It’s safe to say 2025 was the year AI stopped feeling experimental and became part of everyday work. Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s CMO of AI at Work, says the real differentiation for companies in this era of AI isn’t speed; it’s learning. Companies on the cutting edge are adapting quickly to reshape workflows and embrace the idea that when you invest in a technology this foundational, productivity almost always dips before it rises. As AI rewrites how organizations operate, Spataro says leaders should ask themselves these four questions as they head into 2026.

As we reach the end of the year, it’s a great time to reflect on all our wins in 2025. In the past, we would have had to just rely on our own imperfect memory of the last 12 months but now, there’s an easy way to use AI to help us remember. Here’s a prompt you can put into Microsoft 365 Copilot to recap your 2025 successes and make a solid plan for 2026.

Modernizing legacy IT environments and moving securely to the cloud are top priorities for customers today — and customers want speed, security and real business impact. Updating legacy systems reduces risk and unlocks innovation such as AI and automation. Check out a list of best practices for a secure, successful migration for Microsoft partners.

The CEO of Singtel Singapore embraced Microsoft 365 Copilot after his initial skepticism. Ng Tian Chong says he evolved from basic searches to strategic planning. Now, he calls it a “force multiplier” and credits Copilot with sharpening leadership, accelerating decisions and fueling Singtel’s AI-first vision. Plus, it helped him reel in a 40-pound catch during a South China Sea fishing trip.

Retailers face shrinking margins, labor shortages and rising customer expectations. While AI isn’t a cure-all, agentic AI can drive agility, personalization and innovation in the retail space — but only as part of a broader strategy.

AI is reshaping jobs faster than past tech revolutions, Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer of AI at Work, says in a new post. Productivity is rising where humans and AI team up, but the future hinges on choices we make now. The question isn’t what AI will do to jobs  — it’s what we will do to shape the outcome.

Microsoft Education’s latest updates include AI-powered lesson planning in Copilot, expanded multilingual support in Immersive Reader, and new features in Reading Coach for personalized practice and progress tracking. The goal: help educators streamline prep and support diverse learners with tools that adapt to individual needs.

Minecraft Education and Code.org’s Hour of AI turns coding into an epic quest. In “The First Night,” students use MakeCode and Python programming to teach a blocky Agent to recognize patterns, classify resources and coordinate mini-agent helpers – all while battling zombies. It’s coding meets adventure, with AI as your ultimate sidekick.

Reading Coach now gives real-time feedback as students read aloud — tracking pronunciation, syllables and progress. Educators can assign tailored practice, set time goals and monitor growth, making it easier to support every learner’s reading journey with AI that listens, adapts and guides. 

Fun fact: “Turn into a pumpkin” isn’t just bedtime-story lingo. In the tech biz, it’s shorthand for sudden drop-offs — whether it’s a mystery spike in traffic vanishing overnight or the year-end slowdown when teams thin out and builds stall. It can also be the cue to wrap things up before everyone disappears into holiday mode. Just a fun fact, in case you want to sound “in the know” in tech circles. Or at holiday parties.

Work is changing fast, and education needs to catch up. While some people might see that as a crisis, Jared Spataro, the Microsoft CMO of AI at Work, writes in a new blog that it should be considered an opportunity. “When the ground shifts beneath us, we can stand still and react or step forward and shape what comes next,” he says. Read more about the future of AI in education.

Curious about generative AI in Java? This beginner-friendly video series takes you from first steps to advanced AI techniques. Watch the episodes in order for a smooth start or skip ahead to more advanced topics including deploying to Azure and building agents. It’s a practical way to learn and apply AI concepts in Java development.

Datacenters are where infrastructure magic happens — massive, high-tech spaces packed with servers, networking gear and storage systems. Whether you’re binging your favorite show or firing off emails in Outlook, it’s all running through these behind-the-scenes hubs. 

Curious what it actually looks like inside one of these digital powerhouses? Take the tour and see where the internet gets its muscle. 

Vodafone didn’t build the infrastructure, they built the impact. By going all in on generative AI and rolling out Copilot companywide, CTO Scott Petty says they saw returns in just six months  —  and the secret was partnering with hyperscalers like Microsoft instead of DIY-ing their AI tools. Read Petty’s 10-point plan for AI adoption from Signal magazine.  

