Microsoft is accelerating its AI-driven business solutions with the introduction of new autonomous agents in Copilot Studio and Dynamics 365. These agents are designed to help organisations automate and scale critical business processes, ranging from sales and supply chain management to customer service and employee onboarding.
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Autonomous Agents in Business Solutions
Starting next month, the public preview of Copilot Studio will allow businesses to create and manage custom autonomous agents. These AI-powered agents will leverage Microsoft 365 Graph, Dataverse, Fabric, and other systems to streamline processes such as employee onboarding, IT support, and sales management.
Copilot Studio
Microsoft describes Copilot as your AI assistant that works for you, and Copilot Studio as the platform where you can easily create, manage, and connect agents to Copilot. Think of agents as the new apps for an AI-powered world. Every organisation will have a constellation of agents — ranging from simple prompt-and-response tools to fully autonomous systems. These agents will work on behalf of individuals, teams, or entire functions to execute and orchestrate business processes.
Key developments include:
Copilot Studio: With the upcoming public preview, businesses will be able to build their own autonomous agents. These agents, drawing from Microsoft's ecosystem (Microsoft 365 Graph, Dataverse, etc.), will handle tasks such as IT support, sales, and employee onboarding.
Autonomous Agents in Dynamics 365: Microsoft is introducing ten new autonomous agents designed to enhance sales, service, finance, and supply chain functions. These agents will improve business efficiency by automating tasks like sales qualification, supplier communications, and customer service operations, according to an official release.
Autonomous Agent Examples
Examples include the Sales Qualification Agent, which prioritises high-value sales leads, and the Supplier Communications Agent, which autonomously monitors and responds to supply chain disruptions.
Additional agents include the Sales Order Agent, Financial Reconciliation Agent, Account Reconciliation Agent, Time and Expense Agent, Customer Intent Agent, Customer Knowledge Management Agent, Case Management Agent, and Scheduling Operations Agent.
"New autonomous agents enable customers to move from legacy lines of business applications to AI-first business process. AI is today's ROI and tomorrow's competitive edge. These new agents are designed to help every sales, service, finance and supply chain team drive business value — and are just the start," Microsoft said.
Companies Leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot
In its blog post, Microsoft mentioned that 60 percent of the Fortune 500 are already using Microsoft 365 Copilot to accelerate business outcomes and empower their teams. With Copilot supporting sales associates, Lumen Technologies projects USD 50 million in annual savings. Honeywell equates its productivity gains to adding 187 full-time employees, while Finastra is reducing creative production time from seven months to seven weeks.
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Early Adoption Success
Organisations like Clifford Chance, McKinsey & Company, Pets at Home, and Thomson Reuters are already using autonomous agents to increase revenue, reduce costs, and scale impact, Microsoft noted.
Early adopters, such as the UK's Pets at Home and Thomson Reuters, have reported significant efficiency gains, including the potential for seven-figure savings and a 50 percent reduction in legal workflow time.
McKinsey & Company is developing an agent to speed up the client onboarding process. Their pilot showed a 90 percent reduction in lead time and a 30 percent reduction in administrative work, Microsoft said.
