Business Tech Roundup: Microsoft Is Building The Largest Agent Ecosystem
(This column originally appeared in Forbes)
Business Tech Roundup This Week: Here are five things in tech that happened this week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
1 – Business Tech: Microsoft quietly assembles the largest AI agent ecosystem
Microsoft has steadily established the largest enterprise AI agent ecosystem, with more than 100,000 organizations creating or refining AI agents using its Copilot Studio since its launch. This achievement positions Microsoft as a leader in one of the most dynamic and closely observed segments of enterprise technology. “That’s a lot faster than we thought, and it’s a lot faster than any other kind of cutting edge technology we’ve released,” Charles Lamanna, Microsoft’s executive responsible for the company’s agent vision, told said. “And that was like a 2x growth in just a quarter.” (Source: Venture Beat )
Why this business tech is important for your business
AI agents will be taking over the business world in 2025 and Microsoft has already positioned itself as one of the leaders. This should give the company a competitive advantage and push more businesses towards its Office, Windows and other product lines. If you want to see a few examples of how agents can and will be used in your business, check out the piece I wrote here .
2 – Business Tech: How artificial intelligence is revamping customer call centers.
David Pogue of CBS News reported on the “new age of customer service.” In the clip a random selection of people shared their customer service nightmares – and agents shared their stressful experiences in dealing with disgruntled customers. One solution has been offered by Gridspace – an AI voice agent developer based in Los Angeles. The company has developed an AI phone rep – “Grace” – that has humanistic qualities including empathy. Creators say that Grace can help human service reps by fielding incoming calls and taking basic information, alleviating time and stress on both ends. The creators gave Pogue a real time demo of how the bot handles an incoming call. (Source: CBS Sunday Morning )
Why this business tech is important for your business
If you’re having trouble getting your around how AI will impact your business, check out this short segment from CBS News. It’s consumer-driven and easy to understand. The bottom line is that there are many companies developing AI platforms specifically for the customer service space and these applications will (if not already) providing a quicker and more accurate service, but also helping companies get customer service work accomplished even in these times of tight labor. These AI platforms will not replace people, they’ll complement them. And we, as consumers, will enjoy their benefits.
3 – Business Tech: You won’t believe what Excel’s Copilot can do!
Tech expert and founder of XelPlus Leila Gharani posted a YouTube demo of Microsoft’s CoPilot capabilities in Excel. The first Gharani highlights is Text Summarization (such as online reviews) where the user can ask Copilot to summarize the information on a spreadsheet and extract key data. Another feature is Data Insights that Copilot can retrieve from sizeable spreadsheets highlighting valuable datapoints that can be added to the spreadsheet itself. A third feature is Adding Formula Columns – users can ask Copilot to suggest a column based the spreadsheet’s dataset. Gharani gives a step-by-step demonstration for how to activate each. (Source: Leila Gharani/YouTube )
Why this business tech is important for your business
Leila does a great job – and her channel is excellent too. If you’ve got Microsoft Copilot in your business (you will, even if you don’t right now) then it’s critical to lean in and fully understand all of its capabilities. Don’t blow off training. The companies I know who are leveraging this stuff are already preparing themselves for productivity gains in the future. Start by watching this video and others that Leila does. There are plenty of similar instructional videos for Google’s Gemini for Workspace too.
4 – Business Tech: These are the best industrial cloud ERP solutions.
Manufacturing Digital highlighted some of the most innovative cloud ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) companies in 2024. Examples include Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central for its comprehensive features and integration with Microsoft applications. Odoo offers extensive customization options, allowing businesses to tailor the ERP system to their specific needs. SYSPRO specializes in manufacturing ERP, providing robust solutions for manufacturers and distributors. NetSuite is the ideal system for global operations, offering scalability and extensive features for large enterprises. To see the entire list, visit the link. (Source: Manufacturing Digital )
Why this business tech is important for your business:
If you’re a small business using a small business accounting software, and you grow, then you’ll find yourself in need of a more enterprise, scalable platform. If you’re a manufacturer your needs will be that much more unique. This is a great list of current platforms specifically focused on mid-sized manufacturers that need to address standard and job costing, bills of materials, process manufacturing, ordering, inventory management and other challenges for this industry.
5 – Business Tech: myCOI expands Procore integration to simplify compliance and payments.
Leading provider of Certificate of Insurance (COI) management solutions, myCOI has announced an expanded integration with Procore Technologies – a global leader in construction management software. This enhanced integration aims to simplify compliance and payment processes for construction professionals. Key benefits include: Timely Payments, Simplified Vendor Management, allowing users to create and manage vendor records directly within Procore, and Compliance Visibility that provides automatic updates on insurance compliance, syncing compliance reviews within two hours. Kristen Nunery, CEO at myCOI said, "Our goal is to ensure Procore customers can focus on what they do best –building – while we handle the compliance details." (Source: Construction Dive )
Why this business tech is important for your business
Procore is one the leading construction management platforms and it’s grown in popularity not only because of its functionality but because it has been building an ecosystem of third party products and integrations that expand its usefulness to its community. Compliance is a big hassle in the construction industry, so add-ons like MyCOI can not only manage all of the requirements – local, regional and national – but also integrate deeply with Procore for a one-stop-shop experience.
And that’s your Business Tech Roundup This Week!