Inside Microsoft’s AI bet with CTO Kevin Scott at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 (techcrunch.com)

Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott will appear on the Disrupt Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 to explain how Microsoft is steering its AI strategy — from the company’s landmark partnership with OpenAI to embedding intelligence across enterprise and consumer products. Scott plans to outline where Microsoft sees the biggest opportunities, and to advise startups on how to build strategically on Microsoft platforms such as Azure AI and its developer tools. His perspective is framed by two decades of engineering and leadership across Microsoft, LinkedIn, Google and AdMob, making the session a high-value readout of platform-level decisions shaping AI adoption. For the AI/ML community the talk matters because it signals how one of the largest platform players intends to influence model access, tooling, and commercial integration. Emphasis on Azure AI and developer ecosystems implies continued investment in APIs, model hosting, and enterprise-grade capabilities — areas that determine how quickly startups can productize models and scale responsibly. Scott’s session will also touch on implications for consumer tech, commerce, and brand-driven innovation, framing the “high-stakes” race to define standards, developer workflows, and go-to-market paths for the next decade of AI.