AI Helps Microsoft Slow Finance Team Growth Amid Business Expansion
Microsoft’s finance organization, with about 5,000 employees, is using artificial intelligence to manage its workload more efficiently without increasing headcount at previous rates. Cory Hrncirik, Microsoft’s modern finance leader, shared insights on this shift during the Gartner 2025 CFO and Finance Executive Conference.
Hrncirik explained that despite Microsoft’s ongoing growth and complexity, the finance team has “no appetite right now to continue to grow our headcount at the same pace.” Instead, the focus is on empowering existing staff to work more effectively.
How AI Is Changing Microsoft’s Finance Operations
Microsoft’s finance team started integrating AI about ten years ago to improve efficiency and achieve cost savings. Over the past two years, the pace of digital transformation has accelerated significantly, allowing the team to handle expanding business demands without proportional increases in personnel.
“AI helps us keep up with the almost exponential growth of Microsoft without actually growing our people to match,” Hrncirik said. The company aims to lean into technology and reduce inefficiencies, which in turn frees up more bandwidth for its employees.
Microsoft’s Broader AI Strategy and Financial Tools
Microsoft is also competing aggressively in the AI market. Since 2023, it has launched multiple Copilots—conversational AI assistants embedded across Microsoft 365 apps like Excel, Outlook, and Teams—to streamline user tasks.
In early 2024, Microsoft introduced Copilot for Finance to make financial workflows smoother. The company also announced 10 new autonomous AI agents, with two specifically designed to support finance teams.
To support these AI initiatives, Microsoft plans to spend roughly $80 billion this fiscal year on AI-enabled data centers, cloud applications, and training large language models, according to Microsoft President Brad Smith. Despite a recent pullback on some AI data center projects, the company remains committed to this investment.
Workforce Changes and Finance Team Outlook
While investing heavily in AI, Microsoft is also reducing its overall workforce. This month, the company announced layoffs of about 6,000 employees to control costs amid its AI spending. These cuts span multiple levels and locations and are the largest since layoffs of 10,000 employees in 2023.
Hrncirik noted he has no specific insight into how these reductions might affect the finance team but emphasized that there is still plenty of work to be done within finance.
What Finance Professionals Can Learn
- Integrating AI tools can help finance teams manage growth without continually increasing headcount.
- Investing in automation and AI reduces inefficiencies and frees up staff to focus on higher-value tasks.
- Embedding AI-driven assistants in existing software can streamline routine financial processes.
- Staying updated on AI trends and tools is crucial for modern finance functions aiming to maintain agility.
For finance professionals interested in expanding their AI skills and understanding the impact of automation in finance, exploring targeted AI courses can be valuable. Resources like AI tools for finance offer practical insights into relevant technologies shaping the field.
Your membership also unlocks:
