Brad Smith

FOREWORD BY BRAD SMITH, VICE CHAIR AND PRESIDENT OF MICROSOFTDiscover how AI leaders and researchers are using AI to transform the world for the better In AI for Good: Applications in Sustainability, Humanitarian Action, and Health, a team of veteran Microsoft AI researchers delivers an insightful and fascinating discussion of how one of the world's most recognizable software companies is tackling intractable social problems with the power of artificial intelligence (AI). In the book, you’ll see real in-the-field examples of researchers using AI with replicable methods and reusable AI code to inspire your own uses. The authors also provide: Easy-to-follow, non-technical explanations of what AI is and how it worksExamples of the use of AI for scientists working on mitigating climate change, showing how AI can better analyze data without human bias, remedy pattern recognition deficits, and make use of satellite and other data on a scale never seen before so policy makers can make informed decisionsReal applications of AI in humanitarian action, whether in speeding disaster relief with more accurate data for first responders or in helping address populations that have experienced adversity with examples of how analytics is being used to promote inclusivityA deep focus on AI in healthcare where it is improving provider productivity and patient experience, reducing per-capita healthcare costs, and increasing care access, equity, and outcomesDiscussions of the future of AI in the realm of social benefit organizations and efforts Beyond the work of the authors, contributors, and researchers highlighted in the book, AI For Good begins with a foreword from Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith. There, Smith details the Microsoft rationale behind the creation of and continued investment in the AI for Good Lab. The vision is one of hope with AI saving lives in disasters, improving health care globally, and Microsoft's mission to make sure AI's benefits are available to all. An essential guide to impactful social change with artificial intelligence, AI for Good is a must-read resource for technical and non-technical professionals interested in AI’s social potential, as well as policymakers, regulators, NGO professionals, and non-profit volunteers.

Microsoft’s associate general counsel shares a story that is “as nuanced as it is hopeful” (Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Leader) about his rise from childhood poverty in pre-gentrified New York City to a stellar career at the top of the technology and music industries in this stirring true story of grit and perseverance. For fans of Indra Nooyi’s My Life in Full and Viola Davis’s Finding Me.As an accomplished Microsoft executive, Bruce Jackson handles billions of dollars of commerce as its associate general counsel while he plays a crucial role in the company’s corporate diversity efforts. But few of his colleagues can understand the weight he carries with him to the office each day. He kept his past hidden from sight as he ascended the corporate ladder but shares it in full for the first time here. Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Jackson moved to Manhattan’s Amsterdam housing projects as a child, where he had already been falsely accused and arrested for robbery by the age of ten. At the age of fifteen, he witnessed the homicide of his close friend. Taken in by the criminal justice system, seduced by a burgeoning drug trade, and burdened by a fractured, impoverished home life, Jackson stood on the edge of failure. But he was saved by an offer. That offer set him on a better path, off the streets and eventually on the way to Georgetown Law, but not without hard knocks along the way. From public housing to working for Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, and its founder, Bill Gates, to advising some of the biggest stars in music, Bruce Jackson’s Never Far from Home is “an important story, extremely well told, that should serve as a lesson on how we got here and where we need to go” (Fred D. Gray, activist and civil rights attorney).

Police & Society, Ninth Edition, offers an in-depth and analytical look at policing, from police behavior and organization to operations and historical perspectives. Focusing on the relationship between the police and the community and how it has changed throughout the years, the authors explore the most important theoretical foundations and incisive research on contemporary policing and show how that research is put into practice. The text is enhanced by extensive pedagogy and a unique chapter on higher education and policing.

Revealing what the Bible says about a man's position, priorities, and practices, Living as a Man of Valor gives men worldwide the truth of biblical manhood. It is a radical truth, told first to a nobody - Gideon - and applicable to all men who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. When men build from this position of strength in the Lord - when they hear, believe, and act on these truths - men, women, children, community leaders, and pastors report changed lives, revived marriages and families, and growing churches.

