From next month, businesses will be able to use Microsoft’s Copilot Studio to create autonomous AI agents: interactive systems designed to perform specific tasks and automate user processes.
The models, which are powered by OpenAI and several AI models developed by Microsoft, will require much less input than chatbots and are already being used by businesses like McKinsey and Thomson Reuters to improve onboarding processes and sales performance.
This new innovative feature was announced as part of Microsoft’s 60-stop ‘AI Tour’ designed to highlight the potential of its Copilot technology to businesses. But with the rate of Copilot adoption slowing down in recent months, will Microsoft’s new AI ace card be enough to recover the platform’s popularity?
What Are Copilot Agents And How Can They Be Used?
As Microsoft’s global AI Tour reaches its European leg, the company has unveiled a new suite of features designed to help users build autonomous agents through Copilot Studio.
According to Microsoft, these agents will be able to “understand the nature of your work” and act on your behalf by “providing support across business roles, teams, and functions.” In contrast to traditional AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot, these agents are designed to work autonomously without user input and can be tailored to address specific challenges a business is facing.
“Agents draw on the context of your work data in Microsoft 365 Graph, systems of record, Dataverse and Fabric, and can support everything from your IT help desk to employee onboarding and act as a personal concierge for sales and service.” – Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft
You don’t need any code experience to create an AI agent for your company. But in addition to Microsoft’s new DIY Copilot Studio feature, the company is also rolling out ten new autonomous agents in Dynamics 365 designed to tackle specific processes. Examples include a Sales Qualification Agent that frees up time for the seller and a Customer Intent Agent that “continuously discovers new intents from past and current customer conversations”.
These ready-for-use agents will be available for public review later this year, and their rollout will continue into early 2025.
How Are Companies Currently Using Copilot Studio?
Microsoft Copilot Studio pilot, in which select companies have been granted access to the platform, has already hinted at the versatile applications of the custom agents.
The UK company Pets at Home has been using Copilot agents to streamline its profit protection process. Specifically, team members have used their Copilot agent to “assess cases for potential profit loss” more effectively, allowing them to spend less time on data gathering and more time on skilled analysis as a result.
“We’ve seen early success of our pilot agent that was built for our own organization, in collaboration with Microsoft. And we see tremendous potential for agents to help our clients rewire the way their businesses operate.“ – Rodney Zemmel, senior partner at McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company also got an early preview of Copilot Studio. According to a blog post by Microsoft, the company created an agent to automate complex processes in the client onboarding process, from staffing to identifying expert capabilities. The results of the pilot proved to be very encouraging, with early results showing that the use of the agents could reduce lead time by 90% and administrative work by 30%.
Will Autonomous Agents Be Enough To Save Microsoft’s Rocky Copilot Rollout?
Microsoft’s Copilot was heralded to be a game-changer in business productivity. However, while the AI software has proved popular – 60% of Fortune 500 companies are currently using Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline workflows – its momentum has dropped off a little in recent months.
Copilot’s adoption turned out to be been much slower than expected in the second quarter of the year, with research from Gartner revealing that the vast majority of companies in its survey have not processed their Copilot initiatives past the pilot stage. This reluctance to commit to the system could be down to several factors, with Microsoft’s AI system recently hitting headlines for failing to protect company data, and drawing criticisms from users by failing to respond to simple queries.
Despite these setbacks, however, the Microsoft is holding steadfast to its vision to create the first true “AI-first companies” through its Copilot Studio technology. The results of its pilot are promising, and hint at the technologies potential in solving unique business problems. Despite a slight stall in Copilot adoption, the company’s shares remain 10% up year-on-year, suggesting that its AI gamble is likely to pay off in the long run.
