Microsoft Envision and Ignite Spotlight on Switzerland

Microsoft Ignite

On 08.03. and 09.03. the Swiss Microsoft community met at the Kongresshaus in Zurich for Envision and Ignite. The Microsoft conference was filled with interesting sessions and plenty of space to exchange ideas with like-minded people - a «class reunion» of a special kind.

Microsoft Ignite Keynote Catrin Hinkel
Microsoft Ignite Breakout Session isolutions
Microsoft Ignite Adam Goldberg

The sessions covered the six main topics of Data, Cloud Developer Platform, Modern Work, Cybersecurity, AI and Startups. Raffael Nussbaumer, Team Lead Developers at isolutions, held a breakout session together with Laurent Bugnion on the topic «Drive application innovation and modernization at scale with cloud native architectures». In addition, more than 20 colleagues from isolutions took the opportunity to refresh their knowledge and make new connections in the Microsoft environment.

Keynote and Breakout Sessions

At the keynote, Erich Gamma, still known to some from the «Gang of Fours», showed us how to develop an existing Spring app using GitHub Codespace, Visual Studio Code and Dev Container. He also made the case for GitHub CoPilot and showed the massive benefits. Even he, as a very experienced software developer, uses CoPilot on a daily basis, boosting his productivity. This keynote shows how strong the developer platform around GitHub, VS Code and Azure has become and what impact it will have in the future.

With Adam Goldberg and Colin Jarvis, Microsoft Switzerland has brought two speakers from OpenAI to Zurich. I would have loved to ask Adam some questions after his session. Unfortunately, this was not possible, so I had to resort to ChatGPT and Bing AI.

Answer as Adam Goldberg: tell us more about yourself. When did you join OpenAI and what is your role today?

Hi, I'm Adam Goldberg, the leader of the Azure OpenAI Enablement team at OpenAI. I joined OpenAI in January 2020 and my role is to strengthen and expand the partnership between OpenAI and Microsoft. I am passionate about OpenAI's vision to make artificial intelligence accessible to all and to harness the potential of AI for the common good.

Answer as Adam Goldberg: What advice would you give to a CEO of a Swiss company? Should he or she be interested in ChatGPT?

I would advise any CEO of a Swiss company to be interested in ChatGPT. ChatGPT is an innovative chatbot based on the OpenAI GPT-3 model. It can understand and generate natural language and adapt to different contexts. ChatGPT can bring many benefits to businesses, such as:

  • Improve customer service through automated and personalized responses to common inquiries.
  • Increasing customer loyalty and satisfaction through accurate recommendations based on customer preferences and geographic segments.
  • Improving internal communication and collaboration by creating meeting summaries, To Dos, and follow-ups.
  • Encourage creativity and innovation by generating visual content, code or text for multiple purposes.

ChatGPT is a revolutionary AI application that has the potential to change the way businesses interact with their customers and employees.

Answer as Adam Goldberg: Do you think we will continue at the same pace of innovation? Where do you see the next big innovations?

I believe we will continue at the same pace of innovation, if not faster. AI technology is evolving rapidly, enabling new applications and opportunities all the time. I expect the next big innovations to be in areas like:

  • Healthcare: AI can help diagnose, treat and prevent disease, provide personalized medicine and improve quality of life.
  • Education: AI can help individualize, optimize and motivate learning, support teachers and expand access to knowledge.
  • Environment: AI can help combat climate change, increase energy efficiency, and promote sustainability.
  • Entertainment: AI can help create immersive and interactive experiences, generate creative content, and explore new forms of art and humor.

I'm very excited about the future of AI and how it will change our lives for the better.

Microsoft Ignite isolutions Booth
Microsoft Ignite isolutions
Microsoft Ignite Greifautomat

Besides the exciting tracks and sessions, another highlight for me was the isolutions booth. Many colleagues from the Microsoft ecosystem came by and insightful conversations ensued. Our Mandelbärli vending machine was certainly an additional incentive to visit our booth. Hardly anyone could resist to try their luck at the vending machine to get one of the popular Mandelbärli.

Overall, the event was a complete success. As isolutions, we had the opportunity to attend many different sessions. I am already looking forward to the exchange in the upcoming session with the other participants.

Microsoft Ignite

Melde dich gerne direkt bei mir, falls du dich über die Microsoft Envision und Ignite austauschen möchtest.

Get in touch with me for more info.

David Schneider

CTO
Dipl. Computer Science Ing. FH, Microsoft Office 365 MVP

david.schneider@isolutions.ch
David Schneider