Microsoft needs fewer employees and a greater reliance on AI agents to compete with OpenAI and Anthropic, former Microsoft Entra product manager Merill Fernando has claimed, arguing that the tech giant's layers of management and siloed teams are slowing its ability to innovate. His comments come as Microsoft rolls out a voluntary exit offer for around 60,000 eligible employees across India, the US, the UK and Canada.
In a post on X, Fernando said Microsoft's existing scale, infrastructure and customer base were not enough to maintain its competitive position if the company could not move quickly. He cited the slow adoption of a security feature across Microsoft's products as an example of how internal organisational barriers could delay technology deployment for years.
