Microsoft Denies Report Claiming It Lowered Sales Targets to Focus on AI Products

Microsoft has refuted claims made by The Information in one of its report, where the publication claimed that several internal teams within the company recently lowered their sales growth targets for AI products. The report said multiple Azure sales staff missed last year’s quotas, forcing divisions to adjust expectations for the current fiscal year.

“The Information’s story inaccurately combines the concepts of growth and sales quotas, which shows their lack of understanding of the way a sales organization works and is compensated,” Microsoft shared a statement as published by Reuters. “Aggregate sales quotas for AI products have not been lowered, as we informed them prior to publication,” the company further added.

According to The Information’s sources, at least one U.S. Azure unit asked its sellers to boost customer spending on Foundry by 50% last fiscal year, but fewer than 20% hit that target. The report also claimed Microsoft quietly lowered those expectations to around 25% growth for the current fiscal cycle. Microsoft, however, didn’t confirm or deny those specific numbers.

The report also highlighted customer frustration, citing Carlyle Group’s reduced usage of Copilot Studio after issues with pulling data from different sources. There’s no word on this claim by the Redmond giant, though.

Big Tech is under intense investor pressure to prove that massive AI spending is turning into real revenue. Microsoft alone spent nearly $35 billion last quarter on AI-driven infrastructure, with capex expected to rise through 2026.

It’ll be interesting to see where Microsoft ends up with all its AI projects by next year, especially when it is experiencing a massive pushback from users.

What do you think about Microsoft’s approach with AI at large? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Keep them coming.