AI Transformation Across the Infrastructure Lifecycle: From Supply Chain to Fleet Operations
Microsoft, Wednesday, October 7th, 2026
Microsoft's Azure hardware chief explains how agentic AI connects design, supply chain and fleet operations across Azure.
Rani Borkar, President of Azure Hardware Systems and Infrastructure, describes how Microsoft applies AI from systems design through supply chain, deployment and fleet operations across more than 80 Azure regions and 500 datacenter campuses.
She stresses that AI transformation starts with the work, not the technology, and under a 'Lean before AI' approach teams simplified processes and built a governed shared data foundation before adding agents.
One example is demand planning, where investigating why an infrastructure plan changed once required reconciling multiple systems.