Preparing for AI
Are You Ready for a
New Era of Work?
Table of 01 / 02 / 03 /
contents
A new era of work AI readiness Assessment
04 / 05 /
Results Next steps
01 A new era of work
A new era AI readiness Assessment Results Next steps
Does this sound like your organization?
Preparing for AI: Are You Ready for a New Era of Work? 4
The era of
AI-powered
of people don’t have enough
uninterrupted focus time.1
productivity
The way we now work—defined by an era of digital transformation—is evolving
at such a pace that keeping up has become a challenge for many organizations.
Business leaders are recognizing the enormous opportunity that modern work
solutions like AI tools present and are exploring ways to use them to their best
advantage. That means implementing AI in a way that allows employees to be more
engaged and productive, focusing on the work that matters most.
Organizations that made employee engagement a top priority have performed
twice as well financially as businesses that deprioritized an engaged workforce.2
And AI is poised to empower employees to be more engaged through opportunities
spend too much time for creativity, skill building, and increased productivity. AI helps your employees
searching for information.1 offload time-consuming tasks by jumpstarting the creative process, analyzing trends,
and summarizing email threads and key discussion points from meetings. Less time
spent on more tedious tasks grants employees the freedom to focus on the work
that matters most.
AI tools can help your employees gain
better focus and efficiency.
A new era AI readiness Assessment Results Next steps
Employees are ready for AI
Preparing for AI: Are You Ready for a New Era of Work? 5
Discover what’s
possible with AI
would delegate work to AI to
lessen their workloads.2 Imagine a workforce driven by the powerful combination of irreplaceable human
ingenuity and skill with the innovative capabilities of a secure, user-friendly AI
system. With the right tools and mindset, any organization can embrace the
transformation to an AI-powered workforce.
Responsible AI practices
With all the potential that working with AI holds, it’s critical to remember to take
an approach that prioritizes fairness, transparency, and accountability. Microsoft
is a leader in the development and implementation of AI systems, which includes
creating guidance on principles and best practices for responsible AI use—and
ensuring those principles are at the foundation of Microsoft’s AI technology. Only
with responsible AI implementation can your organization unlock the full potential
say using AI tools empowers
of what’s possible with AI.
them to feel fulfilled and focus on
the work that matters most.3
A new era AI readiness Assessment Results Next steps
02 AI readiness
A new era AI readiness Assessment Results Next steps
Preparing for AI: Are You Ready for a New Era of Work? 7
How do you know
your organization is
ready for AI?
The platform shift to AI isn’t one that can be made without clear leadership and focused
investment. Implementing AI technology can be complex, especially without a well-
defined plan in place. It requires a culture of productivity and collaboration, a secure
foundation for endpoint management, and the willingness to embrace change in order
to outpace it.
What does AI readiness look like?
An organization ready to embrace AI understands its potential as a strategic asset,
how it can be used to benefit the business, and the ability to guide employees and
customers in responsible AI practices. Assessing your readiness level is the first step
toward transforming your organization into one that can outpace the changes and
challenges of this new era of working with next-generation technologies like AI.
A new era AI readiness Assessment Results Next steps
03 Assessment
A new era AI readiness Assessment Results Next steps
Preparing for AI: Are You Ready for a New Era of Work? 9
Assessment:
Evaluating your
AI readiness
To help you begin the transformation to an AI-powered organization, we’ve
compiled a quiz with questions aimed at evaluating readiness level. The quiz
is in five parts and assesses your organization's:
• Relationship to change and productivity
• Relationship to AI
• Willingness to use AI
• Investment and funding abilities
• Endpoint management and security capabilities
Each question has three potential answers. Choose the one that sounds most
like where your organization currently stands and keep a tally of your answers
as you go. At the end of the quiz, you’ll be able to estimate whether your
organization is Very Ready, Almost Ready, or Needs More Guidance to
begin the transformation to an AI-powered workforce.
Take the quiz
A new era AI readiness Assessment Results Next steps
Preparing for AI: Are You Ready for a New Era of Work? 10
Rate your organization’s openness to change and innovation.
