Microsoft reportedly saved over $500 million in its call centers last year by leveraging artificial intelligence, according to a report by Bloomberg News released Wednesday.
Recently, the tech giant announced it would discontinue nearly 4% of its workforce as part of its strategy to reduce expenses while making significant investments in AI infrastructure. In May, Microsoft had already revealed plans to lay off approximately 6,000 employees.
CEO Satya Nadella is at the helm of this cost-cutting initiative. During a recent presentation, Microsoft’s Chief Commercial Officer, Judson Althoff, noted that AI tools have enhanced productivity across various sectors, including sales, customer service, and software engineering. The company has begun employing AI to manage interactions with smaller customers, which has started to yield tens of millions in revenue, as reported by someone familiar with his statements.
Althoff mentioned that AI is responsible for generating 35% of the code for new products, thereby accelerating their launch times.
When approached by Reuters for a comment, Microsoft declined to respond. The company has allocated $80 billion for capital expenditure this fiscal year, primarily to expand data centers aimed at alleviating capacity constraints for AI services. The trend among major tech firms is to invest heavily in AI, seen as a pivotal growth area, while simultaneously cutting costs to protect profit margins.
