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In a nutshell: Microsoft is developing an enterprise-level Copilot tool that enables companies to build custom AI applications. Clients can create chatbots to interface with customers or AI "agents" that automate internal tasks. The Redmond firm started a closed beta earlier this year, and a public testing phase will begin next month.
Microsoft Copilot Studio, a toolchain enabling companies to develop custom AI assistants, enters public preview in November. The assistants, which Microsoft calls "agents," can fulfill various administrative roles normally performed by employees.
The concept of "virtual employees" could inflame one of the primary concerns regarding generative AI: that it might displace human workers. However, Microsoft stresses that Copilot agents simply automate tedious tasks, freeing employees to focus on higher-level responsibilities.
For example, a company could build a chatbot that answers customer questions by referencing information from its website or internal company data. Another agent could automatically generate and resolve IT support tickets by understanding natural language queries and remembering prior customer cases.
Upon receiving emails, a custom agent could generate proper responses based on context, information about the sender, and knowledge of a company's standard operating procedures. Clients could also automate job training with an agent that analyzes HR data, chats with new hires, makes reservations, generates meeting schedules, and learns from prior interactions.
Copilot Studio uses a low-code environment, allowing companies to build assistants through a graphical user interface with little programming knowledge. Microsoft also offers pre-built agents for clients to build on.
The company's Dynamics 365 service is gaining 10 new agents that clients can use to automate various roles. These include an AI sales qualification agent that can handle customer outreach and organize opportunities, a supplier communications agent that can optimize supply chains and resolve related issues, and a customer intent agent, which could assist human customer service employees by learning how to resolve issues and automatically generating knowledge base articles.
Microsoft highlighted four companies that have deployed Copilot agents in various sectors. Thomson Reuters found that an AI could halve the time required to complete certain legal due diligence tasks. McKinsey & Company discovered that an agent could decrease client onboarding lead times by 90 percent and related administrative work by 30 percent.
The UK's top pet care business, Pets at Home, could save millions with a profit protection AI that automatically assembles cases for human employees to review. Law firm Clifford Chance has also integrated a Microsoft Copilot agent.
Microsoft hasn't provided a timeline for a full public release of Copilot Studio.