Microsoft shifts AI sales strategy: Focus on paid Copilot subscriptions

Microsoft, responding to Wall Street feedback, has pivoted its AI sales strategy to focus on selling Copilot rather than offering it for free as part of a software bundle.

Company leadership set and essentially hit “some pretty big audacious goals” for selling Copilot in the quarter that ended in March, said Judson Althoff, chief executive officer of Microsoft’s commercial business, during an internal meeting on Thursday, according to people familiar with the remarks. The world’s largest software maker said in January that only about 3% of its customers were paying for Copilot, its flagship artificial intelligence tool for the workplace. The revelation didn’t go over well with some investors, who had hoped more customers would pay for the assistant. The stock has dropped 24% this year through Wednesday’s close, far behind the S&P Index.

Through the end of last year, Microsoft was…