What can an agent actually do for your business today, and how do you put one to work?
In our new AI Apps & Agents Series: Copilot Agents Overview course, instructor Elizabeth Shaw shows you the agents already built into Microsoft 365 Copilot, what a prebuilt agent can do the moment you open it, and how you can create a custom agent using plain language, with no code and no IT request.
Designed for beginner to intermediate learners, this approximately 20-minute course provides a practical introduction to Copilot agents and how they can support repeatable work.
A Microsoft 365 Copilot agent is a ready-made or custom assistant that you can point at a specific task or set of files.
The course starts with a tour of the ready-made agents available in the Microsoft 365 Copilot Agent Store. You will see how these prebuilt agents give you a way to start using agents without having to create anything yourself.
From there, the course moves into building a custom agent for work that is specific to you or your organization.
You do not need to write code to build the custom agent demonstrated in this course.
Elizabeth walks through the Agent Builder and shows how an agent can be created simply by describing what you want in plain language. The example is grounded in sample campaign data, demonstrating how an agent can work with a specific collection of files.
This gives you a practical framework for thinking about your own work. Which recurring, file-based tasks could you hand to an agent?
Creating an agent is only part of the process. You also need to understand what happens after you build it.
The course covers the basic rules for permissions and sharing so you can recognize who can see, use, and share an agent you create. You will see how those permissions determine who can reach an agent once it has been built.
By the end of the course, you will know how to identify the kinds of work Copilot agents are built for, discover and use prebuilt agents, build a simple custom agent with plain-language instructions, and recognize the basics of agent permissions and sharing.
Copilot Agents Overview is designed for business leaders and managers who want to use agents without a technical background, professionals with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license and permission to build agents, and teams looking to hand a repeatable, file-based task to a ready assistant.
The course is also ideal for learners seeking personal and/or business AI transformation.
Elizabeth Shaw is the founder of Foghorn Innovation, an AI advisory firm. A former Gartner and Forrester analyst with more than 20 years shaping strategy at Sephora and Cisco, she has advised HBO, Chime, and Warner Music Group and has been featured in The New York Times, Bloomberg, and Forbes.
You can watch Copilot Agents with an AI Mastery Membership. It is also available for individual purchase.
This blog was written with support from ChatGPT.