Microsoft’s associate general counsel shares this story that is “as nuanced as it is hopeful” (Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Leader) about his rise from childhood poverty in pre-gentrified New York City to a stellar career at the top of the technology and music industries in this stirring true story of grit and perseverance. For fans of Indra Nooyi’s My Life in Full and Viola Davis’s Finding Me.As an accomplished Microsoft executive, Bruce Jackson handles billions of dollars of commerce as its associate general counsel while he plays a crucial role in the company’s corporate diversity efforts. But few of his colleagues can understand the weight he carries with him to the office each day. He kept his past hidden from sight as he ascended the corporate ladder but shares it in full for the first time here. Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Jackson moved to Manhattan’s Amsterdam housing projects as a child, where he had already been falsely accused and arrested for robbery by the age of ten. At the age of fifteen, he witnessed the homicide of his close friend. Taken in by the criminal justice system, seduced by a burgeoning drug trade, and burdened by a fractured, impoverished home life, Jackson stood on the edge of failure. But he was saved by an offer. That offer set him on a better path, off the streets and eventually on the way to Georgetown Law, but not without hard knocks along the way. But even as he racked up professional accomplishments, Jackson is still haunted by the unchanged world outside his office. From public housing to working for Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, and its founder, Bill Gates, to advising some of the biggest stars in music, Bruce Jackson’s Never Far from Home reveals the ups and downs of an incredible journey, how he overcame many obstacles and the valuable lessons learned along the way.

Summer 1936, Wilkes County, North Carolina during the great depression. The Flagg family resides in the middle of the Appalachia; one of the hardest hit areas in the country. As the depression drags on the Flagg family watch their molasses business decimated. Jedediah, the family patriarch and his sons Morgan and Ezra struggle to produce a few meager gallons a week. That is until their sister Ava arrives home and takes control of the family business and starts running moonshine. Ava bails out ex-con Bobby Barlow and tells him he is working for the Flagg family now. With threats mounting from rival clans and the local cops breathing down Bobby's neck, he and Ava devise a plan to play them all, one against the other. They don't necessarily do it by legal means but that doesn't bother them. To live outside the law, you must be honest. Fiction.

The first book by Microsoft CLO Brad Smith, exploring the biggest questions facing humanity about tech *THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM BOOK CLUB PICK*'A clear, compelling guide to some of the most pressing debates in technology today.' Bill Gates'A colourful and insightful insiders' view of how technology is both empowering us and threatening us. From privacy to cyberattacks, this timely book is a useful guide for how to navigate the digital future.' Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of Steve JobsFrom Microsoft's President and one of the tech industry's wisest thinkers, a frank and thoughtful reckoning with how to balance enormous promise and existential risk as the digitization of everything accelerates. With new chapters on the pandemic and beyond. __________Microsoft President Brad Smith operates by a simple core belief: when your technology changes the world, you bear a responsibility to help address the world you have helped create. This might seem uncontroversial, but it flies in the face of a tech sector long obsessed with rapid growth and sometimes on disruption as an end in itself. While sweeping digital transformation holds great promise, we have reached an inflection point. The world has turned information technology into both a powerful tool and a formidable weapon, and new approaches are needed to manage an era defined by even more powerful inventions like artificial intelligence. Companies that create technology must accept greater responsibility for the future, and governments will need to regulate technology by moving faster and catching up with the pace of innovation. In Tools and Weapons, Brad Smith and Carol Ann Browne bring us a captivating narrative from the cockpit of one of the world's largest and most powerful tech companies as it finds itself in the middle of some of the thorniest emerging issues of our time. These are challenges that come with no pre-existing playbook, including privacy, cybercrime and cyberwar, social media, the moral conundrums of artificial intelligence, big tech's relationship to inequality, and the challenges for democracy, far and near. While in no way a self-glorifying "Microsoft memoir," the book pulls back the curtain remarkably wide onto some of the company's most crucial recent decision points as it strives to protect the hopes technology offers against the very real threats it also presents. There are huge ramifications for communities and countries, and Brad Smith provides a thoughtful and urgent contribution to that effort. __________In Tools and Weapons, Brad Smith takes us behind the scenes on some of the biggest stories to hit the tech industry in the past decade and some of the biggest threats we face. From Edward Snowden's NSA leak to the NHS WannaCry ransomware attack, this book is essential reading to understand what's happening in the world around us. Praise for Tools and Weapons: 'The de facto ambassador for the technology industry at large.' The New York Times'In Tools and Weapons, Brad and Carol Ann Browne wrestle with some of the world's toughest technology challenges with common sense and valuable insight reflecting their inside experience. The ideas in Tools and Weapons won't solve all our problems, but they're a very good place to start.' - Reed Hastings, CEO, Netflix'Tools and Weapons is a glimpse behind the curtain as Microsoft reckoned with the Snowden revelations, defended against the vicious cyberattacks, and took both the Obama and Trump administrations to court.' - Rolling Stone

