Microsoft's Nadella encourages healthy servings of artificial intelligence

Microsoft has put artificial intelligence (AI) at the center of Microsoft Ignite in Orlando, Florida, with CEO Satya Nadella declaring that "a little bit of machine learning here and there" is not enough. Microsoft signaled a shift in focus last month, tweaking the "mobile-first and cloud-first world" mantra that Nadella has pushed since he was appointed in 2014. In an annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Microsoft abandoned the phrase and stated a new strategic vision, saying: "Our strategic vision is to compete and grow by building best-in-class platforms and productivity services for an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge infused with AI". Nadella (pictured) confirmed this new approach at Microsoft Ignite, saying that AI needs to become a more integral element of IT. "It's no longer about deploying one AI system or doing a little bit of machine learning here and there," he said. "It is about, in fact, changing the culture inside our organizations so that we understand very deeply what it means to create these digital feedback loops across all these outcomes. "These new virtuous cycles between our products, their usage, their creation of data and the business model, that's what we've got to get intuitively.