Microsoft is said to be putting pressure on employees to use AI tools through manager evaluations

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The first report from Business Insider, an internal memo from Julia Liuson, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Developer Division, shows that managers are being asked to evaluate employees based on their use of AI tools. Employee review metrics to measure AI use are reportedly being considered as well as Business Insider.

Liuson's notes clarified her expectations here. “AI is now a fundamental part of how we work. Using AI is no longer an option, like collaboration, data-driven thinking, and effective communication. It's the heart of every role and every level.”

To be fair, there are several logics to this decision. People who develop Microsoft's AI tools and services probably need to use them to get better ideas for the user experience.

At the same time, it's not difficult to read this as Microsoft, which relies on employee review sticks. You will actually be using these tools. These tools struggle to get adoption with daily users, face the controversial recall capabilities of Copilot, and the repulsion of normal AI inaccuracies and “hagaku”.

Recall uses AI to “remember” activity on your computer by taking screenshots every few seconds, allowing you to use Copilot to find previously viewed websites and files. Microsoft had to return to this feature when it was first announced due to a fuss over security concerns.

The company is trying to address these concerns leading up to the long-standing beta release of Recall, but this feature still suffers from these associations.

Even those who already use AI regularly, Copilot is probably not the first choice. As of 2025, CHATGPT has around 400 million active users, while Copilot has only 33 million.

Windows users aren't warming up much to Copilot. It is often called Bloatware. One user says, “The way Microsoft forces AI is a nuisance even if 90% of users don't want AI.”

Unfortunately for Microsoft, comments like this are not uncommon, and the majority of their indifference to Copilot is frustrated with how Microsoft installs it by default on Windows 11, making it seem like AI is being forced on everyone.

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