The New York Times bestseller, now updated with new material on cyber attacks, digital sovereignty, and tech in a pandemic. From Microsoft's president and one of the tech industry's broadest thinkers, a frank and thoughtful reckoning with how to balance enormous promise and existential risk as the digitization of everything accelerates. "A colorful and insightful insiders' view of how technology is both empowering and threatening us. From privacy to cyberattacks, this timely book is a useful guide for how to navigate the digital future." --Walter IsaacsonMicrosoft president Brad Smith operates by a simple core belief: When your technology changes the world, you bear a responsibility to help address the world you have helped create. In Tools and Weapons, Brad Smith and Carol Ann Browne bring us a captivating narrative from the top of Microsoft, as the company flies in the face of a tech sector long obsessed with disruption as an end in itself, and in doing so navigates some of the thorniest issues of our time--from privacy to cyberwar to the challenges for democracy, far and near. As the tumultuous events of 2020 brought technology and Big Tech even further into the lives of almost all Americans, Smith and Browne updated the book throughout to reflect a changed world. With three new chapters on cybersecurity, technology and nation-states, and tech in the pandemic, Tools and Weapons is an invaluable resource from the cockpit of one of the world's largest tech companies.

When a deranged loner kills 26 people in a Pennsylvania schoolyard, the country is stunned and devastated. Among those catatonic with grief is Jo Matheson, an organic farmer who lost her goddaughter in the shooting. Sam Jackson, an egotistical right-wing TV talking head, has slidingratings and faces imminent cancellation. He arrives in Pennsylvania and during a rant, he blames the parents of the dead children. He intends the tirade to be his last salvo but, incredibly, his ratingsclimb, while Jo watches from her farmhouse in upstate New York, incensed. Sam rides the wave, shouting that its time to take the country back from the left-wing weaklings who dont have the courage to protect their children. When he is asked to run for Congress, he accepts and amplifies his message. Watching these developments in horror, Jo finally decides that there actually is something she can do.She kidnaps Sams ten-year-old daughter.

The Space Infantry are here Conducting covert missions throughout the galaxy's frontiers, these elite units are humanity's greatest hope for its future survival. It is the 27th century, and humanity has reached out to the stars only to find itself surrounded by hostile alien races who work tirelessly to destroy what we have built. The United Planets Colonial Government dispatches these small teams of brave men and women to fight back against alien aggression.Nick Smith is a member of one such squad, operating from a hidden starbase in the Outer Ranges. When a vital covert listening outpost goes suddenly dark, they are sent to investigate. What they find down on the alien planet are more profound mysteries that hint at a more mysterious conspiracy at work. The stakes are driven higher when two of his Space Infantry teammates go missing. As the awful secrets of Outpost 13 unfold, Nick and his group of roughnecks are up against the clock to complete their mission. They'll either do it - or die in the attempt Hayes scrambled along the rampart toward the southern perimeter of the compound. So far, everything was going well enough. That was until Smith heard the bone-chilling scream nearly short out the audio on his commlink. Seconds later, Hayes spoke up. "Rob's dead ""Hang on," shouted Smith. "I'll be over there in a second "He slapped the release on the three-point buckle that kept him secure to the seat. The straps around his body refused to slacken. Smith leaned over and wriggled one arm out of the harness just as a mutant shoved his head through the window. Another one appeared above it. A long tendril shot out from of its mouth and wrapped around his leg. Smith stopped fighting the release button and found the autogun's trigger as his body was yanked toward the group of mutants. Baleful cries of hunger welled up from the creatures. Smith closed his eyes as a jagged claw tore at his flesh.

The Second Wave has been Unleashed The forces of the Warsaw Pact storm west over the Inner German Border and unleash devastation on the first days of the conflict. Among the NATO defenders of West Germany are Captain Kurt Mohr and his company of Leopard tanks. Outgunned and outnumbered, the men must conduct vital delaying operations until reinforcements can mobilize to stop the communists in their tracks.After a harrowing battle to prevent the Czechoslovakian army from capturing a key bridge over the Danube, Mohr and his tanks are ordered to reinforce a battalion of grenadiers. The mission: buy time for the rest of his panzer brigade to prepare defenses around the key city of Landshut. Attacked by endless waves of enemy tanks, infantry, and aircraft, they must hold at all costs while the pressure mounts and the number of casualties skyrockets. To make matters worse, Mohr's leadership is challenged at every step by internal politics that jeopardize the mission and his men's lives. Each critical decision brings the company to the brink of tearing itself apart - posing a threat as dangerous as the enemy itself. Can Mohr keep his men together and stay alive or will his first day of war be his last?"After increasing his magnification on the PERI scope, Mohr noticed infantry climbing out the roof hatches of several carriers. No doubt, they were there to suppress enemy armor with anti-tank missiles and RPGs while the rest of their regiment rushed forward. It was bad news. With a range of three kilometers, the wire-guided missiles could badly damage or even destroy a Leopard tank. If the infantry got close enough, the rocket-propelled grenades would burrow right through his thin rear armor. The OT-64s had to die.""After increasing his magnification on the PERI, Mohr noticed infantry climbing out the roof hatches of several carriers. No doubt, they were there to suppress enemy armor with anti-tank missiles and RPGs while the rest of their regiment rushed forward. It was bad news. With a range of three kilometers, the wire-guided missiles could badly damage or even destroy a Leopard tank. If the infantry got close enough, the rocket-propelled grenades would burrow right through his thin rear armor. The OT-64s had to die."

