Building the future with Microsoft Azure AI

02/01/25 Wavenet
An analyst uses a computer and dashboard for data business analysis and Data Management System.

Siloed data, outdated systems and inefficient processes are compromising business performance. Businesses that fail to modernise their infrastructure will ultimately create a barrier to adopting modern technologies, which will lead to lack of innovation and scalability, and in some cases, a backward trajectory.

This ‘digital debt’ is costing businesses, with 64% of employees currently not having enough time or energy to do their job, according to the 2023 Work Trend Index – with 87% of organisations believing AI will help them overcome these challenges to give them a competitive edge. 


Microsoft Azure AI can help companies tap into this trend. Whether you’re looking for a way to build, integrate, deploy or manage your AI product, the Azure AI platform offers all the applications and tools to take your AI product to market.  And at a time where competition is rifer than ever, it’s crucial to success that businesses continue to develop their products and services in-line with customer need and technology advancement. With possibilities relating to the latter becoming almost limitless, AI will no doubt play a significant role in innovation for years to come. 


If you can see AI playing a pivotal role in the future of your organisation, then keep reading to find out how 53,000 businesses are already using the Azure AI platform to push the capabilities of their products and services, and how it can benefit your company. 

What is Azure AI? 

Across the business landscape, there’s been plenty of exploration into generative AI and its capabilities, with organisations using tools such as ChatGPT and Copilot to solve internal productivity challenges. However, the true potential of AI lies with companies having the ability to integrate it with their own business applications and systems.

Using the Azure AI platform, businesses can unlock this potential of generative AI, offering all the building blocks for developers to create and bring intelligent apps to market, in one place. Using its tools, companies will be able to create market-ready, responsible applications that leverage functionalities such as natural language processing, speech recognition and translation, as well as computer vision and decision making, which help unlock features like: 

  • Chatbots & virtual assistants 
  • Image analysis, captioning, visual search and facial recognition
  • Text analysis, summarisation and document classification 
  • Real-time speech recognition and translation, including speech-to-text transcription 
  • Personalisation and recommendation capabilities 
  • And much more…

Not only is Azure AI trusted by businesses around-the-world, but Microsoft have confirmed that all of its platforms and Copilots have been created using the same infrastructure and applications that they’ve made available to us with the release of AI, demonstrating their belief in the system and what’s possible when you leverage the tools at scale. 

What is the Azure AI stack? 

The Azure AI stack consists of the Azure AI studio, which includes all the applications and tools to leverage, build and deploy your own AI solutions. This includes:

  • Azure AI services which are pre-trained, pre-built, ready to use AI applications AI search & open AI service. 
  • Azure machine learning – full-lifecycle tools to build, train, deploy and manage the full lifecycle of generative AI. 
  • Model catalogue – a full catalogue of MaaS, GPT model family, small language models and open-source models that users can test and experiment with.

All of this is built within the Azure infrastructure, a state-of-the-art, secure system that’s been created to handle AI workloads. 

Unlock copilot assistance with Azure AI

Azure AI supports organisations in bringing copilot assistance to their own apps, using their first party owned data to drive performance, enabling quicker routes to markets and much greater user and customer experiences.

By taking advantage of the generative AI functionality that Azure AI offers, organisations can do things such as: 

  • Build Copilot extensions to improve productivity in Copilot Studio 
  • Use Visual Studio to build and integrate copilots and extensions with code 
  • Build custom models, orchestration, and AI tooling for your copilots and extensions
  • Use Azure OpenAI Studio to craft your chat experience and seamlessly integrate it into Teams

With all of this at a business’ disposal, teams will be able to innovate and overcome an array of challenges, including low productivity, lack of insight and building personalised customer experiences. 

Preparing for the future of AI with Azure

While innovation and exploration of AI continues, one thing we know for certain is that autonomous, agentic AI is only going to become more popular as businesses start to leverage its capabilities to support productivity. 

The Azure AI platform is a great way for businesses to take their first step towards personalised and autonomous AI. By accessing a library of models and pre-built templates, you can experiment, customise and integrate your own generative AI, learning as you go. 

To get started, get in touch with our specialist team, who can answer any of your questions and offer expert support as you integrate the platform into your IT team. 

Microsoft, AI, Azure, Microsoft Azure

Latest blogs

See all posts
managed soc
What is a Managed SOC? Key benefits and how it protects your business

With cyber security threats evolving at an unprecedented pace - businesses face constant challenges in safeguarding their data and systems. Managed Security Operations Centres (SOCs) offer a solution to these challenges. They provide round-the-clock monitoring and management of security incidents. This service is crucial for businesses aiming to protect their assets.

Read more
colocation-services
Major business benefits of colocation: cost, efficiency, security & continuity

Managing servers and infrastructure can be costly and complex. Colocation services offer a strategic solution.

