Today we had the opportunity to visit Microsoft Ireland headquarters and Thinkhouse. I loved the Microsoft tour and presentation because of their beautiful office and approach to work. I found myself comparing Microsoft to our Google visit, because they are two huge tech companies with different cultures. At Google, I felt like they focused too much on play and not enough on work. I really enjoyed Google, but it felt to me like people spent all their time at the office and did not have lives outside of work. Due to the number of amenities that Google had, I feel as though many employees would never want to leave work, which is an unhealthy mindset even if they are not actively working while at the office.
Microsoft emphasized a traditional workday, with most employees being out of the office by 5 every day. I think that it is important for people to have lives and events outside of work to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Microsoft did have many amenities such as wellness lounges, however they are mainly only used in 30 minute slots when employees need a little break from work. I definitely would rather work at Microsoft because it is a more traditional work environment with a large focus on work-life balance and collaboration in the office.
The big topic of the day was AI. We heard from an AI sales specialist at Microsoft who showed us a video of their upcoming Microsoft Office AI addition. It is easy to think that AI is cheating and that there should be more emphasis on humans doing human tasks, however I think that it has the capability to completely modernize and optimize the workplace as we know it. Being able to use AI to shorten tasks, such as data analysis, that normally would take hundreds of hours allows for more time to complete other projects and spend less time doing “mindless” work. I really like how all 5 of the companies we have visited so far have seen AI as a helping tool rather than something that may take away their jobs. When asked about AI, all of our speakers so far have discussed how AI will create so many more jobs than it is taking away, and that when using AI there is a need for specialists to be able to troubleshoot and manage the AI software.
We also had the opportunity to visit Thinkhouse, an advertising agency in Ireland who does really cool stuff targeted at a young demographic (18-35, to be exact). We asked them about how AI comes into play in the advertising and marketing world, and they talked about how it could be a helpful tool and that with how widespread it is becoming, they must embrace AI and use it to their advantage. I like how they talked about how the workplace is changing and that they have to change with it, even though AI could be seen in itself as a competitor.
Overall I was very interested in todays discussion of AI and how it can completely change and optimize the way we work now. I think its so cool that we can focus less on simple tasks and more on innovation in the workplace using AI, and I am excited to see how it speeds up the creation of new products and services. Hopefully when I join the workforce I will be able to learn how to use AI to my advantage, because I think that it is a super interesting tool.
Today was a really cool day that showed me how much the workplace is constantly changing and adapting to new trends. I am not a Marketing person whatsoever, but our Thinkhouse visit gave me a new view of marketing and how important it is in every company. Overall I have been loving the discussions of work culture and AI that we have been having so far, and I am looking forward to our guest speaker and group presentations tomorrow!