To improve productivity, Microsoft intends to provide enterprise users with access to AI representatives — distinct generative models able to execute independently and streamline routine activities. Known as Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, this novel program introduces “pay-as-you-go agents to our current complimentary chat function for Microsoft 365 business clients,” stated the firm on Wednesday.

The Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat with “free plus metered agent usage” includes numerous characteristics akin to the existent $30 per-user-per-month “Microsoft 365 Copilot” enterprise package, such as a GPT-4o-powered chatbot, Copilot Pages, document uploads, image and code creation, corporate data security, and access to Copilot Studio, where personnel and IT divisions can construct AI reps. Do bear in mind that the free Chat initiative doesn’t offer the Copilot personal assistant, which merges the AI features with the broader 365 Copilot app suite like Word, Outlook, and Excel.

In its bulletin, the company suggests agents might be employed by customer service workers to furnish necessary account information before meetings with clients, or by field service operators leveraging an AI rep to follow detailed guidelines and utilize prompt product awareness.

Prominent AI companies are turning their focus to these agents as the “next significant advancement” in generative AI, given the diminishing returns from pouring immense resources into current efforts. These agents are more scaled-down and proficient at executing straightforward, iterative tasks than their larger language model predecessors that they originate from.

Moreover, they are intentionally designed to manage the tedious details of contemporary deskwork, which provides a palpable advantage that investors have been seeking, as opposed to the overhyped “look what we made this computer do” outcomes that AI developers have flaunted in years past. It appears that 2025 will be a pivotal period for AI agents.

Last November, Anthropic introduced a breakthrough with its Computer Use API, enabling an AI to mimic a human user through the PC’s keyboard and mouse. OpenAI, in which Microsoft holds significant investment stakes, is rumored to unveil its own line of agents via its developer API later this month, after venturing into AI representatives initially through ChatGPT Tasks.

Google, allegedly launching its agent under the name Project Jarvis, declared its collaboration with Mercedes-Benz earlier this week. They aim to fuse their automotive agent into the upcoming MBUX navigation and entertainment systems, commencing with the Mercedes CLA later this year.