Business and economy·October 1, 2026, 09:32

Microsoft executive: AI creates the most value in everyday work

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In an interview, Microsoft Switzerland's CEO Catrin Hinkel explains how AI best transforms the workplace: not by automating old routines, but by changing the way people and AI work together.

Catrin Hinkel is CEO of Microsoft in Switzerland and one of the most quoted voices in Europe when it comes to companies' use of artificial intelligence (AI). In a new interview with Microsoft's own news outlet Source EMEA, she explains what it takes for AI to make a real difference in the workplace.

According to Hinkel, AI creates the most value when it becomes part of employees' daily work and core tasks, not when companies simply use the technology to automate the same tasks they have always done. Instead, companies need to rethink how people and AI work together, so employees can hand routine tasks over to AI and spend more time themselves on creative, analytical and value-creating work.

People still check AI's answers

One of the most concrete figures in the interview is about trust: 84 percent of Swiss AI users see AI's answers as a starting point they need to assess and refine themselves, rather than a final answer. This suggests that employees generally don't just sit back and let AI decide, but use their critical sense even as they adopt the technology.

What it takes to succeed

Hinkel points to a number of prerequisites if companies are to get something out of AI in practice: employees and management must trust the technology, the company must have control over where data is stored and processed (digital sovereignty), the right skills and a modern IT infrastructure must be in place, and management must lead the way. At the same time, it requires a culture where people dare to learn new things, and a willingness to organize work tasks in fundamentally different ways than usual.

She also highlights a particular potential in innovative environments, including in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, where several companies are already experimenting with how AI can become part of daily work.

The interview paints a picture in which the big gain from AI does not come automatically, but requires companies to actively change workflows and culture, instead of simply layering AI on top of familiar routines.