Opinion
This is the year organizations stop only using AI - and start thinking with it
"In Israel, we stand at a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Our human capital, entrepreneurial culture, and proven ability to turn technology into real-world solutions give us a genuine advantage. But that advantage is not guaranteed. It requires the bold adoption of an AI-first approach across organizations, the public sector, and at the national level," writes Alon Haimovich, Israel Country GM at Microsoft.
For years, artificial intelligence was discussed as an advanced technology – another tool to be adopted cautiously, through small pilots and at a measured pace. As 2026 begins, it is clear that this is no longer the right question. The organizational conversation has fundamentally shifted. The question is no longer whether to adopt AI, but what an organization looks like when AI becomes an integral part of how it thinks, makes decisions, and operates.
We are entering an era in which AI is no longer a technological add-on, but a foundational layer. This marks the transition from a digital company to a Frontier Firm – one that operates with an AI-first mindset not only at the technology level, but across culture, structure, and ways of thinking. Such organizations understand that in a world where models, markets, and technologies change rapidly, true competitive advantage does not lie in stability, but in the ability to adapt – quickly, deeply, and at scale.
In a Frontier organization, AI is not merely a support tool. It is a partner. It does not only analyze data – it proposes directions. It does not merely respond to reality – it often anticipates it. This represents a profound shift in mindset that permeates every layer of the organization.
This transformation begins with people. Employees equipped with personal AI assistants can learn faster, produce more, and focus on tasks that truly require human judgment. At Microsoft, after integrating AI into employees’ day-to-day work, we saw accelerated IT processes, an approximately 9% increase in revenue per sales representative, and at least 20% more deals closed. This is not a dramatic overnight revolution, but a series of cumulative daily improvements that, over time, become organizational strength.
The impact of AI is equally evident in customer engagement. When AI agents are implemented effectively, they do more than respond to requests: they identify patterns, understand behavior, and propose solutions before a customer has even articulated a problem. This marks the shift from reactive customer service to proactive engagement, and from a service advantage to a strategic one.
To fully realize this potential, however, improving existing processes is not enough. They must be rebuilt. AI cannot simply be “layered” onto outdated workflows. Organizations advancing in this direction typically move through three stages: first, a personal AI assistant for every employee; next, AI agents integrated into teams with clearly defined roles; and finally, end-to-end process management by agents under human oversight. This evolution also requires new organizational structures: less hierarchy, greater flexibility, distributed responsibility, and decision-making closer to the front lines.
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Innovation itself is also being reshaped. Access to AI tools enables any employee to turn an idea into an implementation. Innovation moves beyond R&D labs into legal, operations, and service teams, creating meaningful leverage across the organization. At the same time, developers remain at the forefront, now equipped with tools that allow them to work faster and at a higher level of quality. This is not merely the democratization of innovation, but it is its true acceleration.
As capabilities expand, so does responsibility. According to forecasts, more than one billion AI agents will be operating globally within a few years. At this scale, security, governance, and transparency are not optional, they are prerequisites for trust. The faster the transformation, the greater the need for responsible leadership - such that understands not only what is possible, but what is right.
In Israel, we stand at a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Our human capital, entrepreneurial culture, and proven ability to turn technology into real-world solutions give us a genuine advantage. But that advantage is not guaranteed. It requires the bold adoption of an AI-first approach across organizations, the public sector, and at the national level.
The year 2026 will be a test, not only of technology, but of leadership. For organizations willing to pause, rethink, and rebuild themselves more intelligently, it can become a year of true breakthrough.
Alon Haimovich is Israel Country GM at Microsoft.
