Microsoft 365 Copilot is transforming business operations for 60 percent of the Fortune 500 by enabling significant cost savings and boosting productivity. For example, Lumen Technologies anticipates annual savings of $50 million, while Honeywell equates its productivity gains to adding 187 full-time employees, and Finastra has reduced creative production time from seven months to just seven weeks.
The recent introduction of new agent capabilities promises to further enhance these results by bringing AI-first business processes to organizations worldwide. Two key developments include the public preview of Copilot Studio, which allows businesses to create autonomous agents, and the launch of ten new autonomous agents in Dynamics 365, designed to enhance capacity across sales, service, finance, and supply chain teams.
Copilot acts as your AI assistant by enabling businesses to create, manage, and connect agents that execute and orchestrate business processes autonomously. These agents can accelerate lead generation, process sales orders, and automate supply chain operations, offering a new level of efficiency and productivity.
Practical examples of businesses already benefiting from autonomous agents include Clifford Chance, McKinsey & Company, Pets at Home, and Thomson Reuters. Pets at Home has developed an agent for its profit protection team, potentially saving millions annually. McKinsey & Company is using an agent to decrease client onboarding time by 90% and reduce administrative tasks by 30%. Thomson Reuters has designed an agent to streamline the legal due diligence process, allowing some tasks to be completed in half the time.
However, as businesses embrace autonomous agents, considerations around data governance and security become critical. Dynamics 365 agents adhere to stringent security measures, including data loss prevention and robust authentication protocols, ensuring that organizations can leverage AI while maintaining data integrity.
Microsoft itself is leveraging Copilot and agents across its functions, achieving impressive results such as a 9.4% increase in revenue per seller and a 20% increase in deals closed by its sales team. In HR, a self-service agent has improved the accuracy of answering employee questions by 42%.
In conclusion, the integration of AI-powered agents through Microsoft 365 Copilot presents an unparalleled opportunity for businesses to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and secure a competitive edge. As more companies explore these capabilities, the potential for transformative results is limitless.