Microsoft has just announced a new feature for Microsoft 365 Copilot users that will enable them to use, and even make, Copilot Agents that will assist in automating tasks.
In a press release, Microsoft describes what Copilot Agents are and how they can help workers:
Agents come in all shapes and sizes. They help you retrieve information from grounding data and reason over it to summarize or answer questions. More capable agents take actions when asked and the most advanced agents are autonomous, operating independently to create and perform plans, orchestrate other agents, and learn when to escalate to an employee for help.
The Copilot Studio tools for Microsoft 365 Copilot will now allow anyone to make Copilot Agents. The tool will let users type in text prompts in natural language, combined with adding any knowledge sources from a business or organization. The agent can just be for your use, or you can share it with other employees in a group, or it can even be accessed by your entire company.
In addition, Microsoft is allowing for Copilot Agents to be published directly to Microsoft 365 Copilot. It added:
Users can find Copilot agents in a new store in Microsoft 365 Copilot Business Chat, Teams, and the Microsoft 365 app, and they can use them by @ mention in a chat or by interacting directly with them. IT admins can curate the store catalog from the Microsoft 365 admin center.
Microsoft says all of these new features will be rolling out over the next several weeks to all Microsoft 365 Copilot users. In addition, Microsoft has been collaborating with a number of enterprise customers who have already been working to create new Copilot Agents with the Copilot Studio. Microsoft will be making some further announcements related to these Copilot Agents later in 2024.