Tag Archives: Avanade

Avanade appoints Rodrigo Caserta as new CEO!

Avanade – a leading Microsoft solutions provider, has just appointed Rodrigo Caserta as its new CEO, replacing Pamela Maynard! Here is what you need to know…

Avanade appoints Rodrigo Caserta as new CEO!

On 16 August 2024, Avanade – a leading Microsoft solutions provider, has just appointed Rodrigo Caserta as its new CEO, with immediate effect.

Rodrigo Caserta (left in photo below), who was previously the Global Technology Business Group Lead at Avanade, succeeds Pamela Maynard (right in photo below), who will depart at the end of August to join Microsoft as Chief AI Transformation Officer for Microsoft Customer and Partner Solutions (MCAPS).

Karthik Narain, Avanade Board Chair and Group Chief Executive at Accenture Technology, expressed enthusiasm for Caserta’s appointment: “Rodrigo’s extensive experience and leadership within Avanade make him the ideal choice for CEO. His deep understanding of our clients and commitment to our team will drive our growth and innovation. I extend my gratitude to Pam for her transformative leadership, which doubled our business and enhanced our focus on inclusion and diversity.”

Rodrigo Caserta’s Vision For Avanade

Rodrigo Caserta is a veteran of nearly a decade at Avanade, who has contributed significantly to Avanade’s success. Under his leadership as General Manager of Brazil and later as President of Growth Markets, Avanade experienced notable revenue and headcount growth in Asia Pacific and Latin America. Originally from Brazil, Caserta recently relocated from Singapore to the United States with his family.

Caserta shared his excitement about his new role: “It’s an honour to follow in Pam’s footsteps. She brought me into Avanade nearly a decade ago and the wisdom I’ve gained from her is invaluable. It’s a privilege to uphold her legacy as Avanade’s next CEO”

“In an era marked by complex challenges, fierce competition, and the imperative to capitalise on AI, our clients have consistently found a trusted partner in Avanade. I am excited and look forward to this opportunity to lead – guided by our deep expertise, bold ambitions and a spirit of collaboration.”

Pamela Maynard’s New Role At Microsoft

Pamela Maynard, who has been a pivotal figure in Avanade’s growth, will transition to Microsoft as Chief AI Transformation Officer for MCAPS – the Microsoft Customer and Partner Solutions division.

Judson Althoff, Microsoft’s Chief Commercial Officer, welcomed Maynard to her new role: “We are excited to welcome Pamela to Microsoft Customer and Partner Solutions as our first Chief AI Transformation Officer, where she will leverage Microsoft’s AI portfolio to drive our internal transformation and work directly with customers to accelerate theirs. For nearly a decade, Microsoft and Avanade have been at the forefront of AI innovation, with both Pam and Rodrigo playing a critical role in advancing our progress. I look forward to this new chapter, confident in their leadership and expertise, as we further strengthen the longstanding partnership between Microsoft and Avanade and pioneer new advancements in our industry.”

Reflecting on her tenure, Maynard said, “After 16 remarkable years at Avanade, now is the right time to transition to new leadership and Rodrigo is the perfect choice for our next CEO. Reflecting on my five-year tenure as CEO, I am proud of what we’ve achieved as an organization.”

“We’ve solidified Avanade’s position as the preeminent leader in the Microsoft ecosystem – consistently earning recognition from industry analysts, market leaders, and Microsoft itself. And our workplace culture – celebrated by Newsweek, Glassdoor, and more – is a clear reflection of our deep commitment to inclusion, diversity, and wellbeing. As AI continues to transform the industry, I am excited to have the opportunity and grateful for the confidence Microsoft’s leadership has in me to lead critical work in my new role.”

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Avanade study: Familiarity reduces workplace fears of AI!

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Here is our summary of a new study by Avanade on how growing familiarity eases workplace fears about generative AI!

Avanade study: Familiarity reduces workplace fears of AI!

A recent study by Avanade highlights a significant shift in workplace attitudes towards generative AI, offering valuable insights into how organisations can encourage employees to embrace generative AI.

