The SaaS Awakens: Microsoft, OpenAI, and Salesforce Shake Up the AI Stack

Happy Wednesday. If 2024 was the year of the AI hype, 2025 is quickly becoming the year it all gets productized. From AI copilots in your spreadsheets to SaaS giants pivoting their entire roadmap, here’s what’s bubbling at the top of the stack:

• Microsoft launches AI-powered Office 365 for SMBs

• OpenAI just made ChatGPT Enterprise even more powerful

• Salesforce cuts prices as competition with startups heats up

Let’s get into it.

Microsoft 365 Copilot is now open to everyone

Small businesses, rejoice: Microsoft is opening up Copilot for Microsoft 365 to all customers—no 300-seat minimum required.

What’s changing:

Previously, only enterprise customers with large seat counts had access to the $30/user Copilot add-on for apps like Word, Excel, and Teams. Now, it’s available to any business with a Microsoft 365 subscription.

• Copilot can summarize meetings, write emails, analyze spreadsheets, and generate presentations.

• Available for Business Standard and Business Premium users.

Why it matters: Microsoft wants to dominate workplace AI—and SMBs are the next big frontier.

ChatGPT Enterprise gets a major upgrade

OpenAI is doubling down on the enterprise use case. Its new ChatGPT Team and Enterprise offerings now support:

• Custom GPTs with centralized management

• Shared memory across teams

• Enhanced security and data isolation

• Fast, priority access to GPT-4o

Context:

OpenAI wants to become the go-to AI layer inside every SaaS tool and browser window. With more companies embedding GPTs into internal workflows, expect a future where your company wiki talks back.

Big picture: Enterprise AI isn’t just about chat anymore—it’s about infrastructure.

Salesforce slashes prices as SaaS gets squeezed

In a rare move, Salesforce announced across-the-board price cuts for several of its key services—including Sales Cloud and Service Cloud.

Why now?

• Competition from leaner SaaS players like HubSpot, Notion, and Zoho

• Customer backlash over AI pricing add-ons

• Pressure from Wall Street to show growth in a saturated CRM market

The twist? While base prices are falling, premium AI features (like Einstein Copilot) are still sold as expensive add-ons.

Zoom out: SaaS is becoming a battlefield of price vs. value. Salesforce is betting that locking users in now will pay off later when the AI premium becomes the norm.

Marc