Microsoft to make blockchain-based tools available to some users

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Microsoft will add blockchain tools available to its Microsoft Flow and PowerApps users, a report by tech site GeekWire has revealed. This is one of the many improvements the software giant announced during its Microsoft Business Applications Summit which started on June 10.

Microsoft will focus on business intelligence, data analysis and simple application building tools during the two-day summit. Artificial intelligence and blockchain technology will be the main themes, a response from the tech giant to a growing need for simple AI and blockchain tools that don’t require much investment or expertise.

Microsoft will make the new blockchain tools available to PowerApps and Microsoft Flow users. PowerApps is a suite of applications, services and data platform that allows business owners to build applications that suite their business needs. Microsoft Flow, on the other hand, is a cloud-based software that allows its users to automate tasks across multiple applications.

Microsoft is betting big on AI and blockchain technology, Richard Riley, the senior director for Power Platform marketing told TechCrunch. By combining the PowerApps platform blockchain tools and the new AI Builder tool, the company will make it very easy and convenient for business owners to “add a layer of intelligence” to their business applications. Riley stated:

“AI Builder is all about making it just as easy in a low-code, no-code way to go bring artificial intelligence and machine learning into your Power Apps, into Microsoft Flow, into the Common Data Service, into your data connectors, and so on.”

Microsoft has been one of the pioneers in blockchain research and development. The company has been working with Starbucks on the bean-to-cup initiative which aims to connect the coffee farmers and the final consumers. This will enable Starbucks customers to track the coffee from the farm to their cups, giving them assurance that they have the best quality of coffee.

The company has also been offering a blockchain development kit since November 2018. The Azure Blockchain Development Kit aims to make it easy and affordable for developers to build blockchain-based applications.