As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform industries, some of the world’s largest and most successful enterprise software companies—Microsoft, Adobe, and Salesforce—are taking a particularly effective approach to AI integration. Rather than launching entirely new products built around AI, these firms are embedding AI within their existing software suites. This subtle but far-reaching strategy promises to increase customer reliance on their platforms while gradually allowing for price increases without risking customer attrition.
AI as a Value-Add, Not a Standalone Product
Microsoft, Adobe, and Salesforce are positioning themselves well by embedding AI into their platforms as a value-add rather than as a separate product. For example, Microsoft has woven AI deeply into its Office 365 suite, using tools like Copilot to assist users with tasks in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Rather than presenting AI as a separate offering, Microsoft’s approach subtly builds AI functionality directly into the tools that users already know and rely on. This “value-add” method means that companies adopting these tools get AI functionality seamlessly integrated into their daily workflows, making it a natural part of the user experience.
Similarly, Adobe has integrated AI into its Creative Cloud platform with Adobe Sensei, offering intelligent features such as content-aware fill in Photoshop and predictive analytics in Adobe Analytics. Salesforce has taken a similar path with its AI-driven Einstein, enhancing CRM workflows with predictive modeling and automation within the familiar Salesforce ecosystem.
By positioning AI in this way, these companies are making it an invisible but indispensable part of their products. The AI-enhanced versions of these tools are not marketed as new products but as the next evolution of the platforms that businesses already depend on. This approach allows them to raise prices in the future with minimal resistance. Customers won’t be paying for AI as a novelty—they’ll be paying for a more efficient version of the products they’ve already been using.
The Closer Integration with AI, the Harder It Is to Leave
The gradual integration of AI into existing platforms serves another purpose: it increases customer dependency. As AI capabilities become part of a user’s everyday workflow, they make it difficult for businesses to switch to competitors or revert to older processes. The more ingrained AI becomes in daily tasks, the more difficult it is for users to live without it—creating a level of stickiness that is difficult to match.
For example, as Microsoft’s Copilot becomes smarter and more embedded in Office workflows, users become less capable of working without AI. The same is true for Adobe and Salesforce. The introduction of AI that automates design tasks or customer relationship management processes effectively rewires the way work is done. Over time, workers will become incapable—or simply unwilling—to return to doing things manually or in “the old way.”
A Subtle but Transformative Shift
This transformation will be far more clandestine than many might realize. Rather than AI becoming a new category of product, it will quietly become a core part of existing tools. This evolution will happen long before businesses offer AI as their own distinct solution. Instead, AI will be the foundation for enhanced versions of software that users already rely on. The shift will feel less like a disruptive innovation and more like a natural evolution.
In essence, the future of enterprise AI is not about selling AI as a separate product—it’s about making AI indispensable within current offerings. The subtlety of this transformation will make it more palatable for businesses and easier to absorb into existing budgets. As AI gradually replaces more manual tasks, workers will become dependent on these enhancements, making it almost impossible to go back.
The Future of Work: AI Dependency
The key to this strategy’s success lies in how seamlessly AI is integrated into existing workflows. As documents, spreadsheets, and presentations become infused with AI-driven features, users will adapt to this new normal. Just as most workers can no longer imagine creating a report without Excel or a presentation without PowerPoint, the workforce of the future will be unable to operate without AI-driven enhancements.
This increasing reliance on AI will extend beyond individual workers. Entire businesses will reshape their processes around AI-driven efficiency. From forecasting financial models in spreadsheets to automating customer outreach in CRM systems, AI will become a key component in maintaining competitiveness. As this transformation deepens, customers will be reluctant to abandon these AI-powered tools, which further solidifies the position of companies like Microsoft, Adobe, and Salesforce.
AI as the Future Backbone of Enterprise Software
In the long term, enterprise companies like Microsoft, Adobe, and Salesforce are perfectly positioned to lead in AI. Their strategy of embedding AI into existing platforms allows them to lock customers into their ecosystems while providing increasingly indispensable tools. By making AI an integrated, invisible part of their offerings, these companies ensure that customers won’t just pay more for AI—they’ll need it to function in their day-to-day operations.
In the end, this isn’t about selling AI as a new product. It’s about creating a dependency that makes replacing these tools not just unappealing but impractical. And much like the workers who can no longer imagine a world before spreadsheets and presentations, tomorrow’s workforce will be equally incapable of functioning without the AI that quietly powers their work.