The Avanade report explored the experience of 700 global employees at Avanade who used Copilot for Microsoft 365 through a seven-week study. This study represents the largest pilot of Copilot for Microsoft 365 conducted during the Early Access Program.

The study investigated the impact of the generative AI tool on six human metrics in the workplace: communication, creativity, trust, work satisfaction, belongingness, and organisational citizenship behaviour. Overall findings revealed increased structured creativity, idea sharing and problem solving, but limited improvements to spontaneously generated or original thinking.

Key findings from Avanade study on workplace fears of AI

The Avanade study sheds light on how familiarity with generative AI is alleviating workplace fears, leading to greater acceptance and integration. Here are key findings from the Avanade study…

Communication

Initially, 72% of employees were apprehensive about how Copilot for Microsoft 365 would handle meeting transcriptions. By the end of the study, 45% of employees felt less cautious about their communications, reflecting a shift towards more open dialogue as familiarity with the tool grew.

Creativity and Innovation

Avanade observed a 2% increase in overall creativity and innovation, with the score rising to 82%. Acceptance of new working methods improved from 80% to 89%. However, there was a slight decrease in preference for tasks requiring original thinking.

Trust

The study found that 88% of employees felt Copilot for Microsoft 365 aligned with corporate values, while 65% believed it matched their personal values. Satisfaction with the tool’s assistance was at 75%, but concerns about transparency (78%) and accountability (65%) highlighted the need for clearer decision-making processes and governance.

Work Satisfaction

After implementing Copilot for Microsoft 365, 85% of employees reported a strong sense of accomplishment, and 80% remained engaged with their tasks. This suggests that the tool integrated smoothly into daily workflows without diminishing job satisfaction.

Belongingness

Team cohesion levels remained stable, with 85% of employees feeling consistent support from colleagues. Nevertheless, there was a 2% decline in the sense of belonging and team collaboration, indicating potential areas for improvement.Its seamless integration into Zoom Workplace not only provides a unified platform for communication and collaboration, it also ensures that users can access all their tools and documents in one place, streamlining workflows and enhancing overall efficiency.

Organisational Citizenship Behaviour

The study showed an increase in technological adaptability to 86%, suggesting that Copilot for Microsoft 365 promotes technical skill development. Altruism and courtesy remained steady at 88%, indicating the tool did not negatively impact the collaborative and supportive culture of the organization.

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Avanade + Accenture : 19th Microsoft Global SI Partner of the Year!

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Avanade and Accenture have just been recognised for a record 19th time as Microsoft’s Global SI Partner of the Year! Here is what you need to know…

Avanade + Accenture Celebrate 19th Microsoft Global SI Partner of the Year!

On June 26, 2024, both Avanade and Accenture were recognised by Microsoft as its Global SI Partner of the Year for a record 19th time.

This accolade underscores both companies’ nearly 25-year partnership with Microsoft, and commitment to delivering cutting-edge innovation, world-class capabilities, and transformative client value.

Avanade and Accenture were also named Microsoft’s first-ever Global Business Transformation Partner of the Year for Copilot, recognizing their leading expertise in deploying and leveraging Copilot across the Microsoft ecosystem and driving substantial value with generative AI for organizations worldwide.

Pam Maynard, CEO of Avanade, commented, “This is an incredible honor, one that confirms our commitment to creating value for our clients. In addition to our record-breaking 19th Partner of the Year win and receiving more global industry wins and finalist recognitions than ever before, it’s notable to be named the winner of the inaugural Copilot Transformation award, which highlights our close alignment with Microsoft on AI from the earliest days of Copilot’s development and deployment. As we look ahead to the opportunities offered by an ‘AI-first’ world, we will continue to leverage the expertise and insights of our global team to expand what’s possible with Microsoft technologies.”

Here in Malaysia Avanade unveiled its first generative AI lab for Southeast Asia last year, following the launch of its first Malaysian Digital Innovation Studio in Kuala Lumpur located at the Tun Razak Exchange in 2022.

