Asha Sharma, CVP of AI Platform at Microsoft, provides a forward-looking perspective on the evolution of AI products and the future of work.
She introduces the concept of "product as organism," where AI-powered products are no longer static artifacts but living systems that continuously learn and improve.
Sharma predicts a major shift in investment from pre-training large models to post-training and reinforcement learning, arguing it offers better economic leverage.
She also foresees an "agentic society" where AI agents will transform organizational structures from hierarchical org charts to dynamic "work charts," and where user interfaces will increasingly become code-native and composable rather than graphical.
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Concerns Raised
The rapid pace of technological change makes long-term planning and roadmapping extremely difficult for organizations.
Companies risk failure by pursuing numerous AI projects without a coherent blueprint or proper measurement and observability.
The proliferation of over 70,000 enterprise AI tools makes it hard for companies to choose the right platform and avoid being locked into a single technology.
Opportunities Identified
AI agents will create exponential demand for productivity and output by scaling tasks and augmenting human capabilities.
The shift to post-training allows companies to create highly differentiated products by fine-tuning models on proprietary data loops, creating a new form of IP.
AI has the potential to solve major societal challenges in areas like healthcare, including accelerating cancer research and improving fertility treatments.
The rise of "full-stack builders" or "polymaths" who can work across disciplines will lead to faster, more integrated product development cycles.