Foundation models are powerful for developers focused on AI, but they’re generalists by design. When precision matters, especially in domain-specific applications, fine-tuning is the key. Azure AI Foundry helps teams fine-tune pre-trained models with their own data — making it easier to build agents, tools and workflows that fit real business needs. Check out “The Developer’s Guide to Smarter Fine-tuning” here. 

AI is reshaping the workplace, and we’re all just trying to keep up. The latest buzzwords are always changing. Take training and inference — the two steps needed to create and use an AI system. Training is like school for AI: it’s fed a data set and learns to perform tasks or make predictions based on that data. Inference is when it uses what it learned during training to make predictions.

Here’s a helpful guide to AI terms everyone should know. 

AI is already transforming how businesses operate, and that shift will become even more profound in the future, says Microsoft’s Jared Spataro. The AI-enabled workplace, he says, will bring three significant changes that pose both challenges and opportunities for businesses – less expensive specialization, human-agent collaboration and rapidly compounding knowledge. 

Microsoft is rolling out a subtle refresh of the company’s Office app icons. But the swap to more gradients, fluid forms and vibrant colors is reflective of more than just changing design tastes: the new icons are meant to feel like an invitation to collaborate across Microsoft 365. Read more about the design and style of the new look here. 

Back in the day, you might have had to crowdsource life advice from your group chat or silently spiral. Now? You’ve got Copilot. Whether you’re dabbling in new hobbies, trying to organize the chaos or just pretending to be put-together, Copilot can help. Check out 10 creative ways to let AI do the heavy lifting. 

AI-first companies aren’t just adopting tech, they’re reshaping work. And in the most forward-looking organizations — the Frontier Firms — there are three clear patterns behind their success. Software development is leading the charge, but you’ll soon see these patterns pop up in industries and businesses of all sizes. Learn how these three things could make the future of work less grind and more glide. 

Think your life runs on caffeine and Wi-Fi? Wrong! Your digital life actually runs on datacenters. These behind-the-scenes workhorses are working overtime to keep your email running and your Copilot chatty — all day, every day. 

Hit play to see how they power your world.

Inside Copilot+ PCs is a tiny but powerful AI engine: a neural processing unit Microsoft developed with silicon partners. With these NPU chips, you can run multiple AI-driven tasks simultaneously – such as professional grade AI editing and complex lighting adjustments to photos – more efficiently, using less battery power. NPUs also help you find things faster on your Copilot+ PC with improved Windows search.

Event management is all about details. For event planners, that usually means operating across silos. Now, thanks to a new AI-driven program developed by InEvent and Microsoft, systems talk to each other, and planners don’t have to manually sync five platforms just to keep an event on track. 

If you’ve ever wanted your PC to actually understand what’s on your screen, Copilot Vision is your moment. Now available on Windows, once enabled, it sees what you see and responds in real time — offering insights, answers and a lifeline when you’re buried in tabs. 

A new AI agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot is like having a super-efficient assistant built into your everyday tools, helping you do more and save time. Researcher can analyze mountains of data to give you insightful expertise in minutes, whether you’re preparing for a big meeting or brainstorming new product ideas. Learn more about what it can do for you.

If you’ve read the headlines lately, you might think that AI is either about to take your job — or fail spectacularly trying. The truth, as always, is more nuanced. Learn more from Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer of AI at Work, about how a lot of the context gets lost in translation. 

AI can’t perform surgery or give you a hug, but it’s advancing fast. Now multimodal, it can process, analyze and transform different types of data — like turning text and images into a personal audio briefing or identifying a vacation spot from a friend’s video.

Plus, it can answer your questions and provide the right information faster.  

Learn more about multimodal AI. 

As the CEO of Australian law firm, MinterEllison, Virginia Briggs used to dread starting her day with a blank page. But now she’s traded paper binders for AI prompts and uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to prep meetings, summarize her inbox chaos and shape strategy on the fly. Learn more about how this top exec is using it for everything from client prep to boardroom decisions.

Since 2020, Xbox Game Camp has been booting up the next wave of game devs — creators, storytellers and studios leveling up from Ukraine to New Orleans. With hands-on workshops, expert panels and tailored content for every skill level, it’s part bootcamp, part brain trust. Check out some of the past attendees’ success stories here.

Change is in the air — and Fulton County Schools in Georgia is leaning into it. By using AI to personalize learning and boost student engagement, they’re not just keeping up — they’re setting the pace. Teachers and staff are also seeing the benefits, with reduced administrative workloads freeing up time for what really matters.  

Read more for what other schools can learn from their approach.