Overview

• The company confirmed it will lay off about 9,000 employees, representing under 4% of its global workforce, with most cuts in traditional sales roles.
• Traditional sales specialists will be replaced by technical solutions engineers tasked with delivering AI tool demos earlier in customer engagements.
• Althoff’s internal memo sets five AI-driven priorities: embedding Copilot on every device, boosting Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 penetration, growing Azure migrations, building a cybersecurity foundation, and securing AI design wins.
• Microsoft will consolidate its six MCAPS solutions areas into three units—AI Business Solutions, Cloud & AI Platforms, and Security—to simplify its go-to-market structure.
• The shake-up aims to sharpen Microsoft’s positioning against OpenAI and Google in the rapidly intensifying enterprise AI market.