AI Auto-Summaries Speed Incident Resolution

Situation

Microsoft's AI platform team regularly deals with system incidents that require immediate attention
Traditional "live site bridges" involve approximately 15 people simultaneously discussing the incident
Without structured information, it's difficult to quickly understand where an incident started, its current status, and next steps
Engineering leaders, including VPs like Asha Sharma, need to rapidly join these calls and get up to speed

Implemented AI agents to automatically generate real-time summaries of ongoing incident discussions
The AI processes the conversation happening between the ~15 team members on the bridge call
The system creates a structured overview that captures:
- Origin point of the incident
- Current status
- Progression of the issue
- Key information needed for decision-making

Engineering leaders can quickly join calls mid-incident and understand the situation
Team members can ask more targeted questions based on the comprehensive summary
Reduced cognitive load during high-stress incident management
Improved coordination between technical teams during critical system failures
Faster resolution times as less effort is spent bringing people up to speed

Reduce information overload: In high-pressure situations with many participants, AI can distill critical information that humans might miss
Enable rapid context-switching: Leaders who need to jump between multiple priorities can quickly get oriented without disrupting the team's flow
Focus on high-value contributions: When basic information gathering is automated, team members can focus on problem-solving rather than status updates
Apply AI to internal workflows first: Before building customer-facing AI features, companies can gain experience by improving their own operational processes
Target communication bottlenecks: Multi-person crisis situations are perfect candidates for AI assistance as they typically suffer from information fragmentation