Microsoft Recasts Culture Around AI

Good morning. AI has created an opportunity to rethink the way that companies are structured, according to Microsoft President Brad Smith.

One of the most important potential changes is the return of the generalist, according to Smith. “For 40 years, most professions have become increasingly specialized and narrow. It’s required such deep expertise that people are narrower because they have to constantly stay abreast of such deep knowledge. AI is helping actually free that,” Smith said yesterday in conversation at Journal House UNGA with WSJ Leadership Institute President Alan Murray. (You can see the full discussion here.)

“I’m starting to see a bit of the resurgence of the generalist, the person who can go solve specific problems with the help of AI…can take more initiative, apply judgment, be creative, have more of an impact,” he said. As AI takes on more autonomy, it’s easier to organize people—smaller teams—that can accomplish more, according to Smith.

As a result, Microsoft is rotating people through more areas of the company faster, he said. “To be a better generalist, you’re better off being exposed to more types of issues in ways of working.”

“I just think one can use this as an opportunity, not just to invest…in people’s skills, but rejuvenate a culture and actually empower people within clear lanes to go do things better,” he said.

Last week, Microsoft released a playbook detailing how it is navigating the AI upheaval. During a series of interviews at Microsoft, I delved deeper into some of those lessons, including how the company is rethinking traditional organizational structures and roles and how it is using AI to design end-to-end workflows for a complex enterprise with about 223,000 people.

These changes were notably evident in the software engineering organizations, although they are taking root in other areas including sales, finance and human resources. You can read the full column here.

Highlights of that reporting:

How is AI recasting the way your company works? Let us know. Send your feedback to me at steven.rosenbush@wsj.com (if you’re reading this in your inbox, you can just hit reply).

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Follow Isabelle Bousquette on LinkedIn, Instagram, X, and TikTok for more behind the scenes on her tech and AI coverage, and lately, her contributions to the WSJ Leadership Institute’s new Executive Resilience series, where she’s profiling America’s top execs about their fitness and wellness habits.

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Steven Rosenbush is chief of the enterprise technology bureau at the WSJ Leadership Institute. He also has a column. You can follow him on LinkedIn.

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