Storming the Gap First Strike reveals the explosive origins of the Third World War and delves into the opening salvos of the conflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact in a world where the Cold War turns hot in 1985. This epic story is told from a range of viewpoints - through the eyes of the decision-makers in Washington as well as the tankers and infantry fighting through hills and towns of southern Germany. Based partly on the scenarios from the smash-hit game by Lock 'n Load Publishing World At War 85, each tale is a pulse-pounding narrative of intense Armor clashes that will help determine the fate of the most valuable piece of real estate this side of the Inner German border - the Fulda Gap. Caught by a surprise Soviet attack, NATO hastily deploys its men and tanks on the first day of the war. Their mission: protect the bridges over the Fulda River in a desperate bid to halt the onslaught of Soviet Armor before it can strike west and bring the Western alliance to its knees. As the first volume of a series that tells one version of the war's progress, First Strike can be enjoyed as a companion to the platoon-scale wargame or by casual readers as a close-up view of mechanized combat in a war that never was."The M1's round carved into the hull deck of the rear tank. A bright emerald glow filled the thermal sight. When, at last, it dissipated, the T-80 was nothing but a heap of smoldering steel. The remaining enemy tank was caught between the two dead T-80s. It pivoted left and right, but the thick woods on either side blocked its progress."

The Soviet Invasion ContinuesFirst Lieutenant Darren White is trapped behind enemy lines with the remnants of his cavalry troop. Together with his second-in-command, Maurice Fitzgerald, he waits for the right opportunity to strike back at the Russians in occupied West Germany. As they conduct joint operations with a Special Forces team in the Fulda Gap, a terrible secret is uncovered. The Soviets have found a sure-fire way to win the war. It's up to White and Fitzgerald to stop them. A daring operation might just be enough to make or break the Soviet war effort in Fulda. Will Fitzgerald and White's personal differences doom the attempt?Sergeant Will Harland is an Abrams tank gunner who wakes up in a Russian prison camp. Each day is a battle for survival. When he is "volunteered" to work at the local field hospital, a Russian doctor takes him under his wing. Harland discovers that a high-ranking American colonel under his care will be sent east to be tortured for vital information. To save him, Harland must give up his own chance at escape. Will he go with his conscience or give in to self-preservation?"What do you have for me?""T-62. Range...580." White gave him the all-clear and the main gun blasted out a round at the Soviet vehicle. The loader turned and grabbed another round from the ready rack. Both M1s on either side of his tank fired in rapid one-two succession. White looked through the vision blocks near his hatch and caught sight of three burning T-62s.The tank bounded up the hillocks and ran down the depressions as if it were a boat riding the waves of a frozen ocean. White felt his gut drop as they charged up another incline, only to spot a milky contrail to his right. "Missile " he shouted. "Incoming missile. Drive "

The Stakes can't be higherIt is May 1985 and World War III rages in Central Europe. Fledgling insurgent groups in the East Bloc fight for independence from their Soviet overlords. America pledges to help. Among the teams of US military advisers are two Vietnam War veterans, sent in to assist an East German major named Werner Brandt and his motley band of fighters. Their objectives are to help destroy Soviet military reinforcements as they speed towards the frontlines and to eliminate the Russian garrison in control of Saxony. It won't be easy - Brandt is consumed with a lust for vengeance that threatens to derail his own operations.Captain Joe Ricci and Sergeant Ned Littlejohn are about to enter a combat zone for the first time in nearly fifteen years. With them, they bring the scarred memories of their Vietnam experiences. As the stakes climb higher and the battle to survive grows more intense, each decision could lead to the liberation of a nation or their own downfall."Ricci stood there, pointing down at the burning enemy airbase."Major Brandt, you wanted to kill Russians. I wanted to cut off their supplies. This morning, we did both. See what happens when we work together?"Brandt looked at the chaos and death and fire consuming the airbase. His stomach lurched. The cold MRE he had eaten last night spewed out on the ground before him. He stumbled off and leaned on a tree, out of sight of his men. As he sucked in the fresh breaths of air, he gained a new appreciation for the potential of teamwork. He would work with the Americans each step of the way. Together, they would set the world ablaze."