Microsoft is considering launching a new software package called Microsoft 365 E7, according to reports from Business Insider. The new plan would add everything that is coming from AI to the functions of the productivity suite and would become one of the first enterprise subscription plans that would charge for AI agents.
Microsoft 365 E7 would be intended to fill an emerging gap in the world of agency AI, ensuring that the company maintains subscription revenue even as the number of human positions decreases. Designed for organizations that deploy AI tools and agents as colleagues alongside human workers, the new tier could require agents to have their own identities, email address, access to apps like Teams, and policy controls, just like ‘normal’ human workers.
The report suggests that the new subscription could be called ‘E7’ and would combine the current Microsoft 365 E5 service (the online productivity and collaboration suite that includes office applications Word, Excel, Power Point and others) with the AI functions of Copilot and agent management in a single license.
The goal is to add the security and compliance features of E5 with Copilot tools integrated into Office applications and an additional layer of Agent 365 to help companies deploy and manage AI agents. For customers, this could mean integrated governance and security for AI agents, as well as a simpler billing process with a single SKU. But on the other hand, it could be costly for large companies and foster supplier lock-in as customers become more integrated into the ecosystem.
Microsoft 365 E7 would arrive at a time when competitors like Google and almost all major software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies are rushing to integrate AI tools and autonomous agents into their products. Although giants like Salesforce have reported solid financial results and their executives have ruled out a ‘SaaSpocalypse’, the shares of these companies are suffering cuts, as investors fear that Generative AI tools displace traditional software products.
Microsoft’s new plan is not confirmed, but the roadmap presented by the company, which explained that AI agents would be “a new class” of agents who would operate as “independent users within the corporate workforce”advance its potential launch.
Microsoft has already announced a Price increase for the Microsoft 365 E5 business suite to $60 per month. Taking into account its cost, plus the $30 Copilot, it is believed that the Microsoft 365 E7 could reach triple digits. Expensive for many companies, but hugely profitable for Microsoft as a solution to monetize enterprise AI adoption as AI agents increase in popularity, using the existing price per seat but translating it from human to agent.
