The global coronavirus pandemic has validated Microsoft’s hybrid go-to-market strategy that recognizes the cloud is not a one-size-fits-all solution and providers must meet customers where they are on their digital transformation journeys, according to JG Chirapurath, vice president of Azure data, artificial intelligence (AI) and edge.

“Our approach has not fundamentally changed,” Chirapurath said. “Ultimately, we are not just building a cloud or a product, we are solving a customer’s real business problems. While you can never completely predict the future, staying close to a customer or a set of customers really tells you the day-to-day challenges that they are dealing with. And, if anything, this pandemic has effectively brought us very close with some of our best customers.”

Chirapurath, who’s responsible for Microsoft’s databases, blockchain, analytics, machine learning (ML)/artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and mixed reality portfolio in Azure, recently talked with CRN about the No. 2 cloud computing provider’s hybrid cloud strategy.

Click through to also read Chirapurath’s thoughts on Azure’s data and AI offerings compared to those of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft’s industry cloud plays, and its mixed-reality and ML/AI products and services.