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Microsoft will allow its customers to create autonomous artificial intelligence agents starting next month, marking the company's latest effort to capitalise on the rapid growth of AI technology. These AI agents, unlike chatbots, are designed to operate with minimal human intervention and can handle a variety of business tasks such as client queries, identifying sales leads, and managing inventory. The tech giant has positioned these autonomous agents as essential tools for an "AI-driven world.
" Clients will be able to build these agents using Copilot Studio, an application that requires little coding experience, which will be available in public preview starting in November. Microsoft plans to integrate several AI models developed both in-house and by OpenAI into these agents. In addition to providing the framework for building custom AI agents, Microsoft is introducing ten ready-made agents to handle routine tasks, such as supply chain management, expense tracking, and client communications.
The new initiative comes as tech companies face increasing pressure to demonstrate returns on their large investments in AI. Microsoft's shares dropped by 2.8% during the September quarter, underperforming the S&P 500, though they remain more than 10% higher for the year.
Despite the enthusiasm around AI, concerns have arisen about the pace of adoption. A survey by Gartner in August revealed that the majority of IT organisations had not moved their Copilot projects beyond the pilot phase. Microsoft's move to introduce autonomous AI agents aligns with similar efforts from other tech companies, such as Salesforce, which has also promoted AI-powered tools as a key way to monetise their investments in the technology.
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