Protiviti receives AI services thumbs up from key partner Microsoft
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Protiviti has won a key vote of confidence from Microsoft in the AI market that should help it win new clients more easily.
Protiviti, a California-headquartered IT consultancy, recently nabbed an AI and Machine Learning in Microsoft Azure Specialization from Microsoft. This is a designation awarded by the tech giants to consultancies that demonstrate expertise in using its cloud-based AI services.
More specifically, expertise in this case means that those consultancies can help large companies adopt Microsoft’s deep learning offerings.
The requirements for obtaining the designation are tough to meet. A consultancy like Protiviti must not only demonstrate that its employees are well-versed in implementing Microsoft’s products, but must also undergo a third-party audit to ensure that it’s the real deal.
Protiviti’s new AI and Machine Learning in Microsoft Azure Specialization could very well win more deals for the firm down the line. The reason is that the designation will allow large, risk-averse companies to award AI contracts to Protiviti with greater confidence than before.
To strike the iron while it’s hot, Protiviti is setting up a new center of excellence focused entirely on Microsoft’s AI products. The center is staffed by data scientists and other professionals who will work with clients to build machine learning software.
The center “will focus on leveraging the latest Microsoft AI capabilities and driving research and resulting solutions that consider the broad risk considerations in today’s business environment and is well aligned with Protiviti’s rich risk management and governance history,” commented Protiviti exec Tom Andreesen.
In parallel, Protiviti is expanding its consulting portfolio with two service offerings focused on Microsoft-powered AI use cases.
The first offering assists companies with the task of defining project objectives for their AI software initiatives. Additionally, Protiviti consultants can craft a high-level plan for meeting those objectives.
The second consulting offering that Protiviti has added to its portfolio has a similar focus. According to the firm, the offering allows a company with an idea for a large language model-powered application to turn the concept into a working prototype in six weeks.
The launch of the offerings is timely for Protiviti.
Thanks to all the attention directed towards ChatGPT, big companies are ramping up their investments in AI software. That means Protiviti’s AI offerings are launching into a large and growing market with many consulting deals to be won.