Launching an innovative AI Agent for Microsoft SPFx

Context

LiveTiles, a leader in digital workplace software, faced increasing pressure to differentiate in a crowded M365 intranet market. Competitors were launching AI features, but most were passive chatbots that required employees to initiate interactions. The company needed a breakthrough product that would redefine what AI could do in the workplace.

The opportunity was the Everywhere Widget, an AI Agent designed to proactively assist users across SharePoint, employee apps, and Microsoft Teams. Unlike traditional AI Assistants that wait for prompts, this agent would surface contextual insights, automate routine tasks, and deliver real-time support wherever employees work.

The challenge wasn’t just technical. We needed to help customers understand why an AI Agent was fundamentally different from an AI Assistant, and why that difference mattered for employee productivity. Without clear positioning and a compelling narrative, the product risked being perceived as just another chatbot in an already saturated market.

Approach

As Global Head of Product Marketing, I led the six-month go-to-market strategy from concept to launch. My hypothesis was that success required going beyond feature marketing to establish a new category distinction between passive assistants and proactive agents.

I started with deep ICP research, conducting interviews with IT leaders and knowledge workers to understand how they actually used AI tools. The insight: people valued AI that anticipated their needs rather than waiting to be asked. This became the foundation of our positioning strategy.

I worked directly with Product Directors to translate technical capabilities into business outcomes. We mapped every feature to specific pain points uncovered in research, ensuring our messaging focused on productivity gains rather than technology specs.

The messaging framework required extensive competitive analysis. I researched how competitors positioned their AI features, identifying gaps we could own. This led to the “Everywhere Widget” concept, a term that communicated both the proactive nature (widget, not chatbot) and the cross-platform reach (everywhere, not siloed).

My role included aligning stakeholders across regions. I created a message map that gave global teams flexibility while maintaining positioning consistency. I also managed external agencies for creative development and coordinated with sales leadership to ensure field readiness.

Solution

The GTM execution centered on three pillars: positioning clarity, launch infrastructure, and sales enablement.

For positioning, I developed a comprehensive messaging framework that distinguished AI Agents from AI Assistants across every customer touchpoint. The message map included value props for different personas (IT leaders, knowledge workers, executives), competitive differentiation points, and proof points tied to specific use cases.

I built a dedicated landing page that led with the proactive value proposition and included customer validation. The page architecture walked visitors from problem (passive AI limitations) to solution (proactive agent capabilities) to outcomes (productivity metrics). Every section reinforced the core narrative: this isn’t just smarter AI, it’s AI that works differently.

The content strategy focused on education over promotion. I created explainer content, use case examples, and comparison guides that helped prospects understand the agent paradigm. This included video demos showing the Widget in action across different work scenarios.

For launch execution, I established a repeatable process with clear milestones, regional coordination protocols, and success metrics. This system aligned EMEA, APAC, and US teams around unified launch timing while accommodating regional customization.

Sales enablement included battle cards, demo scripts, and objection handling for the “agent vs assistant” positioning. I trained commercial teams on the research insights that informed our strategy, giving them confidence to lead with differentiation rather than features.

Throughout, I collaborated cross-functionally with product, engineering, design, and regional marketing teams to maintain message consistency while executing at speed.

Results

The Everywhere Widget launch delivered 2-3x higher adoption compared to previous product rollouts. Within the first month, we initiated 30+ new trials, significantly exceeding our baseline expectations and demonstrating strong market resonance.

The positioning strategy created measurable differentiation. Industry analysts described the product as “innovative and groundbreaking,” specifically calling out the “Everywhere Widget” functionality as a category-defining approach. This analyst validation opened doors for customer conversations and provided third-party credibility that accelerated sales cycles.

Customer engagement exceeded projections. The combination of clear positioning, educational content, and proactive sales enablement meant prospects understood the value proposition before sales conversations began. This reduced time spent explaining basics and allowed teams to focus on implementation planning.

The launch also established LiveTiles’ competitive position in AI-powered workplace tools. The repeatable GTM process I built became the template for subsequent launches, creating operational leverage that increased launch velocity while maintaining quality.

Beyond metrics, the project demonstrated that deep ICP research and category-level positioning could drive outsized results. By investing time upfront to understand customer needs and market gaps, we created messaging that resonated immediately rather than requiring iteration post-launch.