“Our recognition as Microsoft’s Global SI Partner of the Year for the 19th time underscores the exceptional value our partnership with Microsoft and Avanade delivers to our clients,” said Chris Howarth, senior managing director and Accenture Microsoft Business Group lead. “By leveraging Microsoft Copilot and advanced generative AI technologies, we are not only enhancing our service offerings but also creating new opportunities for our clients to innovate and accelerate growth in their respective markets. This strategic focus empowers them to harness the full potential of their digital transformation, driving significant business outcomes.”

Both Avanade and Accenture have been at the forefront of developing AI solutions in collaboration with Microsoft for over a decade, most recently pioneering with generative AI application. As early adopters of Copilot, they have also played a critical role in previewing, developing, and deploying the full suite of Microsoft Copilots, enabling them to have market-leading offerings available on day-one of general availability.

Avanade and Accenture have continued this momentum with the rollout of industry-specific Copilots and Microsoft Agents for Copilot, showcased at Microsoft Build in May 2024.

This year, Avanade and Accenture received more Global Industry awards and finalist recognitions than ever before, including wins across Retail & Consumer Goods, Media & Telco, and Mobility & Transportation. They were also recognized as a winner or finalist in every Business Applications category.

Overall, Avanade and Accenture have been honored as winners in seven global categories:

Global System Integrator (GSI)
Global Business Transformation | Copilot
Global Industry | Retail & Consumer Goods
Global Industry | Media & Telco
Global Industry | Automotive, Mobility & Transportation
Global SAP RISE on Microsoft Cloud
Global Dynamics 365 Sales & Customer Insights

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Avanade Launches New Generative AI Services!

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Avanade just unveiled new generative AI services to help organisations and their people work responsibly and innovate with artificial intelligence!

Avanade Launches New Generative AI Services!

July 10, 2023 – Avanade, the leading Microsoft solutions provider, today unveiled new services to help clients address the pressing challenge to ready their people, processes, and technologies for artificial intelligence (AI).

As generative AI technology continues to transform the way we work, live and conduct business in every part of the world and in every industry, expectations are growing exponentially.

Avanade’s Trendlines research reveals that 85 percent of organisations expect AI to increase revenue growth by 2025, with more than two-thirds anticipating AI to be responsible for up to 16 percent growth in global annual revenue. All this points to lucrative rewards for those that seize the growth opportunities of AI now.

Avanade’s new services will enable leaders to assess and monitor multiple business and IT domains to prioritise actions, so they can responsibly harness the benefits of AI.

However, the research also indicates organisations are not ready. Trendlines shows that only 36 percent of business and IT leaders are completely confident that their organisation currently has sufficient checks and balances in place to mitigate the potential risks and harms of AI. Meanwhile, nearly half (48 percent) admit to not having specific guidelines and/or policies put into effect yet for responsible AI.

There is no end point to AI readiness. As generative AI continues to reshape the global business landscape, the importance of adopting an AI-first mindset cannot be overstated.

To seize the growth opportunities of AI and mitigate risks for unintended consequences through continual change, leaders need to consider more than the technology implications of AI. Ultimately, AI-first is people-first.

– Jillian Moore, Global Head of Advisory at Avanade

New Avanade Generative AI Services!

Avanade’s new services have been designed to expedite business value derived from AI while cultivating an AI-first mindset:

The Avanade AI Organisational Readiness Framework provides a comprehensive assessment of an organisation’s business and IT areas. It offers detailed insights into AI readiness across people, processes, and technologies, enabling leaders to prioritise responsible actions for leveraging AI’s benefits.

The service includes executive coaching, tailored employee training, and an innovative “AI control tower” with cloud-based tools, dashboards, and knowledge resources. This ensures continuous AI readiness and empowers leaders to monitor and take real-time actions.

The Avanade AI Governance Quick Start Service addresses the crucial requirement for responsible AI governance. It enables leaders to translate corporate values into guidelines and practices for governing the ethical use of AI.

With a strong framework and methodology, organisations can proactively assess risks in AI projects and enhance their existing business and IT governance processes, policies, and behaviours to effectively manage and reduce AI risks across all functions.

