Working in a customer service role can be deeply taxing. It requires nearly constant exertions of emotional energy, in addition to completing regular work tasks included in conventional job descriptions. Customer service employees thus suffer from high rates of burnout and turnover, harmful to both the workers and the companies that employ them.

 Enter Microsoft’s latest AI offering, Copilot, and its promise of a solution. Companies that purchase Copilot can use it to create virtual assistants, specific to their needs, that will be able to conduct automated tasks and complete designated workflows without human intervention. These advanced AI agents can respond to customer service queries, make purchases, compile caseloads, automate administrative tasks, and check others’ work for errors.

In conjunction with the AI agents themselves, Microsoft launched Copilot Studio, an application that requires no prior coding knowledge or expertise. For clients that do not want to go through the process of developing or designing their own versions of the AI agents, Microsoft offers 10 readymade agents that can perform automated, routine tasks across various industries, like expense tracking or supply chain management.

Ideally, every employee of a company would have their own Copilot account, such that its interface would be specific to them and their needs. Furthermore, each employee’s agent will collaborate with other employees’ Copilot agents, so that they can integrate information and knowledge held by each of their employee partners to reach decisions, without human involvement. For these purposes, the AI agents might be trained to react to certain triggers or programmed signals, such that they initiate certain tasks without needing any human contribution.

The technology clearly is exciting. It also raises clear concerns. For example, once human oversight disappears, the possibility of large-scale errors arguably increases. Microsoft points to the many security features already integrated into the program. In addition, a dedicated function of each agent will feature a detailed explanation of the logic underlying the decisions the agent makes, should any employee need to understand or change the automated workflow model. Likewise, a list of all actions taken by the agent will be available for review by every employee in real-time.

Convinced of its promise and potential, Microsoft already has introduced Copilot to various blue-chip companies for testing, including McKinsey & Company and Thomas Reuters. Reports indicate that Copilot already has engaged in automated tasks surrounding legal due diligence processes. Such tasks can have significant impacts in financial and legal transactions, both positive and potentially negative. Thus, experts still call for caution. Copilot represents an exciting change to the way we do business, but developing, defining, and delimiting agent responsibilities needs to happen over time, and with plenty of oversight.

Discussion Questions 

1. Which work processes would be the easiest to automate? Which would be the hardest?
2. Which industries might benefit the most from integrating Copilot agents?

Sources: Aditya Soni, “Microsoft Will Let Clients Build Their Own AI Agents,” Reuters, October 21, 2024; Charles Lamanna, “Unlocking Autonomous Agent Capabilities with Microsoft Copilot Studio,” Microsoft, October 21, 2024; Dan Milmo, “Microsoft Introduces ‘AI Employees’ that Can Handle Client Queries,” The Guardian, October 21, 2024