The 2024 Microsoft Work Trend Index Annual Report, AI at Work Is Here. Now Comes the Hard Part, reveals a pivotal shift in how organizations must adapt to remain competitive: AI has moved beyond the horizon and into the everyday workflows of millions. With 75% of global knowledge workers now using AI, the moment has come for businesses to seize their potential. Equipping teams with AI-enabled PCs that drive productivity, spark creativity, and fortify security is the way forward.

AI: The New Standard in the Workplace

AI’s rapid rise in the workplace highlights its transformative power. 79% of business leaders acknowledge its necessity for maintaining a competitive edge, yet 60% admit their organizations lack a clear roadmap for its integration. This gap between recognition and execution presents both a challenge and an opportunity.

Organizations must shift their perspective, from viewing AI as a future enhancement to embracing it as a core component of their strategy and operations. Achieving this shift becomes simpler with hardware that unlocks AI’s full potential. AI-enabled Microsoft Surface devices, designed with advanced productivity, processing, and data protection features, align well with the evolving needs of enterprise environments. They offer the intuitive experiences, future-proof technology, and robust security required for effective AI integration.

Enhancing Productivity with AI-Enabled PCs

The report highlights that AI users already experience significant benefits, with 90% reporting time savings and 85% able to focus on critical tasks. These benefits are amplified when AI is paired with hardware designed to optimize its potential. AI-enabled PCs, like those in the Surface series, provide a seamless, intuitive user experience by integrating advanced AI features directly into the device’s core functions.

Surface devices, equipped with NPUs (Neural Processing Units), offer the performance needed to keep up with modern workflows, ensuring that users can maximize the power of AI in their daily tasks. These PCs redefine productivity by enabling on-device AI processing, which reduces latency and enhances the speed and efficiency of tasks such as live captions, real-time translations, and video processing.

Driving innovation with AI-optimized hardware

As businesses increasingly turn to AI to innovate, the right hardware becomes essential. Within the next five years, 41% of business leaders expect to redesign their processes with AI at the center. Surface devices are built for this future, designed to scale and adapt as AI capabilities evolve.

Surface devices equipped with NPUs allow for the local development and execution of AI models, providing businesses with the agility to build and run those models locally. This can accelerate AI value and enable companies to apply the technology in scenarios where compliance requires stringent data controls.

Securing the AI-driven workplace

Seventy-eight percent of AI users bring their own tools to work—a strong indicator that people see the value in AI. However, this also raises a key question for businesses: wouldn’t it be better if employees used tools that you can oversee, manage, and secure? Surface devices deliver compelling AI experiences so employees will prefer using managed, secured experiences over the alternatives.

Surface devices integrate trusted Microsoft security from the supply chain to hardware, firmware to the security and management ecosystem. They are equipped with features like TPM 2.0, Microsoft Pluton technology, and Windows Hello, offering robust protection against both physical and digital threats. These measures empower businesses to embrace AI securely, ensuring that data remains protected and easily managed across the organization.

Embracing AI to stay competitive

Despite AI’s growing presence in the workplace, there remains a cultural hesitation around its use. Over half of the workforce worries that using AI makes them appear replaceable, yet 66% of employers indicate they would not hire someone without AI skills. This paradox highlights the need for a cultural shift within organizations—a shift that can be signaled by investing in AI-enabled PCs.

Choosing AI-optimized devices like Surface sends a clear message: AI is not something to be feared but embraced. By providing employees with the tools, they need to maximize AI’s potential, businesses redefine productivity and foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.

Preparing for the AI-driven future

The 2024 Work Trend Index makes it clear that AI is no longer a future consideration but a present reality. To fully capitalize on the opportunities AI presents, businesses must equip their teams with the right tools. Surface devices offer the processing power, security, and innovation needed to thrive in an AI-driven workplace. By adopting these devices, organizations can ensure they keep pace with technological advancements and lead the charge into a new era of productivity and innovation.

Curious to know more about how AI PCs and your choice of endpoint can support your AI adoption plan? Download our eBook: Drive Business Resilience with AI PCs | Microsoft Surface

Read the 2024 Microsoft Work Trend Index Annual Report: AI at Work Is Here. Now Comes the Hard Part

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