AI and Machine Learning Microsoft Build 2017

Democratization of Artificial intelligence, Microsoft's promise to take the AI and Machine learning from the ivory towers and make it accessible for all, is starting to take shape quite effectively. Let's face it; resource constraints around AI/ML is a real problem. Most companies with real-world AI use cases just don't have enough runway to build their own artificial intelligence offerings, and Microsoft cognitive services provide a sophisticated yet easy to use abstraction which fills this gap. Microsoft has also announced AI as an MVP category (http://aka.ms/AIMVP) Being a Microsoft MVP for Data Platforms, I have had the front row seat to see how Cognitive Services, a collection of powerful APIs and toolkits unfold to fulfill the promise of AI democratization.