Microsoft is launching artificial intelligence-driven “autonomous agents” for its Copilot software, the company said Monday, in a move seemingly made to push Salesforce on customer management software.

Salesforce has also touted the potential of AI agents, tools that some analysts say could provide companies with an easier path to monetizing the billions of dollars they are pouring into AI.

While some are eager to declare the era of autonomous agents upon us, the reality is a bit more complicated — and that's probably a good thing. Why it matters: Giving autonomy to generative AI tools opens up a range of tantalizing possibilities for increased productivity,

You will soon be able to build your own AI agent through the Microsoft Copilot Studio to assist in all your routine tasks.

If you want to automate your tasks with AI, Microsoft's Copilot Studio will soon allow you to do it—and create an AI agent for the operations.

“Agents draw on the context of your work data in Microsoft 365 Graph, systems of record, Dataverse and Fabric, and can support everything from your IT help desk to employee onboarding and act as a personal concierge for sales and service.” – Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft