Microsoft Launches AI Agents to Transform Customer Service

Microsoft is also developing an AI agent that can conduct transactions on behalf of consumers

US tech giant, Microsoft is said to be introducing artificial intelligence agents or virtual employees. This feature can be used to perform tasks capable of managing customer queries and detecting sales prospects, as the IT industry seeks to demonstrate to investors that the AI boom can yield indispensable products.

The customers of the tech company are given the ability to build their own AI form agents. Microsoft also releases 10 off the shelf bots which can perform a range of tasks and roles which also includes the supply chain management and customer service.

Launching next month, the early adopters of the Copilot Studio product includes Mckinsey, the blue chip consulting. They aim to build an agent to process and handle new client inquiries by taking up tasks like scheduling follow-up meetings. Law firm Clifford Chance and store Pets at Home were among the early adopters.

The flagging AI agents of Microsoft which are introduced to carry out tasks without any kind of human intervention. This is an example of technology’s potential to boost productivity while also measuring economic efficiency, or the amount of output produced by a worker for every hour worked.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft chief executive who introduced the AI agents in London at a company event and stated that the new tool or feature would help in reducing the hard work put in by humans. The tool also raises productivity by freeing up time to allow carrying out more valuable tasks. 

Satya Nadella added that “These tools are fundamentally changing outsourcing, increasing value and reducing waste.” 

Nadella touted Copilot Studio, which does not require coding expertise from its users, as a “no-code way for you to be able to build agents”. Microsoft’s agents are powered by numerous AI models created in-house and by OpenAI, the ChatGPT developer.

Microsoft is also developing an AI agent that can conduct transactions on behalf of consumers. Mustafa Suleyman, the company’s head of AI, has indicated that while he has seen “stunning demos” in which the agent makes a purchase on its own, there have also been “car crash moments” in development. Sulyeman did, however, add that an agent with these capabilities will emerge “in quarters, not years”.

On the topic of fears of AI and how it can impact employment, Charles Lamanna who is the corporate vice-president at Microsoft stated that agents would do away with the “mundane, monotonous” aspects of a job.

He believes that the new tool is introduced to be more of an enabler and an empowerment tool more than anything else. 

Charles Lamanna also stated that the advent of AI tools is compared to the arrival of personal computers several decades ago from the agents in the modern office environment. 

Eventually the personal computer was on every desk as it brought high information and capabilities to the fingertips of every employee although in the beginning the personal computer was not available on every desk. 

Lamanna feels that AI employees could have a similar journey to the AI chatbot. At present the AI employees tool is used just in the subset of departments and processes although in no time it will be used in all departments in the organizations.  

According to Andrew Rogoyski, a director at the University of Surrey’s Institute for People-Centred AI, AI agents could enable tech companies to generate a return for investors who actively supported the technology. Goldman Sachs questioned if a $1 trillion investment in AI over the next five years will “ever pay off” in June.

Rogoyski also stated that Ai companies are said to have consumed a ton of investment money while it requires to generate some returns. One way of showing everyday benefits are assistive agents although how much revenue these will generate is an open question.”

However, he warned that while agents have been considered as an idea for years, they have yet to develop an agent that is as capable as a human worker.