Read more
wavenet IT support
How we support our customers | Managed IT services UK

We support organisations by bringing together the core building blocks of modern IT - secure, resilient networking; flexible cloud and data platforms; and collaboration tools that help people work from anywhere. As the UK’s most trusted managed service and security provider, we combine a broad portfolio across connectivity, cloud, communications and cyber security with deep technical expertise to design solutions that fit each customer’s goals, not a one-size-fits-all template. From connecting people and places to applications and data, to optimising Microsoft services and costs, enabling AI-driven productivity, and protecting environments with proactive security and incident response, We help customers stay secure, agile and focused - while building the operational resilience needed to anticipate, respond to, and recover from disruption. Watch this video to find out more Transcript: 0:05 Wavenet is the UK's most trusted managed service and security provider with a broad portfolio in connectivity, cloud, communications and cybersecurity. 0:15 We employ 1700 brilliant people with over 950 of those being highly skilled technologists. 0:22 So how do we use our broad portfolio, market leading partnerships and deep technical expertise to support our customers? 0:30 Intelligent networks are the foundation upon which everything else is built. 0:34 If the network is not robust, secure and scalable then anything that's connected to it will be affected. 0:40 From supplying broadband to designing networks from scratch, we connect people and places to data and applications. 0:46 As an ISP, we know there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to network connectivity, so we take the time to assess the situation and goals before making a recommendation. 0:56 With the intelligent network in place, we make applications and data accessible. 1:00 These can reside anywhere within the Wavenet cloud, whether that be public, private, community or SAS based services unique to the market on demand. 1:09 Azure provides you with access to technical change and run squads for transformation, engineering and support, aligned with your own initiatives and priorities and as scalable as you need. 1:21 In public services such as Azure and Microsoft 365, financial management is a critical component and we have the tools that can effectively review consumption and make recommendations to streamline costs by effective use of licences, application of Azure services and 365 subscriptions. 1:39 Modern Workplace provides secure access for colleagues to the applications and data they need, regardless of location, whether they're in the office, at home, or working remotely. 1:49 They can access their apps and data from the Wavenet cloud, or they can be delivered as SAS services over the Intelligent network. 1:56 Our Copilot adoption and readiness packages unlock productivity, making your people more efficient. 2:02 Our Desktop as a service offering manages the full life cycle of consumer devices from provision, iMac management, recovery and recycle. 2:10 Bundled with complementary services such as End User Service Desk and Customer Site Tech Desk to support your staff and colleagues, ensuring that they're able to use the technology efficiently. 2:20 Our mobile services offer cost effective connectivity and airtime plans from all the UK's mobile network providers. 2:28 IoT services can be described as modern workplace with cameras, sensors, scanners and other devices providing data and insight over the foundation network. 2:37 Once we have connected users to your business applications and data, we help them communicate and collaborate with colleagues, suppliers and customers. 2:45 We empower sales and contact centre users with generative and agentic AI tools, pulling real time data information from your systems before, during and after customer interactions to deliver outstanding customer experiences. 2:59 We protect your environment with a range of proactive security services including security testing, managed detection and response. 3:06 Seem security awareness training and cyber certifications. 3:10 Providing reassurance in the event of an attack through fast and effective cyber incident response. 3:16 Underpinned by our highly skilled people, modern platforms and ITIL aligned processes. 3:22 Our advisory, monitoring, support and manage services simplify technology management, enhance user experience and control complex environments. 3:31 Helping you stay secure, agile and focused. 3:35 From supporting your in house IT teams to fully outsourced infrastructure and end user support across connectivity, cloud, communications and cybersecurity, we scale our services to support your business needs. 3:48 Wavenet has a long heritage in delivering operational resilience services and business continuity management consultancy. 3:54 With services that have evolved to meet the growing demands of UK organisations and new technology, we deliver the ability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to and recover from disruptive events or challenges that could impact your operations. 4:09 The goal is not just to survive disruptions, but to be able to maintain critical operations and recover quickly when things go wrong. 4:16 This is especially important in a fast-paced, interconnected world where businesses faced increased vulnerabilities. 4:23 As you can see, using our economies of scale, diverse vendor relationships and cutting edge expertise, we empower customers to make their technology work smarter.

Read more
Did your cyber defences hold up during Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Did your cyber defences hold up during Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday and Black Friday have come and gone, with the UK consistently ranking second in global participation to what is the biggest online shopping event. Each year continues to set new records, Barclay’s predicted that UK shoppers would spend a whopping £10.2bn this Black Friday1.

Read more
building cyber resilience
Building cyber resilience with modern backup & DRaaS

Wavenet and Assured Data Protection experts come together for a practical, data-driven webinar exploring the critical importance of proactive backup and disaster recovery strategies. Demonstrating how immutable backups and instant recovery can protect your organisation from ransomware, outages, and compliance risks.

Read more
API Security
Mobile app security - a pen tester’s view

The real threat to mobile apps isn’t the app, it’s API security. Chris Watt, an experienced Wavenet penetration tester, discusses mobile security…

Read more

Stay service-savvy

Get all the latest news and insights straight to your inbox.