Under CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft is introducing new AI capabilities, such as AI agents, that can autonomously complete tasks and oversee business processes. These new AI agents are reigniting the competition between Microsoft and Salesforce, with Microsoft announcing 10 new AI agents for its Dynamics 365 line of business applications. These agents can work autonomously in areas such as sales, service, finance, and supply chain operations. Microsoft is positioning these agents as the new apps for an AI-powered world, ranging from simple prompt-and-response to fully autonomous agents that can execute and orchestrate business processes.
The announcement of these new AI agents comes just before the planned general availability of Salesforce’s Agentforce autonomous AI technology for sales and service. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has criticized Microsoft’s Copilot AI technology, claiming that Microsoft is disappointing its business customers and putting their data at risk. Microsoft and Salesforce have a history of being both partners and competitors in the tech industry, and the introduction of these new AI agents reflects broader efforts across the industry to expand the capabilities of AI beyond just being an assistant to being able to complete tasks autonomously.
Microsoft is looking to AI to drive growth across its business, including products and services like GitHub, Windows, and Microsoft 365. Dynamics products and cloud services, which generated about $6.5 billion in revenue in Microsoft’s 2024 fiscal year, have shown steady growth. However, Dynamics remains a small portion of Microsoft’s overall revenue. Microsoft plans to make its new AI agents available in public preview for Dynamics 365 starting later this year, with categories including sales, operations, and service. These agents are designed to help with tasks like sales qualification, order intake, supplier communications, financial reconciliation, customer intent, and knowledge management.
Alongside the new AI agents, Microsoft will be releasing a public preview of the ability to create autonomous agents with Copilot Studio next month. These agents are meant to automate tasks like financial reporting, account reconciliation, and time entry and expense tracking. Microsoft is focusing on leveraging AI to provide solutions that can help businesses streamline their processes and improve efficiency. The competition between Microsoft and Salesforce in the AI space is heating up, with both companies pushing the boundaries of what AI can do to enhance business operations and customer service.
