Welcome to the Cloud Wars Minute — your daily news and commentary show, hosted by Cloud Wars founder Bob Evans. Each episode offers insights and perspectives around the “reimagining machine” that is the Cloud.
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In this Cloud Wars Minute, Bob Evans defines the ways Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s “AI obsession” is hurting the Microsoft Cloud.
Strong points
00:40 — It’s getting to the point where Bob thinks Microsoft needs to step up and clarify things related to what he calls Satya Nadella’s “AI obsession” and the impact it could have on the Microsoft Cloud activity.
00:57 — It’s perfectly wonderful that Microsoft wants to be the leader in AI – Nadella has the vision and the company has the technology capabilities to be a big player here – but the way Nadella framed that notion is contrary to his clear and typical concise. .
01:22 — Nadella has stated, very publicly, that “AI is the new computing platform” and is “the next big wave in computing.” That looks interesting. If so, which is the old one? What is the new computer wave replacing? Currently, Bob thinks the cloud is them major computing platform.
01:53 — Bob posed three questions to Microsoft’s PR firm:
- If AI is the “new computing platform”, is it replacing the cloud?
- If AI is indeed the next big wave of computing, what is the cloud, in Microsoft’s description?
- How will these two technologies work together?
The answer? A resounding “no comment”.
02:32 — On behalf of the tens of thousands of companies that in 2022 have invested $100 billion in Microsoft Cloud, Microsoft needs to be more open and transparent about how it sees the role of AI and the cloud.
03:03 — During the earnings call, Nadella, who tends to be a great communicator, talked nonstop about AI.
03:34 — If Bob was the CEO of a midsize company that had just invested millions of dollars in Microsoft, he says he’d wonder if he just invested in “the old” because AI is the “new computing platform”. Big companies need to assume their responsibilities. Microsoft certainly needs to be clear about where things are headed.
04:24 — Now is the time to have clear and precise communication about the future role and influence that AI will have on everyone’s business.