A Very open: We welcome and seek out opportunities for change and innovation.
Part One: B Somewhat open: We approach opportunities for change and innovation with caution.
Your organization’s
C Not very open: We don’t take on many opportunities for change and innovation.
relationship to change How confident are you that your current technology empowers your
employees to be productive?
and productivity A Very confident: Our technology greatly improves employee productivity.
B Somewhat confident: Our technology somewhat improves employee productivity.
C Not very confident: Our technology does not support employee productivity.
1/5
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How fundamental is AI to the success of your business?
A Very important: AI will greatly improve the success of our business.
Somewhat important: AI will support the success of our business, but it isn’t
B
necessary.
Part Two:
Not very important: AI would be beneficial in other ways but won’t affect the
C
success of our business.
Your organization’s Rate your employees’ current willingness to adopt new technologies,
relationship to AI
including AI.
A Very willing: Employees are excited to learn about and use new technologies like AI.
B Somewhat willing: Employees are cautiously optimistic about new technologies.
C Not very willing: Employees are resistant to new technologies, including AI.
2/5
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Preparing for AI: Are You Ready for a New Era of Work? 12
How important is it to provide secure, user-friendly AI systems to your
workforce?
Very important: We want our employees to be able to learn and use AI as soon
A
as possible.
Somewhat important: We’re interested in adopting user-friendly AI but want to learn
B
more first.
Part Three:
Not very important: User-friendly AI systems are a “nice-to-have” but not currently
C
a priority.
Your organization’s How much, if at all, has your organization’s leadership bought into the business
willingness to use AI
value of AI-powered tools?
A All in: Our leadership is ready and willing to begin transitioning to AI-powered tools.
Somewhat in: Leadership understands the importance of AI but needs some
B
convincing on the business value of adopting it.
C Not at all in: Our leadership doesn’t understand the importance or value of AI just yet.
3/5
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Preparing for AI: Are You Ready for a New Era of Work? 13
How strong is your investment in change management and training to support
the transition to AI-powered processes and systems?
A Very strong: We could begin the transition immediately.
Somewhat strong: We could begin the transition soon but have some challenges to
B
overcome first.
Part Four:
Not very strong: We need a lot of support and training before we can begin the
C
transition to AI.
Investment and Does your organization have funding for deploying and implementing a secure,
funding
user-friendly AI system?
A Fully funded: Our organization is ready and able to invest in AI technologies.
Some funding: Our organization can afford to transition, but leadership is unsure the
B
benefit outweighs the cost.
No funding: We’re working toward a place where we can invest in AI technologies, but
C
we’re not quite there yet.
4/5
A new era AI readiness Assessment Results Next steps
Preparing for AI: Are You Ready for a New Era of Work? 14
How confident are you in your organization’s current endpoint management
capabilities to enable employees to use AI to help them do their best work,
regardless of where they work and what device they use?
Very confident: Our endpoint management capabilities allow employees to work
A
where and how they feel they can be most successful.
Part Five: B
Somewhat confident: Our endpoint management capabilities are stable for certain
experiences but could be improved.
Not very confident: We need a better system to support endpoint management for
Endpoint
C
employees working anywhere and from any device.
management and Rate your organization’s current security foundation for enabling AI-powered
work from any endpoint.
security capabilities A
Very secure: Our systems are built on a robust security foundation and support our
strong endpoint management capabilities.
Somewhat secure: We have strong security systems but aren’t confident they can
B
support the additional requirements of using AI-powered tools.
Not very secure: We need a more secure system to protect our organization’s data
C
and ensure our employees can confidently work from anywhere.
