Microsoft adds engineers and sales‑chat prompts after sales staff stopped using Copilot
Microsoft rolled out its Copilot AI assistant to its sales force, but employees stopped using it because they didn’t see it as useful in their workflow, said Katy George, corporate vice president of AI and work transformation at Microsoft, during a Newsweek webinar on October 21. In response, Microsoft sent engineers to shadow sales representatives, which produced specialized tools such as Sales…
Key points
- Microsoft sent engineers to shadow sales reps, creating Sales Chat prompts and coaching agents after staff stopped using Copilot.
- Cognizant survey of 1,200 senior leaders found 32 percent saw productivity gains and about one‑quarter paused or stopped AI projects.
- Yahoo pilots spent four to six weeks retooling code and tools before expanding AI agents across the company.
A Cognizant survey of 1,200 senior business leaders cited in the webinar found only 32 percent reported tangible productivity gains, while about one‑quarter said their organizations had paused or discontinued AI deployments. The study also showed that companies with less mature technology infrastructure that pursued broader, non‑technical AI investments were 60 percent more likely to pause or abandon a deployment than those focusing on technical foundations. Yahoo’s pilot, described by Matt Sanchez, involved spending four to six weeks retooling code and development tools before expanding AI agents across the company, one engineering team at a time.
The Biggest Barriers to AI Transformation Are Inside the Business
newsweek.com · 22 October 2026
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