AI on Azure

This AI guidance provides a structured approach for integrating AI into your organization using Azure. The guidance is relevant for organizations of any size and industry. It covers both generative and nongenerative AI adoption guidance. It is your roadmap for AI adoption and a central hub to find the resources you need.

Diagram showing the AI adoption process: AI Strategy, AI Plan, AI Ready, Govern AI, Manage AI, and Secure AI. Figure 1. How to use the AI adoption guidance for Azure.

Why adopt AI?

AI adoption is foundational to optimizing operations for individuals and organizations. Effective AI adoption uses governance, security, and management best practices to build trustworthy AI workloads. It enhances individual efficiency by automating routine tasks and providing creative insights. AI automates business processes, ranging from adaptive user experiences to business forecasting. These use cases allow businesses and employees to focus on customers and work that matters most. You have options to adopt AI the way that best helps your organization. Microsoft has AI services for different skill set, budgets, and data needs. You can decide what works best based on your goals. This guidance helps you navigate these decisions.

How to adopt AI

AI adoption is a sequential process. This guidance divides AI adoption into six steps. If you're new to AI adoption, complete all six steps. As you define new AI use cases for your organization, revisit the AI Strategy, AI Plan, and AI Ready. Govern AI, Manage AI, and Secure AI are continuous processes. You need to iterate through these processes to ensure your AI workloads remain secure, cost-effective, and trustworthy.

  • AI Strategy: Guidance on how to choose the right AI technology for your business and ground AI adoption in responsible AI principles.
  • AI Plan: Guidance to assess and find the AI skills needed and how to prioritize use cases to bring to production.
  • AI Ready: Guidance to establish a governed and secure Azure environment for your AI workloads and data.
  • Govern AI: The process to control your AI workloads and models by establishing guardrails to ensure compliance and responsible AI use.
  • Manage AI: The process to manage your AI deployments, operations, models, and data over time to ensure they remain aligned with your business goals.
  • Secure AI: The process to assess AI security risks and apply security controls to protect your AI workloads.

AI checklists

Use the AI checklists as your roadmap for adopting and maintaining AI. There are two checklists available: one for startups and one for enterprises. The enterprise checklist provides the most comprehensive guidance. It helps you prepare your organization to adopt AI at scale. For a quicker path to AI adoption, use the startup checklist. As your organization grows, consult the enterprise checklist to support your expanding AI needs.

AI adoption phase Startup checklist Enterprise checklist
AI Strategy Define an AI technology strategy Identify AI use cases
Define an AI technology strategy
Define an AI data strategy
Define a responsible AI strategy
AI Plan Access AI resources
Implement responsible AI
Assess AI skills
Acquire AI skills
Access AI resources
Prioritize AI use cases
Create an AI proof of concept
Implement responsible AI
Estimate delivery timelines
AI Ready Build an AI environment
Choose an architecture
Use AI design areas
Establish AI reliability
Establish AI governance
Establish AI networking
Establish an AI foundation
Choose an architecture
Use AI design areas
Govern AI Enforce AI governance policies Assess AI organizational risks
Document AI governance policies
Enforce AI policies
Monitor AI organizational risks
Manage AI Manage AI models
Manage AI costs
Manage AI operations
Manage AI deployment
Manage AI endpoint sharing
Manage AI models
Manage AI costs
Manage AI data
Manage AI business continuity
Secure AI Implement AI security controls Assess AI security risks
Implement AI security controls
Maintain AI security controls

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