5/5
A new era AI readiness Assessment Results Next steps
04 Results
A new era AI readiness Assessment Results Next steps
Very Ready Almost Ready Need More Guidance
Mostly A’s Mostly B’s Mostly C’s
GREAT NEWS: Your organization is ready to get your GOOD NEWS: Your organization is nearly there. IT’S OK: It sounds like your organization could
AI transformation underway. The Microsoft 365 team Like Very Ready organizations, your Almost Ready benefit from personalized guidance on implementing
is excited to help you move forward. A couple of key business should consider deploying Microsoft 365, if AI tools. For more information on the requirements
notes for Very Ready organizations: you haven’t already. Help your employees learn their and benefits of a secure, user-friendly AI system,
way around Microsoft 365 now so that it's easier for Microsoft can help! A couple of notes to get
• If you already have Microsoft 365, your them to adopt the AI integrations down the road. A organizations that Need More Guidance started:
organization has a head start, as it’s required to couple of notes for Almost Ready organizations:
implement Copilot. • Speak to a Microsoft 365 representative to learn
• There is a wealth of guidance online to help more about the benefits of adopting Microsoft 365
• If you haven't deployed Microsoft 365 yet, we can
you familiarize your teams with Microsoft AI so your organization can build a foundation that
help make that happen so your organization is
capabilities before deploying the tools. will get you Very Ready for AI transformation.
set up with a Zero Trust foundation and strong
endpoint management capabilities. Having that • Microsoft 365 representatives are available to • Visit the Microsoft AI homepage for a number of
baseline productivity in place will enable your help you understand what steps specific to your resources on responsible AI principles, specific AI
employees to start exploring the benefits of Copilot organization will take you from Almost Ready to capabilities, and guidance on how to build an AI-
as soon as possible. You can find a link to get Very Ready. ready organization.
started at the end of this ebook.
Continue reading for next steps
A new era AI readiness Assessment Results Next steps
05 Next steps
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Preparing for AI: Are You Ready for a New Era of Work? 18
An organization ready to unlock what’s even further. Microsoft 365 delivers a
possible with AI has a strong foundation secure, productive working experience.
in security, streamlined endpoint With Copilot, it becomes an intuitive,
Unlock the
management, and an openness to next-generation productivity partner
innovation that improves productivity. that works alongside your employees,
With Microsoft 365, your organization empowering them to collaborate and
can achieve those checkpoints work more efficiently to become more
potential of AI
with one complete solution. With productive contributors to business
Microsoft 365, your organization's outcomes.
technology landscape will be grounded
in Zero Trust, ensuring a secure Copilot can empower your team to
foundation for all of your endpoints, no tap into the rich functionality available
with Microsoft 365
matter where access is coming from. A throughout Microsoft 365, making
Zero Trust security foundation in turn employees better at what they’re already
makes endpoint management safer and good at and mastering what they’ve yet
and Copilot
less complex, so you can efficiently grant to learn. It integrates seamlessly with
employees access to all the tools they the apps your teams already use and
need to be more productive than ever. is designed to unlock their untapped
potential. Ultimately, Copilot elevates the
Microsoft offers decades in future- powerful capabilities of Microsoft 365 to
forward technology expertise, and that enhance your workforce’s productivity,
experience is built into the features that creativity, and skills—benefits your
make Microsoft 365 so powerful. Now, organization can experience when you
with Copilot, your organization can make the transformation to AI.
extend the capabilities of Microsoft 365
A new era AI readiness Assessment Results Next steps
Preparing for AI: Are You Ready for a New Era of Work? 19
What can Microsoft 365 with
Copilot do for your organization?
Automate time-consuming,
Secure any endpoint with robust Reduce your organization’s
repetitive tasks so employees can
protocols grounded in Zero Trust software footprint
focus on more meaningful work
Lower costs of deployment and Improve employee productivity Drive higher financial performance
implementation and engagement and positive business outcomes
A new era AI readiness Assessment Results Next steps
Ready to see what Microsoft 365 Copilot
can do for your organization?
Learn more about Microsoft 365
Sources:
“Will AI Fix Work?” Work Trend Index, May 9, 2023. Microsoft. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/
1
work-trend-index/will-ai-fix-work.
“The New Performance Equation in the Age of AI.” Work Trend Index, April 20, 2023. Microsoft. https://www.
2
microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/the-new-performance-equation-in-the-age-of-ai.
3
“A Whole New Way of Working.” Work Trend Index. Microsoft. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/ai-
a-whole-new-way-of-working.
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