According to Bloomberg, Microsoft is adapting AI sales to the new fiscal year by requiring the sales team to be more proactive in its communications with clients in comparing its own products with OpenAI, Anthropic and Google programmes, with a focus on cost, efficiency and overall system capabilities.
Emphasis on integration and cost performance
Reports indicate that the meeting was positioned as a strategic discussion for the New Year. At the meeting, Microsoft management suggested that the sales team needed to convey a core message more clearly: compared to an opponent who provided only a single model or single capacity, Microsoft sold complete systems that covered models, office software, cloud infrastructure and security capabilities.
At the meeting, Jay Parikh, Executive Vice-President of Microsoft, stated that the company needed to move this “end-to-end” narrative more clearly to the market. According to the report, Microsoft hopes to enhance the commercial competitiveness of Copilot and related AI products.
Claude
According to Bloomberg, Mr. Jacob Andreou, Executive Vice-President of Microsoft, also compared Copilot directly to Claude of Anthropic, focusing on performance in the office software scene. On the basis of the content of the meeting, it was considered by Microsoft that Claude was not as fast, accurate and secure as a home-grown programme in Microsoft office applications.
At present, TechCrunch has indicated that it has sought a response from Microsoft and Anthropic, but no response has been received.
Competition deepened after changes in relationships with OpenAI
The sales strategy was adjusted following a change in Microsoft ' s partnership with OpenAI. In the early years, the two companies had established in-depth cooperation, with Microsoft providing funding and computing, and had obtained exclusive access to the OpenAI model and API.
However, this cooperation was revised in April this year. As a result of the amendment, the exclusion clauses were removed and OpenAI was thus able to provide services to Microsoft competitors. The report suggests that this change may be an important context for Microsoft to reorganize sales.
Investors focus on returns on inputs
The article mentions that one of the real problems that Microsoft has faced over the past year is the continued concern of the capital market about whether the large-scale investment in its AI operations will provide sufficient returns. Against this background, a more proactive emphasis by Microsoft on the competitiveness of its own AI products is also seen as part of stabilizing external expectations.