With generative AI moving from experimentation to execution, the pressure is on to turn plans into progress. Every customer I talk to has done the homework: their use case lists are in, their priorities are clear, and their excitement is real. They’re no longer asking, “Should we use AI?” Instead, they’re looking at those use cases alongside a rapidly evolving AI landscape and asking, “Where do we start?”
It’s a great question, considering that a year ago building an AI agent meant calling in an experienced IT team. Today, teams in finance, human resources, and communications are building their own using low-code tools and off-the-shelf AI like Microsoft 365 Copilot. What once took months and weeks now takes hours and minutes, and often fits right into the tools they already use. IDC predicts over a billion AI agents will be in use by 2028 as AI shifts from answering questions to taking action at scale.1
Does that mean you should begin with agents? Not necessarily. With so many tools and promises in the market, deciding where to start can be overwhelming. That’s why we created The Business Guide to AI Solutions—to help you cut through the noise and focus on what matters: solving real business problems with the right kind of AI.
The Business Guide to AI Solutions
Choose and apply assistants, agents, and custom tools as part of a secure, scalable AI strategy
Match the solution to your business goals
AI isn’t one-size-fits-all. The best results come from aligning the right AI solution with the specific problem you’re trying to solve. Whether your goal is to boost productivity, streamline operations, personalize customer experiences, or build something entirely new, there’s a path forward. Here’s how to think about your options:
Need to boost team productivity and reduce time spent on repetitive tasks? Start fast with assistants
Our recent 2025 Work Trend Index Annual Report contains a lot of insight into how AI is reshaping work. It also put a spotlight on something many employees struggle with that can stall a company’s progress: the infinite workday. The pace of work keeps accelerating—and for many, that means the day never really ends. People are starting earlier, working later, and staying buried in emails, Microsoft Teams chats, and meeting requests well into evenings and weekends.
Clearly, the pace of business is relentless. Our approach can’t be. A great place to start is AI assistants. And if your priority is to help your team be more productive, off-the-shelf solutions can deliver quick wins. Microsoft 365 Copilot is built into the apps your teams already use. Designed for fast deployment and immediate value across different roles, Copilot can help people work faster by summarizing content, generating drafts, and automating routine work in all functions—including sales, marketing, finance, and human resources.
For example, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) increased productivity by 10% to 20% for 84% of Copilot users and increased their job satisfaction by 68%. The business saved more than 2,300 person-hours with automation, reduced the time spent on writing internal audit reports by 30% and saved one month of processing time to analyze 8,000 survey comments. And XP Inc. uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate tasks, boosting productivity by saving over 9,000 hours—a 30% increase in audit team efficiency.
Struggling with complex, manual processes that slow down operations? Automate with agents
When you’re ready to streamline more complex, multistep processes, agents can help. These autonomous tools go beyond assistants by taking action on your behalf—coordinating tasks across systems, automating workflows, and supporting business operations at scale.
Agents are quickly moving from experimental to essential. We recently introduced advancements in memory, reasoning, and access control that make agents more effective across business environments. You can see this in action in the latest Microsoft 365 Copilot innovations, including multi-agent orchestration, agent tuning, and deeper integration with everyday apps.
With Microsoft Azure AI Foundry, developers can access a full stack agent factory with capabilities to automate business processes across the enterprise. For example, Fujitsu boosted sales proposal productivity by 67%, enabling their teams to focus more time on customer engagement.
We’re also investing in open standards to help agents operate securely across systems so they can scale with your business, not just your tech stack. Read the broader vision for what’s next to learn how AI agents are shaping a more open, connected, and productive future.
Whether built with low-code or pro-code tools, agents can have a big impact across teams. Carvana built an AI agent named Sebastian to guide customers through the car buying and selling journey. To continuously improve Sebastian’s performance, they developed Conversation Analysis Review Engine (CARE), an AI-powered platform that analyzes 100% of customer interactions. Together, Sebastian and CARE have helped Carvana reduce inbound calls per sale by over 45% in two years, reflecting a smoother, more efficient customer experience.
Want to tailor AI to your business without starting from scratch? Extend prebuilt solutions
Once you’ve started using Microsoft 365 Copilot, built-in extensibility gives you a way to go further. With Microsoft Copilot Studio, you can connect AI to your own data, fine-tune prompts, and integrate functionality into your existing systems. This allows you to adapt AI to your workflows—without the time and complexity of building something entirely new.
A case in point is Pets at Home, the United Kingdom’s leading pet care business, which used Microsoft Copilot Studio to extend Copilot’s capabilities for its profit protection team. By building a tailored agent that compiles cases for human review, the company streamlined internal workflows and expects to drive seven-figure annual savings, all without starting from scratch.
Looking to create a competitive edge with something truly unique? Differentiate with custom AI
When your needs are highly specific, customization enables you to design unique solutions that reflect your organization’s DNA. With Azure AI Foundry you can build your own agents, train models with your data, and create experiences specifically made for your business.
For example ABB Group, a global leader in electrification and automation, built a custom AI solution called Genix Copilot using Microsoft Azure OpenAI service to tackle complex industrial challenges like asset performance, energy optimization, and emissions monitoring. The result? Up to 35% savings in operations and maintenance, 20% improvement in energy efficiency, and an 80% reduction in service calls, all through a differentiated, AI-powered experience tailored to their customers’ needs.
You can also build AI solutions tailored to your industry using Microsoft’s industry-specific models and tools in Azure AI Foundry. Whether you’re in healthcare, retail, manufacturing, financial services, or education, our Microsoft Industry Clouds provide prebuilt data models, templates, and AI services to help you move faster and deliver value sooner—without compromising on security or compliance.
Build on a foundation of trust
As AI becomes more powerful, so do the risks. Business leaders are asking the right questions: How do we protect sensitive data? How do we ensure compliance? How do we build AI systems that are fair, transparent, and accountable?
At Microsoft, responsible AI isn’t an afterthought—it’s built into every layer of our platform. Our approach is grounded in clear principles: fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability.
We also provide the tools and governance frameworks to help organizations:
- Protect sensitive data in every interaction.
- Detect and respond to emerging threats in real time.
- Enforce access control and compliance policies at every level.
- Build user trust through transparency and oversight.
When you invest in AI, you’re not just investing in innovation—you’re investing in long-term resilience. That means choosing a partner who puts trust at the center of every solution.
2025 Responsible AI Transparency Report
Explore progress on our commitments to building responsible AI
Make your next move with confidence
Whether you’re just getting started or ready to scale, Microsoft offers AI business solutions that meet you where you are—and grow with you.
- Download The Business Guide to AI Solutions to explore your options and design an AI strategy that fits your organization.
- Visit the Copilot Studio agents hub to see how businesses are using agents to transform operations.
The pace of AI innovation isn’t slowing anytime soon. But with the right strategy, the right tools, and the right partner, you can move forward with clarity and confidence.
1 IDC Info Snapshot, sponsored by Microsoft, 1.3 Billion AI Agents by 2028, Enterprise Grade and in Production, US53361825, May 2025.
