Certain businesses manage to invent the future and win present-day battles at the same time. In a commercial released on Fox Television in November, for a fleeting second, Microsoft allows you to glimpse it.
“I am in India, and I’m going to see how Microsoft AI is helping people from going blind,” says the commercial’s lead actor. For 60 seconds, it’s a wide-eyed trip down a crowded street. A man on a bike unpacks a fundus camera, and people begin to queue up for eye screening. The device is made by Bengaluru’s 9-year-old startup Forus Health, but it’s the AI (artificial intelligence) from Microsoft that is doing the magic.