Microsoft says AI is paving the way for a whole new kind of business - but it might still take time

• Microsoft claims "Frontier Firms" are leading the way with business AI
• Work Trend Index 2025 shows AI effects on productivity, training
• But AI skills can also help boost job progression, Microsoft says

Microsoft has revealed new research extolling the virtues of utilizing AI tools in the workplace, but admitted major progress may still be some way off.

The company's annual Work Trend Index report, which interviewed around 31,000 people across 31 different countries, highlighted the work being done by "Frontier Firms" - essentially those businesses fully embracing AI in the workplace.

It claimed 82% of industry leaders said AI is already revolutionizing work in their organization - leading them to have to rethink strategy and ways of doing business.

Frontier Firms leading the way on AI

"We are entering a new reality — one in which AI can reason and solve problems in remarkable ways," Microsoft's Jared Spataro - CMO, AI at Work, said in a blog post accompanying the report.

"This intelligence on tap will rewrite the rules of business and transform knowledge work as we know it. Like the Industrial Revolution and the internet era, this transformation will take decades to show its full promise — and will bring broad technological, societal and economic change."

"Frontier Firms" are understandably leading the way with the promise of AI, with the report claiming 71% of workers at these firms say their employer is "thriving" - compared to just 37% globally.

Also understandably, AI is set to play a major role in improving various roles across the business, offering "a new lever for growth", Spataro noted.

To satisfy the growing need for productivity increases, 82% of leaders expect to use digital labor to expand their workforce in the next 12 to 18 months, as human workers become overwhelmed with other tasks.

This change is already in play, the report found, as nearly half (46%) of leaders said their organization is using agents to fully automate workstreams or business processes — with customer service, marketing and product development as the top AI investment priorities.

And as companies of all sizes trim workforces, AI itself seems to be a safe bet for employment, with over three-quarters 78% of bosses saying they are considering hiring for new AI roles - and 83% believing AI will enable employees to take on more complex and strategic work earlier in their careers.

"2025 will be remembered as the year the Frontier Firm was born — the moment companies moved beyond experimenting with AI and began rebuilding around it," Spataro concluded.

"Like the digital native companies of a generation ago, they understand the power of pairing irreplaceable human insight with AI and agents to unlock outsized value. We’re giving customers the insight to anticipate what’s next — and the technology to help shape it."

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