Microsoft Banks on Copilot Agents in ‘AI-Powered World’

Microsoft (MSFT) is launching artificial intelligence (AI)—driven “autonomous agents” for its Copilot AI assistant software, the company announced Monday in a move seemingly designed to compete with Salesforce (CRM) in customer management software.

Customers can utilize agents that range in capability “from simple prompt-and-response to fully autonomous” working for a team and performing tasks like sending emails and handling employee onboarding. Microsoft announced in May the ability to create agents using Copilot Studio. It will be previewed publicly next month, said Microsoft.

Copilot, which utilizes large language models (LLMs), is trained using the workplace data for that specified client, according to a 2023 company blog post. The latest agents function “as the new apps for an AI-powered world,” Microsoft said.

The tech titan is also rolling out 10 pre-designed agents, including some designed for prioritizing high-potential sales leads, communicating with suppliers, and managing customer service interactions. 

Shares of Microsoft slid about 1% intraday Monday but are up 10% in 2024.

Salesforce Unveiled Agentforce Last Month

Salesforce, the cloud software giant, launched a suite of autonomous AI agents with similar features, known as Agentforce, in September. The company said it planned for Agentforce to become generally available on Friday.

Salesforce is the No. 1 provider of customer relationship management (CRM) software and has been for the past 11 years, according to a Salesforce press release touting a study from International Data Corp.