Microsoft Arms Sales Teams for AI Fight Against OpenAI, Anthropic

Microsoft has asked its sales teams to step up competition against OpenAI and Anthropic by highlighting the strengths of its own artificial intelligence (AI) offerings, according to a Bloomberg report.

During an internal meeting outlining the company's sales strategy for FY27, executives said Microsoft should position itself as a complete AI platform for businesses, offering lower costs, stronger security features and an end-to-end suite of products.

The move comes as Microsoft faces increasing competition in enterprise AI from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, while investors closely watch the company's growing investments in AI infrastructure.

Microsoft Positions Copilot Against Rivals

According to the report, Microsoft executives told employees that the company should focus on promoting its integrated AI ecosystem rather than individual products.

Executive Vice President Jay Parikh said Microsoft offers customers an end-to-end AI platform, unlike rivals that focus on specific products or services. He urged employees to make that message central to their conversations with customers during FY27.

The report also said Executive Vice President Jacob Andreou compared Microsoft's AI assistant Copilot with Anthropic's Claude during the internal presentation. Andreou said Copilot performs better in Microsoft's workplace software by offering faster performance, stronger security integrations and greater accuracy.

Focus Shifts to AI Costs and Enterprise Adoption

The publication reported that Microsoft Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Satya Nadella told employees that helping customers manage AI costs will become an increasingly important priority over the coming year.

Nadella cited consumer goods company Unilever as an example, saying it used Microsoft's AI platform to automate claims processing and reduce costs by around $300 million. He added that the company later replaced a more advanced AI model with a lower-cost Microsoft model to improve efficiency.

The internal strategy discussions come as Microsoft continues to expand its AI business while facing pressure from investors over rising spending on data centres.

Bloomberg also reported earlier that Microsoft has also begun replacing some advanced AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic with its own lower-cost models in certain products, reflecting its broader effort to improve efficiency while strengthening its AI portfolio.