The Dynamics 365 platform is getting a whole new set of AI agents. These agents will improve and partially automate all kinds of business processes in this ERP and CRM suite from Microsoft. For example, they will summarise emails, send replies, generate reports, and update databases.
According to Microsoft, which announced the ten new agents during the company’s AI Tour in London, this should better embed AI into business workflows and enable organizations to use time and resources more efficiently.
In addition, Copilot Studio will soon make it possible for business users to create and manage their own AI agents using existing LLMs as a base. The platform provides a low-code design interface that allows users to build or customize agents to their tastes and needs. The agents can be connected to various internal data sources such as SharePoint, Salesforce or other internal knowledge bases, giving them access to the relevant, proprietary information they need to perform their tasks well.
‘Agents are the new apps’
Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer of AI at work, pitched agents as the new apps for an AI-powered world. He emphasized that every organization will eventually work with a collection of AI agents tailored to its business needs.
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The announcement didn’t explicitly indicate whether these agents will also be customizable via Copilot Studio. However, it seems that these are two separate things. Either way, administrators can set guardrails for agents so that they cannot access certain data, for example. Agents developed by Microsoft can perform out-of-the-box tasks in areas such as sales, finance, logistics, inventory management, and customer service.
Examples of tasks
For example, the Sales Qualification Agent within Dynamics 365 can help the sales department prioritize leads and create personalized messages. The Sales Order Agent can automate customer order intakes. Automated tasks like preparing financial reports and entering ledger transactions can also free up the company accountant’s time for other things. For project management, the on-duty AI agent can automate tasks such as timesheet creation and management, expense tracking, and timely invoice sending.
Users can interact with the agents through natural language, giving instructions as they would to a human colleague, such as ‘Find the August 18 email from colleague Y about the new lead generation campaign.’ The agent functionality in Copilot Studio is expected to come out in public preview next month, Microsoft is rolling out its own new agents in Dynamics 365 in the near future, also in preview.