ETtech Explainer: What is Microsoft’s new Frontier Company?

Microsoft has announced Frontier Company, a business focused on helping enterprises design, deploy, and operate artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

The initiative is backed by a $2.5 billion investment and will bring together around 6,000 engineers, researchers, and industry specialists to work with organisations on AI deployments.

What will it do?


According to Microsoft’s announcement, Frontier Company will help enterprises build AI systems, integrate them with business data, applications, and workflows, and manage them after deployment. The teams will also work with customers to monitor, optimise, and update AI systems over time.

The company said the initiative will support organisations in deploying AI solutions using multiple AI models based on business requirements. Customers will be able to choose different models for different use cases while retaining ownership of their data and AI systems.

How will it work?

According to Microsoft, the initiative is built around two objectives: helping organisations use AI to improve productivity and decision-making while maintaining enterprise data security and governance.

Where does it fit in Microsoft's AI portfolio?

The launch adds to Microsoft's enterprise AI offerings, including Azure AI services, GitHub Copilot, and Microsoft 365 Copilot. Frontier Company is designed to work with customers using Microsoft's technologies and partner ecosystem.

Microsoft also stated that this is intended to support enterprises throughout the lifecycle of AI deployment, from system design and implementation to ongoing management and optimisation.