New York, New York
— January 23, 2026

Boots on the Ground at Microsoft’s AI Tour NYC

This week, we were over at Microsoft’s AI Tour in New York City.

The timing was notable. Microsoft stock is down roughly 10% over the past three months, though it caught a welcome 4% bounce to end the week. At the same time, over in Davos at the World Economic Forum, Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella was addressing growing speculation around an AI bubble. He acknowledged that current investment levels won’t be sustainable if AI only benefits Big Tech. For AI to justify its spend, Nadella argued, it has to deliver deep, durable value across industries.

From what we saw in person, Microsoft is clearly trying to do exactly that.

From Hype to Enterprise Value

A central theme of the AI Tour was Microsoft’s focus on operationalizing AI for real businesses, not just hyping products. During the keynote, Alysa Taylor, Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer for Commercial Cloud and AI, walked through the company’s Frontier Firm program.

The goal is straightforward: help organizations actually realize value from AI. Microsoft frames this value creation across four pillars:

• Enriching employee experiences
• Reinventing customer experiences
• Reshaping business processes
• Bending the curve on innovation

This framing matters. It signals a shift away from abstract AI promises and toward measurable productivity, efficiency, and growth inside enterprises.

A Familiar Pattern Emerging

Stepping back, the broader AI ecosystem forming around the hyperscalers is starting to feel familiar. It increasingly resembles the explosion of apps in the early 2010s. That wave was transformative for Apple, but it wasn’t just about one company. Entire categories emerged. Businesses unlocked new capabilities. Consumers benefited in tangible ways.

AI may be following a similar trajectory.

The next phase of growth for companies like Microsoft, AWS, and Google likely hinges on whether agentic systems (AI that can act, decide, and execute across workflows) truly make things better for both businesses and their customers. If they do, the value creation could extend far beyond today’s hype cycle.

What We’re Seeing on the Ground

From conversations at the AI Tour and elsewhere in the tech community, one thing is clear: almost everybody is leaning in. Customers, partners, and developers are actively working to bridge the gap between AI potential and real-world outcomes. Microsoft’s partnerships, programs, and in-person conferences are all designed to accelerate that transition.

This isn’t about flipping a switch overnight. It’s about building the infrastructure, workflows, and trust required for AI to become embedded across industries.

Looking Ahead

We’ll have more on Microsoft next week ahead of their Q4 earnings call. But based on what we saw in person, the narrative around Microsoft and AI is more nuanced than recent stock performance might suggest.

The market may be debating hype versus bubble. On the ground, the work is already underway.

As always, thanks for reading and be good!