The CEO of Microsoft's AI division, Mustafa Suleiman, stated that artificial intelligence is capable of automating most of the office tasks performed by lawyers, accountants, and other professionals within the next 12 to 18 months. In an interview with the British newspaper Financial Times, Suleiman explained: "Office work that requires sitting at a computer, whether you are a lawyer, accountant, project manager, or marketing specialist, will be largely fully automated by AI in the next 12 to 18 months." The Microsoft executive pointed out that AI agents will be able to coordinate work within organizations more effectively in the coming years, confirming that the agents' ability to learn and improve will enable them to take more independent actions. He added that "creating a new model will become like creating a podcast or writing a blog, where designing AI software will be based on the requirements of each organization and every person on Earth." Suleiman also clarified that Microsoft is seeking to achieve "true self-sufficiency" in AI by building its own models to reduce reliance on OpenAI's software. Microsoft was one of the largest and earliest investors in OpenAI and relied on its models to power its own tools. Suleiman confirmed that Microsoft will launch its own models "sometime this year" after OpenAI restructured and allowed new investors to join. He also noted that Microsoft is focusing on building a super AI model in healthcare to help address the workforce shortage crisis in the sector. Suleiman stressed that Microsoft's goal is to build a superhuman AI under human supervision to address growing concerns that tech companies are developing powerful technologies that resist oversight from their creators. He concluded by saying: "These tools, like any previous technology, are designed to enhance human well-being and serve humanity, not to surpass humanity."
