With 60% of Fortune 500 companies already leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance business outcomes, the results are remarkable. For instance, Lumen Technologies anticipates an annual savings of $50 million thanks to Copilot’s support for their sales associates. Honeywell has compared its productivity gains to adding 187 full-time employees, while Finastra has reduced creative production time from seven months to just seven weeks.
Today, we’re excited to announce new autonomous capabilities that will further accelerate these benefits and bring AI-first business processes to organizations of all sizes.
Introducing Autonomous Agents with Copilot Studio
Next month, we will launch the ability to create autonomous agents within Copilot Studio in public preview. This feature will empower organizations to build and manage a suite of agents tailored to their specific needs.
Additionally, we are rolling out ten new autonomous agents in Dynamics 365 to bolster the capabilities of sales, service, finance, and supply chain teams. Think of Copilot as your AI assistant—it’s designed to work for you. With Copilot Studio, creating, managing, and connecting agents to Copilot becomes straightforward. These agents can be seen as the new apps in an AI-driven world, working on behalf of individuals, teams, or entire functions to streamline business processes. From accelerating lead generation to automating supply chain tasks, Copilot is your interface for interacting with these agents.
Empowering Organizations with Autonomous Agents
Earlier this year, we introduced powerful new features in Copilot Studio, including the ability to create autonomous agents. In just a few weeks, these capabilities will transition from private to public preview, allowing more customers to innovate their critical business processes using AI. These agents leverage the context of your work data, drawing on Microsoft 365 Graph, systems of record, Dataverse, and Fabric to support a variety of functions, from IT help desks to employee onboarding.
Leading organizations like Clifford Chance, McKinsey & Company, Pets at Home, and Thomson Reuters are already harnessing autonomous agents to drive revenue growth, reduce operational costs, and amplify their impact. For instance, Pets at Home developed an agent for its profit protection team, enabling more efficient case compilation for human review, with the potential for significant annual savings. McKinsey & Company is piloting an agent designed to streamline client onboarding, achieving a 90% reduction in lead time and a 30% decrease in administrative tasks. Similarly, Thomson Reuters has created an agent to expedite the legal due diligence workflow, initially testing to complete tasks in half the time, thus enhancing client efficiency and business development.
Introducing Ten New Autonomous Agents in Dynamics 365
Our new autonomous agents signal a shift from traditional business applications to AI-centric processes. These agents are essential for maximizing ROI and establishing a competitive advantage in today’s market. Here are a few examples of the ten new agents now available:
Sales Qualification Agent: In a field where time is critical, this agent helps sales professionals focus on high-priority opportunities by researching leads, prioritizing prospects, and crafting personalized outreach emails.
Supplier Communications Agent: This agent optimizes supply chains by autonomously monitoring supplier performance, identifying delays, and responding proactively, freeing procurement teams from the burden of manual oversight.
Customer Intent and Knowledge Management Agents: These agents assist customer care teams dealing with high call volumes and talent shortages. They learn to resolve customer issues effectively and autonomously contribute knowledge-based articles, enhancing team practices.
As the use of agents becomes more prevalent, ensuring robust data governance and security is paramount. The agents in Dynamics 365 adhere to our stringent security, privacy, and responsible AI commitments. Agents created in Copilot Studio are equipped with built-in controls based on defined instructions, ensuring that data sources comply with rigorous security measures, including data loss prevention and authentication protocols. IT administrators can apply a comprehensive range of governance features once these agents are deployed.
Microsoft’s Own AI Transformation
At Microsoft, we are utilizing Copilot and autonomous agents to redefine our business processes and empower employees to maximize their impact. For example, one of our sales teams has achieved a 9.4% increase in revenue per seller and closed 20% more deals thanks to Copilot. Our customer service teams are resolving cases nearly 12% faster, and our Marketing team has experienced a 21.5% increase in conversion rates on Azure.com with the help of a custom agent. Meanwhile, our Human Resources self-service agent is answering employee inquiries with 42% greater accuracy.
With Copilot and these new autonomous agents, the possibilities for innovation are boundless. We can’t wait to see what you will create. Start building your agents in Copilot Studio today. For more information on autonomous agent capabilities, check out the blogs for Copilot Studio and Dynamics 365. Explore WorkLab for further insights into Microsoft’s ongoing AI transformation.
