Microsoft commits $2.5 billion and 6,000 employees to new AI implementation unit

Microsoft has thrown $2.5 billion and 6,000 warm bodies into a new consultancy gulag called Microsoft Frontier Co. — because nothing says 'solving your AI problems' like deploying an army of embedded McKinsey wannabes with Azure licenses. The name alone conjures images of covered wagons rolling into the uncanny valley, with Satya Nadella as the wagon master. One wonders if the 'implementation' assistance will include a gentle hand on the shoulder while explaining that, actually, the model is fine — it's your data that's rubbish.

The $2.5 billion investment suddenly looks like a two-year burn, not a war chest. And what does Microsoft get? A captive audience of clients who now depend on Frontier Co. to make their AI dreams come true — exactly the sort of vendor lock-in that enterprise architects have nightmares about. It's less a frontier and more a toll road with an aggressive collection policy.

The timing is exquisite. Just last week California's governor commissioned a study into AI workforce disruption, and here's Microsoft creating a whole new class of AI-adjacent jobs to soften the blow. How thoughtful. But ask yourself: when Frontier Co.'s 6,000 consultants have successfully 'implemented' AI into every corner of corporate America, how many of those client employees will still have a job? The consultants are missionaries, but they're also gravediggers. Cheers to progress — and the severance packages that will follow.