Microsoft launches 10 new AI agents, covering sales and finance, competing with Salesforce at a higher level

Author: Fang Jiayao

Source: Hard AI

On Monday, Microsoft announced the launch of a new set of AI tools to help various teams within the company work more efficiently.

These tools include the introduction of 10 "autonomous agents" in Dynamics 365 software. These agents can automatically handle specific tasks by analyzing user work data from Microsoft services such as Microsoft 365 Graph, record systems, Dataverse, and Fabric, and then assist users in completing various tasks based on this data.

They can do many things, such as helping you with IT issues, assisting new employees in getting familiar with their work, providing personalized assistance to sales and service personnel, and even automating the management of your supply chain, helping large companies save money, time, and make their employees more efficient.

At the same time, Microsoft earlier introduced a series of powerful new features in Copilot Studio, where users can create and customize autonomous agents according to their needs. Next month, these features will be open to the public for testing after internal testing, allowing more users to leverage AI to rethink critical business processes.

Helping more customers build autonomous agents in Copilot Studio

Microsoft stated that 60% of Fortune 500 companies are currently using Microsoft's Copilot tools to improve their work efficiency. For example, Lumen Technologies uses Copilot to assist their sales team, expecting to save $50 million annually. Honeywell mentioned that after using this tool, it was equivalent to hiring an additional 187 full-time employees. Finastra found that after using Copilot, the time taken to create innovative products was reduced from seven months to seven weeks.

Microsoft also pointed out that companies like McKinsey and Pets at Home in the UK have reduced time-consuming tasks such as data entry and customer proposal processing using these agents. Microsoft employee Jared Spataro mentioned, "We found that many people spend a lot of time and money on repetitive tasks. These are often tasks and processes they wish they didn't have to do repeatedly. If these tasks can be automated, it will bring high returns."

It is worth mentioning that users can easily create autonomous agents in Copilot Studio through low-code or no-code instructions. Users only need to set the agent's goals, such as organizing email requests, and the agent will automatically complete the task. Users can use natural language (no coding required) to instruct the autonomous agent on how to handle emails, such as extracting information from emails and how to handle missing data. Additionally, users can attach different files and documents to explain how to handle customer data and then let the agent start working

Microsoft is collaborating with OpenAI to enable software to generate text and images on its own, as well as to think like a human. Starting from early 2023, Microsoft's AI feature, with just a prompt, will allow you to tell the computer what you want, and then it will help you create it. A prominent example is Copilot, which is already being used in Word, Outlook, and other products.

Microsoft's next step is to create "agents" that can perform certain fixed tasks without human intervention. These tools use generative AI reasoning capabilities, combined with existing databases and software, to work. Software companies like ServiceNow, Workday, HubSpot, and SAP are now emphasizing the development of such AI agents.

Additionally, Salesforce, as a leader in customer management software, also introduced similar tools at the recent Dreamforce conference, stating that their agents can independently handle customer service tasks. Salesforce's Agentforce tool will officially launch later this month, with an initial pricing of around $2 per conversation. However, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff recently criticized Microsoft's product for not being good enough, stating that the delivery of Copilot is disappointing.

Microsoft has not yet announced the pricing for its autonomous agents, but the Copilot Studio, a custom agent building tool, is included in Microsoft 365 Copilot at $30 per user per month.

Investors Focus on AI Performance, Microsoft Actively Launches AI Autonomous Agents

As the earnings season kicks off, Wall Street is closely watching tech companies' AI spending and profit growth. Microsoft and its competitors need to demonstrate that they can continue to attract more customers to use AI services to address investor pressure. Microsoft's move aims to actively seek new ways of profitability, better compete with rivals like Salesforce, and leverage its collaboration with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, to gain returns on AI investments.

Previously, Microsoft's CFO Amy Hood stated in the quarterly report released on July 30th Eastern Time that the company spent $19 billion on capital expenditures (including finance leases), with the majority going towards AI and cloud-related needs. Microsoft's capital expenditures for the fiscal year 2024 reached $55.7 billion, a significant increase from $31.9 billion in 2023 and $29.2 billion in 2022.

Microsoft's Copilot platform serves around 2.1 million commercial users per month, and Microsoft hopes to further increase this number. The platform is crucial for improving work efficiency, and Microsoft aims to generate revenue from enterprises looking to enhance overall employee efficiency using the software. In the fourth quarter, Microsoft's cloud services (including AI) revenue was $36.8 billion, accounting for a significant portion of the total revenue of $64.7 billion, with a year-on-year growth of 21%However, Microsoft is not the only business software provider looking to profit from the AI boom. Google and Salesforce are also actively competing for market share, with Google continuously adding new features to its Gemini on the Google Workspace platform, while Salesforce has launched its own AI product and Einstein Copilot