Microsoft's technology chief pivots to pandemic response

'Biotechnology companies are very quickly trying to find therapies for the virus. One of the ways that we are getting more quickly to these engineered therapies is using machine learning,' says Kevin Scott. — AP

Microsoft's chief technology officer, Kevin Scott, oversees thousands of engineers and scientists working in artificial intelligence, computer science and other research.

But right now he's laser-focused on the Covid-19 pandemic. The latest projects include setting up a chatbot for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and repurposing Microsoft's supercomputers to help in drug discovery.