Shaping the Future of Work with AI and Innovation – Exclusive Interview With Suvidha Shashikumar

Suvidha Shashikumar is a Senior Solutions Architect at Microsoft, where she works at the intersection of AI, Copilot technologies, and enterprise-scale transformation. She is the author of AI at Work: Microsoft Copilot and the Future of Work and a recognized thought leader in the field of agentic AI systems. With a background in low-code/no-code platforms, she helps global organizations reimagine productivity, governance, and decision-making. Suvidha also writes and speaks extensively on the future of work, innovation, and inclusion in tech. Her mission is to make emerging technologies accessible, ethical, and impactful at scale.

Suvidha Shashikumar, Senior Architect

Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.

Hi, I’m Suvidha. I work at Microsoft as a Senior Architect. I live in Seattle with my husband and our two cats. I’ve always been curious, creative, and someone who thrives at the intersection of technology and human potential.

At Microsoft, I collaborate with Microsoft Partners to build innovative AI solutions across industries, from healthcare to retail to finance. A big part of my role is helping organizations bring AI into the hands of their employees through copilot, intelligent agents, and AI automation. I love that my job allows me to stay close to cutting-edge technology while solving real problems that make work more efficient and meaningful.

Outside of work, I love reading, exploring new tools, and creating something useful. One of my passion projects is Speedread, a platform where I share quick, visual summaries of books and big ideas. It was born from a simple insight: many people want to read books but feel overwhelmed. I wanted to make learning more accessible and fun, especially for visual learners like me.

It’s incredible to see how AI is transforming everything from how we work to how we create. Whether I’m designing enterprise agents or building personal content with AI, it’s become both a professional tool and a creative companion.

Give us a picture of how AI is transforming businesses today.

AI is reshaping how businesses operate in a big way! We’ve moved from static dashboards and manual workflows to intelligent, real-time systems that respond instantly.

Tasks that used to take hours, analyzing data, summarizing meetings, and finding the right document, now happen in seconds. Microsoft’s personal AI assistant at work, Copilot, is embedded directly within everyday apps & tools, letting employees ask natural-language questions and get contextual responses without switching apps. People don’t need to be tech experts, just curious.

Ultimately, AI is shifting work from execution to decision-making, creativity, and impact. It’s not just changing how we work, it’s redefining what meaningful work looks like.

What advice would you offer to organizations in their AI adoption journey while mitigating potential pitfalls?

Start by giving every employee access to a personal AI assistant that connects with relevant work data and systems. With AI as a natural and smart layer between people and their work, productivity multiplies.

For transforming business processes, start with simple agents to realize value. Tools like Microsoft Copilot Studio allow employees to build assistants that are not only answering questions but can also perform user tasks and, in some instances, autonomously - whether it’s for HR services, customer service, or finance workflows! Then, scale the ones that deliver value while exploring and expanding AI's impact across more functions.

Here are a few guiding principles:

• Nurture citizen developers and create a safe environment to experiment: Not every agent needs to scale, and that’s okay.

• Establish governance early: Clear data access policies and monitoring are essential.

• Enable and educate your teams: The more people understand AI, the more confidently they’ll use it.

AI adoption isn’t just technical, it’s cultural. And it starts with access, clarity, and empowerment.

How do you envision the role of AI assistants evolving in enterprise environments over the next few years?

AI assistants are moving from reactive helpers to proactive collaborators.

In the near future, assistants won’t just wait for prompts; they’ll monitor, interpret, and take action. They’ll understand your role, anticipate your needs, and work across systems. These won’t be basic chatbots; they’ll be goal-oriented agents capable of working alongside humans and other agents to move tasks forward.

Employees will shift into more supervisory and creative roles guiding AI, making high-level decisions, and refining processes based on insight. We’re moving toward a world where AI isn’t just a tool we use, it’s a trusted teammate.

What about AI automating jobs? How can potentially impacted users mitigate risks?

AI is already changing jobs, and it is highly likely to continue. But that doesn’t have to mean job loss, it means job evolution.

The best way to stay ahead is to learn how AI can support and enhance your role. Use it to deepen your domain expertise, boost your efficiency, and reduce time spent on repetitive tasks. Then look for ways to move up the value chain, contributing through creativity, strategy, and human insight.

Those who adapt and treat AI as a skill, not a threat, will thrive. Learn how it works, where it fits, and how to shape your work with it to evolve further. AI is here to help you learn faster and free up space for the work that truly matters.

Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.

I’ve always had a curiosity for new technology, and that curiosity has shaped every step of my journey. When the Power Platform emerged around 2015, I quickly started exploring and became an early super-user. I loved how it made app development and automation accessible to everyone, and I knew I wanted to go deeper. That led me to a more technical role focused on the platform.

In 2017, I moved to the U.S. and joined a team working on Cloud ERP and Power Platform. Then came the AI wave. When ChatGPT launched, I was fascinated. It felt like a genie of information. I began using it for learning, writing, and brainstorming. That’s when Speedread was born, a way to distill the essence of books into visual summaries using AI tools.

Now, AI is a part of every dimension of my life, from the AI apps and agents I design at work to the creativity and clarity it helps bring to my personal projects. So if I had to pinpoint a pivotal moment, it would be the beginning of the AI era when I realized this wasn’t just a trend, but a new way of thinking, working, and creating.

Follow me on LinkedIn and visit my website for more info!

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