Microsoft stock might have an angle for lont term growth you may never have even considered. When it comes to stocks that should benefit from the AI (Artificial Intelligence) revolution, the typical names include Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). Yet Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is too often left off that list

Well, this is certainly a major oversight. For the most part, Microsoft stock is likely to get a boost for long-term growth from AI.

A recent deal highlights this. Note that AMZN and MSFT have recently joined forces to integrate their voice-enabled digital assistants (the offering will be available later in the year). Then again, MSFT has certain core technologies that AMZN needs, such as email, reminders, calendars and so on. At the same time, the company’s digital assistant, Cortana, will benefit from Alexa’s connections to smart devices, ecommerce systems and over 20,000 skills developed by third-parties.

Yes, it looks like a classic win-win. And should be encouraging for MSFT stock.

Here’s how CEO Satya Nadella put it: “Ensuring Cortana is available for our customers everywhere and across any device is a key priority for us.”

Microsoft stock has room to grow in AI

However, when it comes to Microsoft, the real opportunity with AI is likely to be the cloud market. Let’s face it, the consumer side is extremely competitive, with Apple and Google already dominating the mobile platforms. Microsoft, unfortunately, has failed miserably in this category. And it does not seem realistic that it will get a meaningful foothold anytime soon.

But this may not matter much. The cloud market represents an enormous opportunity. According to research from Gartner, the market is projected to grow at an average compound annual rate of 18% to $383.5 billion by 2020.

Yet a key driver for this will be technologies that can provide actionable insights for businesses, such as for customer support, product development and customer acquisition and retention. All these can provide for lifts on the top-line.

As for Microsoft, the company has been aggressively investing in AI technologies. A big part of this has been with savvy acquisitions, such as for Hexadite (which leverages AI for security) and Maluuba (the company specializes in deep learning). MSFT has also participated in various fundings of startups like Element AI, CrowdFlower, Agolo, Bonsai and CognitiveScale. In fact, the company has setup a venture fund devoted solely to AI deals.

Microsoft is even delving into hardware, with its initiative called Brainwave. It is a system that is built on sophisticated FPGA (field programmable gate array) chips that allow for ultra-low latency deep learning.

According to InvestorPlace.com’s James Brumley: “With Project Brainwave though, the CPU doesn’t process any data. It offloads that work to the aforementioned FPGA chips, which can do so much faster … in real-time, in fact. The hardware will eventually work with all sorts of deep-learning frameworks. More important, it easily integrates into the company’s Azure cloud-computing platform.”

However, regarding AI, there is more than just algorithms and super-fast chips. There must also be access to enormous amounts of data, which is vital to allow for the learning and insights. And yes, MSFT has taken steps to improve this part of the business. Perhaps the most notable example of this is the acquisition of LinkedIn, which brought with it a user base of over 500 million professionals. Essentially, this asset is the Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) of the business world.

Bottom Line Microsoft Stock

Now AI is still in the early phases and there will certainly be bumps along the way. Innovation is always messy.

But the good news for Microsoft stock is that the company has been making the heavy investments to position itself to benefit. What’s more, the cloud business is already running on all cylinders. During the latest quarter, the Azure platform posted revenue growth of a sizzling 97% and the overall cloud business is in on pace to generate $20 billion on an annualized basis. So when AI does hit critical mass, Microsoft should get a nice share of the opportunity.

Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPO Playbook and is also the author of High-Profit IPO Strategies, All About Commodities and All About Short Selling. Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.