Microsoft announced during an AI tour in London that all Microsoft 365 Copilot customers will soon be able to build custom AI agents themselves.

During the AI ​​Tour in London, Microsoft announced AI agents. These agents will be available in a trial version starting next month.

AI agents are the new hype in artificial intelligence. It is being described by major players in the industry as the big next step in AI, after GenAI, which we have heard a lot about over the last two years. AI agents have broader thinking capabilities and can make even more autonomous decisions for you. How revolutionary this development may or may not be is controversial.

Ironically, the concept of AI agents emerged in response to Microsoft Copilot, which opponents of Microsoft’s AI assistant call “disappointing.” Getting Copilot to perform at peak performance within defined limits proved more difficult than expected. Now Microsoft itself seems to be jumping on the bandwagon.

Intelligent assistants

The AI ​​agents will be able to automate business processes in apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams. Tasks include accelerating lead generation or automating the supply chain. This makes Copilot a personal assistant for every employee with the Microsoft Office 365 license. Companies can configure these agents themselves using command prompts or a graphical interface.

Additionally, Microsoft is introducing ten autonomous agents in Dynamics 365 to improve efficiency across sales, service, finance and supply chain teams. For example, these agents can monitor supplier performance and identify delays.

Agents created in Copilot Studio include security measures and tools to manage their use. The public preview of these agents is expected to be released during the Microsoft Ignite 2024 conference in November.