These new services compliment Avanade’s existing portfolio of generative AI strategy workshops, with options ranging from a 2-hour workshop to a 6-week strategy Proof of Concept engagement.

As generative AI gains momentum in Southeast Asia, we see a profound shift in how people engage with technology and how organisations function. Avanade is committed to helping our clients navigate this dynamic landscape, focus on doing what matters, and fully embrace the potential of generative AI responsibly.

By evaluating their AI readiness and establishing an ethical technology framework, organisations can ensure their digital advancement aligns with their core values – enabling them to simultaneously prioritise innovation and responsibility.

Bhavya Kapoor, Southeast Asia Managing Director, Avanade

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Avanade + Accenture: 2023 Microsoft Global SI Partner of the Year!

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Avanade and Accenture have just been named 2023 Microsoft Global SI Partner of the Year, for the 18th time!

Avanade + Accenture: 2023 Microsoft Global SI Partner of the Year!

Avanade and Accenture have been named 2023 Microsoft Global SI Partner of the Year. This is the 18^th time that Avanade and Accenture received the Global SI Partner of the Year recognition from Microsoft.

In total, Avanade and Accenture received close to 120 Partner of the Year awards across various technology and country categories throughout their history, for helping clients transform their employee and customer experiences by creating and delivering leading-edge solutions using Microsoft solutions.

Both companies were also recognised with 17 other awards including Malaysia Partner of the Year and Singapore Partner of the Year.

Dynamics 365 Sales & Marketing Partner of the Year
Low Code Application Development Partner of the Year
Automotive, Mobility and Transportation Partner of the Year
Customer Experience Partner of the Year
Malaysia Country Partner of the Year
Singapore Country Partner of the Year
Germany Country Partner of the Year
Greece Country Partner of the Year
France Country Partner of the Year
Portugal Country Partner of the Year
UK Country Partner of the Year
Denmark: Azure Core: Cloud Infrastructure Partner of The Year
Finland: GSI Growth Champion Partner of The Year
Asia Pacific: Azure Data & AI Partner of the Year
Asia Pacific: Azure Infrastructure Partner of the Year
Singapore: Financial Services Industry Partner of The Year
Japan: Energy and Resources Partner of the Year

The companies were also named finalists in the following five categories: Retail & Consumer Goods Partner of the Year; Dynamics 365 Finance Partner of the Year; Dynamics 365 Services Partner of the Year; Security Compliance Partner of the Year; Business Intelligence Partner of the Year

The unique partnership between Avanade, Accenture and Microsoft truly enables us to do what matters for our clients – building more resilience in a world of continuous change, empowering employees to embrace new ways of working, strengthening customer experience and now, guiding them on their journey to an ‘AI-first’ world.

Being recognized as Microsoft’s Global SI Partner of The Year for the 18th time is a remarkable achievement that is only possible because of our people all over the world who, every day, bring unrivalled expertise, experience and insights to help our clients solve their toughest business challenges.

– Avanade CEO Pam Maynard

Avanade + Accenture Collaborates With Microsoft On AI

Avanade, Accenture and Microsoft recently announced an expansion of their close collaboration to help organizations adopt the disruptive power of generative AI, accelerated by the cloud, to fundamentally transform their businesses.

By tapping into the new Accenture Center for Advanced AI, with its deep focus on generative AI and large language models, and the new Avanade AI Organizational Readiness Framework, the companies can help their clients take advantage of generative AI for safe and responsible innovation at scale.

Over the past year, we’ve expanded our partnership with Microsoft by helping more clients transform their organizations through the adoption of data and AI, cloud, metaverse, sustainability and other technologies.

Together with Avanade, we take great pride in helping clients accelerate change to achieve new growth and value, and we look forward to an exciting journey forward with Microsoft.

– Chris Howarth, Senior Managing Director and Accenture Microsoft Business Group Lead

Combined, Avanade and Accenture now have more than 65,000 professionals dedicated to delivering Microsoft technologies.

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Name : Adrian Wong
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

Recommended Reading

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