# Opinion: former Microsoft HR VP outlines three ways to use AI at work

Digest AI · Enterprise & Industry · published 2026-10-19T03:11:00Z

Canonical: https://digestai.news/story/opinion-former-microsoft-hr-vp-outlines-three-ways-to-use-ai-at-work

## Summary

A former vice‑president of human resources at Microsoft, now a leadership advisor with more than five decades of experience, shares how executives can get value from the flood of AI tools now available to employees. He recommends three practical habits. First, ask an AI system “what am I missing?” and explicitly request pushback, using the tool’s tendency to produce generic, obvious answers as a source of contrarian perspective that can surface blind spots.

Second, when faced with overly long AI‑generated or colleague‑written replies, have the AI produce a concise summary and then verify the key points yourself. The author notes that AI‑generated noise can fill seven‑page responses, so a short recap helps cut through the clutter. Third, employ AI for rote organization tasks—sorting, filtering, and flagging redundant files. He recounts discovering decades of cruft after an AI audit of his own system, noting that 90% of the identified programs and settings were left behind, and suggests a similar review for inboxes of 8,000 emails.

Throughout, he stresses human oversight: never let AI send messages or make decisions without review, but use it as a fast‑acting assistant for perspective, summarization, and cleanup.

## Key points

- Ask AI to point out missing angles and push back on your ideas for fresh perspective.
- Use AI to summarize long texts, then verify the key points yourself.
- Let AI sort and flag redundant files; author found 90% of old programs could be discarded.

## Why it matters

Executive productivity can improve by using AI to surface blind spots, condense information, and clean digital clutter, while still requiring human judgment.

## Sources

1. [Microsoft's ex-VP of HR shares 3 effective ways to use AI at work — and what he never uses it for](https://businessinsider.com/effective-ways-to-use-ai-at-work-2026-10) (businessinsider.com, 2026-10-19)

## Cite

Digest AI, "Opinion: former Microsoft HR VP outlines three ways to use AI at work", 19 October 2026, https://digestai.news/story/opinion-former-microsoft-hr-vp-outlines-three-ways-to-use-ai-at-work

---

Written by Digest AI's editorial model from the linked sources; the sources are the record. Headlines, digests and key points are written by Digest AI and may be quoted with a link to the story page. Linked articles belong to their publishers. Terms: https://digestai.news/terms#reuse
JSON: https://digestai.news/story/opinion-former-microsoft-hr-vp-outlines-three-ways-to-use-ai-at-work.json