Search results for ""Author Brad Smith""

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.

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*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

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Back in the Garden, work was fun. Yet, in today's fallen world, joy and work are rarely used in the same sentence. But God really does intend for us to find joy in our work. Join Raymond Bakke, Brad Smith, and Bill Hendricks as they explore what the Bible says about the purpose of business and our right to a joyful workplace. No matter where you spend those 50 or 60 hours during the week--whether it's in business, government, or the nonprofit sector; in church, at home, or anywhere else--God intends for you to find joy in your work. This 10-week study accompanies Joy at Work, a book by Dennis W. Bakke, co-founder and CEO of AES, a worldwide energy giant with 40,000 employees in 31 countries. Shaped by his faith, Bakke recounts his quest to create the most fun workplace ever--using principles established in the Garden. This study provides the biblical map that he used as he charted and led that journey. Starting with the Genesis record of creation and moving through Revelation, this Bible study supplements Joy at Work with: Biblical readings that unveil the principles behind each chapter in Joy at Work A synthesis of theological principles Reflective questions to prepare readers for small-group discussion Questions for small-group discussion Guidelines for immediate and long-term application for business and nonprofit leaders at all levels of corporations and organizations. The Joy at Work experience has the power to profoundly change your workplace and your life.

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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.

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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 works Examples 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 decisions Real 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 inclusivity A 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 outcomes Discussions 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.

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