AI usage is quickly becoming an essential part of any workspace, but is it fair for organizations to enforce its use? Microsoft is now mandating AI use for its workers in 2025, and if that wasn’t stressful enough, the company is also tying it to employee performance reviews. The tech giant has been on the warpath against its employees this year, tightening the bolts on employee reviews as far as they can go.
Now, in a new internal memo, Microsoft doubled down on its commitment to AI, explaining, “Using AI is no longer optional — it’s core to every role and every level.” Microsoft’s own AI services are becoming central to how its employees operate, and their engagement with these tools will play a role in determining how well they are reviewed. The ethics of mandatory AI tools is not a debate we expected, but it’s a welcome discussion all the same.
Is it fair for Microsoft to mandate AI use among employees? (Image: Pexels)
Microsoft Mandates AI Use for Employees in 2025, Pushing for Internal Adoption
AI use is now mandatory for Microsoft employees. On one hand, it’s surprising that the tech giant hadn’t made it a required skill much sooner, but on the other hand, it does raise the question of how and why it should be made essential for every role at the organization. According to Microsoft’s internal memo, which was sent out by Developer Division President Julia Liuson, “AI is no longer optional—it’s core to every role and every level.”
Microsoft’s mandate for AI use now requires managers to evaluate employees on how much AI is utilized internally. To aid in the evaluation, there are talks of metrics being set in the review process specifically for this purpose, according to Business Insider.
Comparing AI to aspects like collaboration, data-driven thinking, and effective communication, the memo indicated that the technology is now a fundamental part of how work is done at the organization and should be treated with a similar degree of importance.
Why Is AI Use Becoming Mandatory for Microsoft Employees?
Microsoft’s mandate on AI use likely stems from its desire to bring more people on board with its Copilot services so it can build out the AI’s capabilities based on different use cases discovered by workers at the organization. It is also likely that Microsoft’s AI policy will filter out the non-AI experts from the organization, so its workforce remains equipped with workers who are most knowledgeable about AI.
While both explanations imply more nefarious intentions, it is also possible that Microsoft is just driven to get its workforce up-to-date with AI technology by putting the onus on the workers to learn to navigate AI tools. This is a more affordable alternative to providing workers with training and helping them keep up with the capabilities of AI.
Two insiders told Business Insider that Microsoft is attempting to address the lagging internal adoption of Copilot, which could also be why the company is giving its workers no choice but to rely on AI. As Microsoft mandates AI use, it gives us some complex aspects of company culture to consider.
Navigating the Ethics of Mandatory AI Tools
A tech giant like Microsoft that sells its AI tools as a big part of its products and services has the tough job of convincing its customers that they cannot operate at their best without these tools. It’s understandable a bad look for the company if its own employees are able to do their jobs perfectly fine without using AI. From a business perspective, Microsoft’s mandates on AI use make sense and could ultimately be beneficial for employees who finally start using the technology to their advantage.
For an organization other than Microsoft, the matter is a little more complex. Just like with any other tool, employers reserve the right to force their employees to use the right tools of the trade to get work done. An organization that runs on Microsoft Teams will not be pleased to see an employee use Zoom to try and contact colleagues, because this could inconvenience everyone and complicate security. While the use of AI is slightly different from a mere messaging platform, it is within an employer’s rights to set the standards of work and then expect employees to comply.
On the other hand, there are some ethical challenges to making anything mandatory without providing the proper tools and training to keep up with the regulation. With Microsoft, employees who are provided with access to Copilot should be able to utilize the tool in their work soon, but in other organizations, the AI tools might not be as accessible to everyone, putting them at a disadvantage despite being highly qualified for their jobs.
Performance Evaluations Based On AI Usage Need to Come with the Right Support
It’s one matter that AI is no longer optional at Microsoft, but it’s an entirely separate issue when you add in AI usage as a performance evaluation criterion. Unless employees are informed of this inclusion in advance and then assisted in learning the use of AI tools, it can be unfair to spring such a change on employees.
Depending on the role, the performance evaluation criteria can vary, and over time, the standards evolve to keep up with the most relevant skills necessary. Employees need to be informed about these changes well in advance so they have a few months to adapt to the altered standards. This gives them a fair chance to live up to expectations.
With some skills, the change in criteria isn’t as difficult to keep up with, however, when you introduce complex AI tools with yet-undiscovered uses that employees now have to familiarize themselves with, support from the organization is essential.
While it may not be as prominent at a tech company like Microsoft, there is a digital divide that currently exists in the workforce, and it is harsh to expect employees to abruptly pick up skills that are entirely outside their comfort zone. Organizations that make such a switch should be willing to provide existing employees with training and hands-on experience in using the technology.
HR Leaders Need to Set Clear Criteria for AI Adoption at the Organization
All said and done, it is perfectly fair for Microsoft or any other organization to require its employees to use AI in their work. It is also legal for these organizations to conduct performance evaluations based on the new requirements. However, ethically and morally, it is best to make this transition as easy on the employees as possible. An employee who is an expert at their job may be the best equipped to perform the role you hired them for, but their inability to master AI in a week could result in your organization losing out on their talent.
Moving forward, HR leaders will have to guide their organization through the adoption of AI. They will have to help managers set fair performance evaluation standards while also helping employees by making the standards crystal clear and familiar to them.
Uncertainty about how much AI use is acceptable might leave you with AI slop instead of actual, concrete results from the workers who are hired, which is why it is important to lead with clarity instead of confusion.
As Microsoft mandates AI use among employees, there are growing discussions on the rampant use of tech where it isn’t necessary. What do you think about the situation? Leave a comment and let us know. Subscribe to The HR Digest for more insights into the ever-evolving landscape of work and employment.
