary of what they’ve talked about so far. This technology will definitely change our habits, and I’m sure we’ll use it every day – at work and at home.
But how great is the potential of artificial intelligence? What impact will it have on the economy, for example, on Slovenia?
Analysts estimate that artificial intelligence could contribute up to 11.5 percent of southern Europe’s GDP by 2030, which is remarkable. In other words, artificial intelligence technologies will account for about half of all GDP growth in individual countries in the coming years. No other technology will contribute as much to growth. The question is when countries will start using artificial intelligence, the companies are already in a rush.
You also have many pioneers in Slovenia who are introducing artificial intelligence in an exemplary way, but you need to accelerate the public sector and government. The progress of digital transformation in Slovenia is obvious, you are progressive, but the use of artificial intelligence has not yet followed this progress.
Is there any country that is more successful in the region you lead?
As far as the use of artificial intelligence in public administration is concerned, definitely. Albania and Greece have already introduced chatbots for citizens. They answer people’s questions about pensions, administrative procedures and similar topics. In addition, governments are also an inspiration to the economy – they motivate companies to prove that they are more capable than the governments – the adoption of artificial intelligence included.
How many AI projects are successful?
I don’t have those statistics. But we see obvious elements of successful implementations. It all starts with data. Quality data is the key to good AI. If the data is in different systems and applications and is highly fragmented, this is very difficult to achieve. In the past, we have been able to see what happens if certain nationalities are missing from the training of a facial recognition model. Any AI algorithm is only as good as the good data it has at its disposal. The age of artificial intelligence is yet to come, and very fast. We also have very good practice at Microsoft, where a competition was organized within the company regarding the use of artificial intelligence; I am proud of the achievements of the Adriatic region, which has done an excellent job in this regard.
Do you have any advice for businesses?
It is short and concise: think about where AI could be used. In this regard, I specifically call on company executives to take on role models. If management does not use co-pilots, it will be difficult to convince employees of their use.
A lot of people are afraid of artificial intelligence. They’re worried that it’ll steal their jobs, know everything about them… Should we be afraid of it?
I don’t think so. However, we need to be aware that the risks of inappropriate use of AI exist and find ways to limit and reduce them. It all starts with the planning and development of solutions. In the testing phase, it is already too late to correct major errors. We need frameworks for responsible AI. I am pleased that the EU was among the first to adopt such legislation. As a result, there will be more safe and responsible AI on the market. Companies and governments that deploy AI solutions must take care to protect data above all so that it does not leak. Data protection and privacy must be at the forefront. But when it comes to job theft, the numbers don’t back it up. Artificial intelligence is the co-pilot, we are the pilots. This technology takes away work that does not create much added value.
Artificial intelligence is also proving itself in the field of cybersecurity. And that’s on both sides – the forwards and the defense. Which side wins?
Cybercrime is an extreme scourge. Its “annual turnover” is about eight trillion US dollars. If you’d translated that into a league of countries, it would rank third among the world’s economies. It would also be by far the fastest-growing economy, growing by an average of 15 percent per year. In the world of cybersecurity, it’s a constant battle between good and evil. Microsoft has also learned a lot in this area, because we want to be one step ahead of the attackers. In February, we launched a new security initiative. We want to have products that are as secure as possible – secure by default with built-in security mechanisms. The key to this will be a high-quality reading of safety signals, and we are counting heavily on the help of artificial intelligence.
Microsoft has a global presence with its data centers, operating systems, and business applications. When something (badly) goes wrong, parts of the world feel it. What is the company doing to curb or even eliminate these types of outages?
This is also part of our security initiative. All business solution providers take security and availability very seriously. At the same time, you should know that our systems record around 73 trillion safety signals per day. We need to recognize these properly, prevent unwanted things and learn from mistakes.
You are close to the top of the ICT and development food chain. Can you tell us what will be the next big thing in the IT world?
I think it’s going to be quantum computing, which has long teased the IT world, including Microsoft. We all need processing power, and AI algorithms in particular can be very greedy about IT resources because they calculate what the most likely outcome is. Today, we’re still talking about more powerful GPUs and neural processing units, but we actually need a new method of computation. I’m convinced that quantum computing will be the next superpower.
Journalist: Miran Varga
