• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, 7 hours ago

Microsoft's layoffs -- which impact thousands of its employees across the company -- have not stopped it from expanding partnerships in artificial intelligence (AI) or integrating data into its platforms.

The company reported on Tuesday that it has reduced its workforce by more than 6,000 employees -- representing about 3% of its total headcount. Then on Wednesday it announced partnerships that integrate data and insights into its technology. Both focus on agentic AI.

Through AI technology, revenue AI company Gong and cloud communications platform-as-a-service company Twilio bring data and intelligence into Microsoft’s platforms.

Gong and Microsoft have deepened an existing partnership to further conversational AI technology. The partnership brings Gong’s data into Microsoft 365 Copilot and allows customers to create autonomous agents in Microsoft Copilot Studio.

Using Microsoft Copilot Studio, users create agents, tapping into data from CRM platforms, for example. It makes data around conversation summaries from interactions between company and customers retrievable. Not only to support marketing and advertising, but customer service around possible objections, competitive concerns, and strategic recommendations.

Gartner released data this week from a survey asking marketers to define productivity drivers, which combined a mix of technology, data and strategic knowhow.

The top three actions focus on measurement, automation and AI-driven efficiency, but prioritization, collaboration and process improvements are also an essential part of the mix.

The top three actions taken by marketers to increase productivity include leveraging data, analytics and measurement to optimize performance, using technology like AI to automate key tasks, and integrating technologies like AI to improve efficiency.

Gartner’s 2025 CMO Spend Survey included 402 marketers from the U.S., the U.K. and Europe, most from organizations with more than $1 billion in annual sales. The study was fielded online from January to March 2025.

Microsoft’s Twilio partnership, announced today, also supports agentic agents. It aims to develop customer engagement -- across enterprises as well as for advertising and marketing through AI-powered interactions -- and to improve targeting and segmentation,and streamline workflows.

Data will become a real benefit from the Twilio and Microsoft partnership through advanced analytics, real-time insights for campaign optimization, and better return on investments in advertising through targeting, personalization and optimization.  

The partnership means Twilio will integrate its engagement platform with Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry to power AI-driven communications, including multichannel AI agents, advanced contact-center assistants via Twilio Agent Copilot and multimodal customer tools.