Microsoft to Resume Hiring with AI-Driven Efficiency, Says CEO Nadella
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has announced the tech giant will resume headcount growth after a year of significant layoffs, promising that new hiring will come with far greater productivity leverage through artificial intelligence integration.
Key Takeaways
- Microsoft plans workforce expansion after eliminating 15,000 roles
- AI integration will make new hires more productive than pre-AI era
- Company posted $281.7 billion revenue with Azure growing 34%
- 230,000 organizations now use Copilot Studio
AI-Powered Workforce Strategy
In a podcast with Altimeter Capital’s Brad Gerstner, Nadella confirmed: “We will grow our headcount, but the way I look at it is that headcount we grow will grow with a lot more leverage than the headcount we had pre-AI.”
The CEO emphasized that employees must adapt to new AI-centric workflows, with advanced AI features integrated into Microsoft 365 and GitHub Copilot. “It’s the unlearning and learning process that I think will take the next year or so, then the headcount growth will come with max leverage,” he stated.
Microsoft’s AI Adoption Scale
The company’s AI push shows substantial traction with approximately 230,000 organizations using Copilot Studio and over 14,000 customers connected to Azure AI Foundry service.
Nadella described AI’s central role: “Right now, any planning, any execution, starts with AI. You research with AI, you think with AI, you share with your colleagues.”
Practical AI Implementation
The CEO highlighted how AI is boosting operational efficiency, citing an example where an executive overseeing Microsoft’s fibre network developed AI agents to automate maintenance tasks when expanding the data centre workforce wasn’t feasible.
“That is an example of a team with AI tools being able to get more productivity,” Nadella noted.
Recent Workforce Changes
Microsoft’s headcount stood at approximately 228,000 at the end of June 2025 fiscal year after multiple layoff rounds eliminated at least 15,000 positions. The company cut around 6,000 employees in May 2025, followed by another 9,000 in July across various divisions.
The broader tech industry has seen 218 companies lay off employees in 2025, resulting in approximately 110,000 job losses according to Layoffs.fyi data.
Strong Financial Performance
Despite workforce reductions, Microsoft delivered robust results for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, with $281.7 billion in revenue and $101.8 billion in profit. Azure cloud services drove much of this growth, expanding 34% year-over-year to exceed $75 billion.
The tech giant now operates across 70 regions worldwide with more than 400 data centers.
