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We saw something at the recent Microsoft Ignite conference that really blew our minds and opened our eyes: autonomous agents are now being put to use in Copilot Studio and will soon be available in Microsoft Dynamics 365.
Simply put, autonomous agents are AI-powered systems that operate independently to handle a wide range of tasks. From real-time translations to project management to qualifying prospects, the potential applications are nearly limitless. Let’s explore the specific benefits of autonomous agents currently available in Copilot Studio, and those anticipated in Dynamics.
Copilot Studio is the ideal launching pad for Microsoft autonomous agents, having been derived from the company’s low-code solution for intelligent chatbots. But what’s happening now with autonomous agents feels like light years beyond.
It is all made possible by leveraging Copilot Studio capabilities, including:
Users of Copilot Studio can use new autonomous agents that can extend CRM solutions (such as Dynamics 365 Sales, Service and Contact Center), acting in the background to respond to events, like receiving an email or remembering a previous related conversation, without the need for wasted human time and effort.
Creating these agents is made simple in Copilot Studio as Microsoft provides a templated approach based on commonly used agent scenarios, such as taking action when a specific event occurs, for instance when an email is received or a new employee being added to the HR system. Let’s use email as an example.
An email arrives and the autonomous agent kicks into action, understanding the intent of the email, and/or looking up the sender's account, and/or checking inventory, and/or processing an order, and then taking the appropriate actions to close a ticket, orchestrating and shepherding the entire process over days.
Remember when it came to solving everyday business challenges how some would say, “there’s an app for that?” Now, it’s even better: with Copilot Studio we will soon get to a point where we say, “there’s an autonomous agent for that,” and whatever “that” may be will have been handled automatically, in real-time, and with limited (if any) manual intervention.
The initial focus for the use of autonomous agents in Microsoft Dynamics 365 will be in customer service, where AI is unlocking opportunity after opportunity. When Copilot was first being put to use in the customer experience, it served primarily to boost agent productivity by, for example, making it faster and easier for agents to access and share critical customer information. No more lengthy database lookups: just a natural language request to Copilot.
Microsoft has introduced a range of pre-built agents designed to enhance productivity across various business functions. These agents can be deployed immediately or further configured to incorporate specific organizational knowledge and business logic. But with autonomous agents in Dynamics, customer service is significantly streamlined, evidenced by Customer Intent Agent, Customer Knowledge Management Agent, and Case Management Agent.
The Case Management Agent isn’t merely a note taker, though. It can create cases, entering product/service information, creating and updating a case status, building communications, and more. Once updated, a human can still review, approve and edit the case that was created. Since most of the work is initiated by the autonomous agent, the result is huge productivity gains for human agents as they no longer have to “do the paperwork. An autonomous agent does the heavy lifting, reducing the effort and time required by the human.
As you may have gleaned, the most obvious and immediate benefit realized in service intelligence will be automation collection and analysis of service-centric data. Autonomous agents can sift through massive amounts of data from various sources (customer interactions, system logs, social media, etc.) much faster and more efficiently than humans.
Furthermore, they can detect subtle patterns and trends that might be missed by human analysts, and predict future trends, such as potential service disruptions, customer churn, or emerging issues, allowing for proactive intervention.
Combine those improvements with increases in efficiency, cost-savings, and quality of service, and a revolution in service intelligence now appears to be in our immediate future.
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