Finally, Microsoft deposes its “mobile-first” strategy to embrace AI

Microsoft's Mobile-First Mantra: A Journey of Fan Fury and Insider Preview Frustrations

“Cloud-first” and “mobile-first” are two of the most sacred mantras that are reigning the territory of Microsoft since Satya Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer. While the release of Windows 10 in mid-2015 gathered more fan fury, many criticized that the company’s focus is deviating from mobile to desktop. Again, things were not favourable for the tech giant with the long deferred Insider Preview builds and inadequate features of Windows 10 for mobile.

“Mobile-first” to “Cloud-first”

So what does Microsoft’s vision look like in the coming years? Unfolding its fiscal reports for 2017, Microsoft announced its most daring decision to change its two-year old vision of being a “cloud-first”, “mobile-first” organization. The big takeaway is that the corporate giant will now focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) instead of mobile technology. In a company statement, Microsoft says that their “strategy is to build best-in-class platforms and productivity services for an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge infused with artificial intelligence (AI).”

Experts comment that it is an anticipated change owing to the failure of the tech leader within the mobile space. The underwhelming performance of Windows phone and the vendor’s botched acquisition of Nokia in 2013 have forced Microsoft to wear its thinking hat.

Behind Microsoft’s AI love:

With the Silicon Valley becoming a battleground of AI masters, experts sum up the reasons behind Microsoft’s newfound AI love. It is not a surprise, as Microsoft already established its Artificial Intelligence and Research Unit under the leadership of Harry Shum. His team has roped in the experts behind Cortana speech recognition, robotics, and Bing search to tackle the tough AI challenges. Microsoft has also announced that it will soon be designing special AI chips to support its upcoming HoloLens Virtual Reality device.

More interesting is the tech giant’s competition with Amazon and Google who are already into the flight with numerous AI-related announcements.

Interested to know more about Microsoft’s take on AI? Check out our blog now.

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