Microsoft Unveils AI-Centric $99-Per-User Software Bundle 

The company’s E7 bundle, announced Monday (March 9), will become available May 1 and cost $99 per user each month. It combines Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 Copilot and Agent 365 into a one solution powered by Microsoft’s Work IQ intelligence layer.

Writing on the company blog, Microsoft Commercial Business CEO Judson Althoff described the launch as part of what he dubbed “Frontier Transformation,” or the joining of AI and human ambition to help companies reach their highest goals.

“It is the next evolution of AI Transformation — not only do we need to deliver efficiency and productivity, but we need to democratize intelligence and do more for humanity,” “Althoff wrote. “Companies do not want or need more AI experimentation. They need AI that delivers real business outcomes and growth.”

May 1 also marks the general availability of Microsoft Agent 365, which Althoff called “the control-plane for AI agents.” Priced at $15 per user, the tool is designed to offer IT and security leads a place to observe, govern, manage and secure agents across the organization, with the same infrastructure, applications and protections they use to manage workers.

PYMNTS examined Agent 365 last month in a report on some of the measures companies are taking to supervise agentic AI.

“These tools reflect a broader recognition: autonomous systems require lifecycle management. They must be onboarded, evaluated, recalibrated and, in some cases, decommissioned. Treating them as unmanaged scripts is no longer viable,” PYMNTS wrote. “As AI agents become embedded in core workflows, companies are effectively building a digital workforce. And every workforce, human or otherwise, requires management.”

This is happening as businesses are growing more focused in their vision for AI usage, as PYMNTS Intelligence research has shown. Many product leaders now see the technology as a way to tighten oversight, strengthen compliance and reduce operational friction, in addition to serving as a tool for automation and creativity.

“That is a big change from a year earlier, when expectations were meaningfully lower and many organizations were still deciding whether the technology belonged beyond pilot projects,” PYMNTS wrote last week.

The research—found in the report “From Experiment to Imperative: US Product Leaders Bet on Gen AI”—shows that 98% of product leaders expect the technology to improve internal workflows within three years, up from 70% two years ago.

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