US Cloud’s analysis reveals that Microsoft’s pricing changes, including the elimination of EA tier discounts, mandatory Copilot bundling, and escalation of the Unified Support fee, will result in a 25% cost increase for a typical $10 million Enterprise Agreement by mid-2026. This “AI Tax” is attributed to Microsoft’s significant investment in AI infrastructure, despite uncertain ROI for many enterprises. US Cloud suggests software portfolio optimization and replacing Unified Support as strategies to mitigate these price hikes.
