Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to employees in Town Hall: 6000 job cuts were related to…
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
addressed recent job cuts during the company's latest Town Hall event with its employees, a report claims. At the event, he reportedly revealed that the latest round of job cuts was due to 'reorganisation rather than performance,'.
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This clarification comes from the company weeks after it announced plans to lay off 6,000 employees, which is roughly 3% of its workforce. These terminations significantly impacted product development roles, indicating that even engineering jobs are not immune to changes in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). During a companywide town hall, Nadella also focused Microsoft's focus on accelerating the adoption of its
Copilot
AI assistants across customer workforces.
Microsoft announces AI deal with Barclays and others
According to a report by Bloomberg, Microsoft has also announced a new AI deal with
Barclays
Plc, a significant development in its effort to sell artificial intelligence tools to corporate customers.
Judson Althoff
, the company's Chief Commercial Officer, informed employees that Barclays agreed to purchase 100,000 licenses for Microsoft's Copilot AI assistants, according to people familiar with the event.
Althoff also stated that numerous other customers, including Accenture Plc, Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG, and Siemens AG, already have over 100,000 Copilot users. These details were shared by individuals who requested anonymity as they discussed internal remarks, the report added.
At the listed price of $30 per user per month, the deals mentioned by Althoff could be valued at tens of millions of dollars annually, though large customers often receive bulk discounts
While the company has shared numerous anecdotes about businesses adopting Copilot, it has yet to disclose total customer figures or the financial impact of those sales.
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As per the report, some enterprise clients say the tools demand significant internal adjustments and employee training. As a result, many are approaching Copilot adoption cautiously, viewing it as a gradual rollout and testing phase rather than a full-scale deployment of the premium software.
Microsoft
is seen as a key player in AI through its partnership with OpenAI and integration of Copilot into productivity tools.
The company also expects its AI offerings to generate at least $13 billion annually. However, investors remain eager for clearer proof of returns on its major AI investments.
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