Microsoft (MSFT) is continuing to find ways to monetize its massive investments in artificial intelligence with an increasing array of software offerings for enterprises and consumers. The company’s latest effort is what it calls autonomous agents and comes as Wall Street prepares to scrutinize tech companies’ AI spending and growth.
During its AI Tour event in London on Monday, which included keynotes by CEO Satya Nadella and CMO of Copilot at Work Jared Spataro, Microsoft announced that the new software will be available for public preview next month.
Essentially custom-built AI apps that can handle specific tasks for enterprise workers, autonomous agents are meant to free up employees’ time to handle other projects. Microsoft pointed to companies like McKinsey & Company and the UK-based Pets at Home that have used their own agents to cut down on time-consuming work including data entry and processing client proposals.
Users can build their own autonomous agents in Copilot Studio using what Microsoft refers to as low-code or no-code instructions. Basically, you give the autonomous agent a purpose, like sorting through incoming email requests for service.
From there, you tell the agent, in natural language with no coding, what to do with the email, the kind of information it needs to pull out of the message, and what to do if any data is missing or otherwise unavailable. You can then attach different files and documents outlining how to handle customer data and then set the agent to work.
Microsoft also included the ability for workers to step in and check the agent’s work to ensure its accuracy, as well as deal with any potential hallucinations, or errors introduced by the AI itself.
Microsoft’s autonomous agents are part of a broader effort to take advantage of, and get a return on, its investments in AI, including its team-up with ChatGPT creator OpenAI.
In its most recent quarterly report, Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said the company spent $19 billion on capital expenditures, including finance leases, the majority of which came from AI and cloud-related needs. In total, Microsoft spent $55.7 billion on capital expenditures through its fiscal 2024. That’s up from $31.9 billion in 2023, and $29.2 billion in 2022.
The company says 2.1 million users currently engage with Copilot via its Microsoft business applications each month, a number the tech giant is keen on raising. The company is banking heavily on its AI-powered Copilot platform to generate revenue from businesses looking to take advantage of the software to improve overall worker efficiency.
In Q4, Microsoft said its cloud services, which includes its AI platform, brought in $36.8 billion of the company’s $64.7 billion in total revenue, a 21% year-over-year increase.
But Microsoft is far from the only business software provider looking to cash in on the AI boom. Google (GOOG, GOOGL) and Salesforce (CRM) are pushing to grab their piece of the AI pie, with Google continuing to plow more features into its Gemini for Google Workspace platform and Salesforce rolling out its own AI offerings and Einstein Copilot.
With earnings season in full swing and AI top of mind on Wall Street, companies like Microsoft and its rivals will need to show that they’re continuing to sign up more customers for their AI services, or risk investor backlash.
Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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