Agent 007 was yesterday, it's time for a new one

Agent 007 was yesterday, now it's time for Agent Copilot (well, actually it's Copilot Agents, but it doesn't sound so good in this example - anyway, let's focus! ??).

In Microsoft's Wave 2 announcement, agents were one of the key elements for the future. But I've also heard some uncertainty in the community, some are a bit confused about the name, others about the functionality.

But don't worry, we've got you covered! In this episode we cover everything you need to know about Copilot Agents with our M365 extensibility expert Bennet Brünings.

Why do we need Copilot Agents?

M365 Copilot is great for answering questions about your emails, meetings and recent documents. It is a great general assistant for everyday work.

It's your expert for performing a specific task or use case.

But sometimes you need a more focused version of Copilot, using only specific data sources and a more specific context for how to interact with the data and the user. This is where Copilot Agents come in.

What are Copilot Agents?

Copilot Agents are based on the same underlying technology as M365 Copilot, but are more customisable. Using specific instructions, a Copilot Agent is tailored to a specific use case and provides information in the context of that use case.

With Copilot Agents, you can expand your M365 Copilot into a Copilot platform that's even more powerful.

As part of the agent, you define specific data sources to be used. This ensures that only the capabilities relevant to the use case are used as grounding data.

How to create Copilot Agents?

There are two ways to create a Copilot agent. The easiest way will soon be available through M365 Copilot BizChat, called the Agent Builder.

The Agent Builder allows you to specify how the agent should behave and what data sources, called capabilities, it should use. Change the name and logo, test it directly in the Agent Builder and publish it to your organisation. A more advanced version allows professional developers to create Copilot agents from within the Teams Toolkit in Visual Studio Code.

Copilot Agents can be created via Low Code AND High Code

As well as adding the same functionality as the Agent Builder, developers can create API plug-ins to easily integrate third party data directly into the Copilot Agent.

These plug-ins allow integration with any third party system an organisation uses. From major vendors like SAP or Workday to custom solutions unique to your organisation. Combined with the agent functionality, you can integrate all relevant data to be used by Copilot agents.

How to use Copilot Agents?

Copilot Agents live a long side of M365 Copilot. They are accessible directly from Copilot chat by @mentioning the agent or by opening a specific chat with the agent in the M365 Copilot app.

What are first use cases for Copilot Agents?

We see a lot of potential in use cases where specific information is shared by a large group of people. For example, internal project management processes and best practices are unique to an organisation, but shared by all project managers.

A Copilot agent could assist project managers with day-to-day issues based on knowledge added to the project management SharePoint site. Adding a plugin that provides up-to-date information from the internal project management solution adds real-time information on the current project status and risks to further support the project managers.

Another example is a Copilot agent that uses all the information about current training and certifications available to employees. Because Copilot agents share the same information about the user's position, role in the organisation, and training budget, the agent can not only answer general questions about training options, but also provide unique answers specific to the user's role in the organisation.

This tailored approach ensures that users receive faster, more relevant answers, thereby improving the quality of responses. This capability delivers significant business value by freeing up time for HR colleagues to focus on other important parts of their day, such as strategic planning and employee engagement initiatives.

Copilot Agents can be integrated into many other use cases within an organisation. Wherever processes involve disparate data sources and systems, agents can be used to streamline the experience and simplify the process for the user.

? Do you have any questions about Copilot Agents? Let us know in the comments.

?? If you're interested in learning more about M365 Copilot Extensibility and Copilot Agents in general, follow Bennet on LinkedIn as he shares his knowledge and project expertise ????

?? Also check out Microsoft's Blog post about Copilot Agents, e.g. from Charles Lamanna: Supercharge your business with agents built with Microsoft Copilot Studio | Microsoft Copilot Blog

?????? Be part of the social collaboration study

For my German speaking subscribers. Together with the Technische Universit?t Darmstadt , we are conducting our annual study on social collaboration. This year, of course, GenAI is one of the top priorities, but there are many other things as well.

I would like to ask you to fill out the survey and you will be one of the first people to get access to our results.

???????????? Let's go to the survey

Anna Maria Sch?tzle , Boris Ovcak , Sven Hausen and myself really appreciate your time! ????