Cognizant of a technological sea change underway in the private and public sectors, and accelerated by COVID-19, Microsoft hosted a virtual summit June 23 on artificial intelligence. Eight guests included five experts from the tech company as well as the research firm CCS Insight, The Kroger Co. and Snohomish County, Wash., which recently used AI to create chatbots to disseminate critical information. Microsoft U.S. Chief Digital Officer Jacky Wright started the event by talking about why AI is becoming so important for large organizations. She said it comes down to the power of data, for two broad purposes: to accumulate and share new knowledge, and to solve problems. She polled an audience of industry officials about the top barriers to their AI adoption strategies, and the No. 1 answer was "defining the AI strategy."