Microsoft has cut growth targets for its AI agent products after several sales representatives failed to hit their quotas in the fiscal year ending in June, according to a report from The Information.
The move is considered unusual for the company and follows a year of ambitious AI sales goals tied to the promise of autonomous “agent” capabilities rather than simple prompt-based responses.
AI agents are designed to carry out multistep tasks and automate workflows. Microsoft’s Build 2025 messaging proclaimed an era of AI agents, and Ignite later showcased Copilot-based Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents along with tools to build and deploy agents via Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio.
According to The Information, one US Azure unit set quotas to push Foundry spending up by 50 percent. Fewer than 20% of salespeople in that unit met their Foundry growth targets, and Microsoft lowered the target to about 25 percent growth for the current fiscal year.
In another US Azure unit, most salespeople did not meet an earlier goal to double Foundry sales, and quotas were cut to 50 percent for the current year.
Analysts say the outcome highlights a broader challenge: enterprise demand for AI agents remains tepid, and the technology may not yet be ready for high-stakes autonomous business use, even as Microsoft continues investing in AI infrastructure.
