Microsoft Targets Sales Teams With Two New AI Agents

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into sales has accelerated in the past two years, with technology firms competing globally to develop AI solutions that enhance revenue generation. 

At the same time, sales teams face increasing pressure to improve efficiency while managing large volumes of customer data and navigating complex purchasing journeys.

Sophie Gray, Head of Microsoft Business Solutions, Sales and Technical Sales, highlights the impact of these challenges, noting that 70% of sales representatives' time is spent on non-sales tasks.

"I know from speaking to my sales team how much they hate administrative tasks,” she says. “It can take a huge amount of time for [sales] individuals to prepare for customer meetings and customer presentations."

To address these issues, Microsoft has launched two new AI-powered agents within its Microsoft 365 Copilot platform. 

These agents allow users to interact with Microsoft applications using natural language commands, streamlining sales workflows and reducing administrative burdens. 

By focusing on tasks such as lead qualification, meeting preparation and proposal development, the new tools aim to free up sales representatives' time for direct customer engagement.

How Microsoft's AI Sales Agent enhances efficiency

The first AI tool, Sales Agent, automatically converts contacts into qualified leads. 

It works continuously to expand sales pipelines by researching prospects, scheduling meetings and, for lower-priority leads, completing transactions without human intervention.

Sales Agent integrates with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, which store customer data and interaction history, alongside company resources such as pricing documents. 

It also pulls information from web sources, email communications and meeting records within Microsoft 365 to generate personalised responses. 

This ensures that sales representatives can prioritise high-value opportunities while maintaining engagement with smaller leads.

Additionally, the system operates beyond standard business hours, allowing for ongoing prospect interaction without requiring constant human oversight.

How Microsoft Sales Chat provides sales intelligence

The second tool, Sales Chat, functions as an AI assistant that provides real-time sales intelligence. 

It extracts key insights from CRM databases, meeting records, presentations and emails, enabling sales representatives to access critical information quickly. 

Users can ask natural language queries such as "give me a list of deals that are at risk of falling through" or "what should I know going into tomorrow’s meeting with this customer?"

Sales Chat also responds to requests like "help me create a plan to close this deal," offering strategic guidance based on the available data. This reduces the time sales representatives spend searching for information, allowing them to focus on customer interactions and deal closures.

Both AI agents integrate with Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, as well as Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Salesforce. 

This allows sales teams to manage customer relationships without directly accessing their CRM platforms. Microsoft plans to release both tools in public preview in May, enabling selected users to test them before full deployment.

Microsoft drives AI adoption with Accelerator programme

Microsoft reports that nearly 70% of Fortune 500 companies now use Copilot, with organisations having created over 400,000 custom AI agents through Microsoft Copilot Studio in the past quarter.

Companies implementing Copilot are already seeing significant efficiency gains. 

Vodafone, for example, expects to double or triple the number of proposal requests its sales team can process each week. Campari has reported an 18% reduction in marketing content production costs.

Richard Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of ANS, says: "We've seen tremendous growth since migrating from Salesforce to Dynamics 365 Sales. 

“Our sales organisation has experienced an increase of 133% year-over-year revenue per head with 111% year-over-year growth overall. When we layered on Microsoft 365 Copilot, sellers realised 30 minutes of time saved per day, while pipeline generation has increased by 20%."

To support businesses adopting its AI solutions, Microsoft has launched the AI Accelerator for Sales programme. This initiative offers:

• Microsoft 365 Copilot for sales teams
• Prebuilt AI agents to automate common sales workflows
• Custom agents through Copilot Studio for tailored automation
• Model fine-tuning by Microsoft AI experts to align with business needs
• Dynamics 365 Sales for end-to-end sales management
• Personalised support from Microsoft AI specialists

This programme provides organisations with expert guidance for migrating from existing CRM systems and optimising AI adoption in sales processes. It also includes customisation services to ensure that AI-generated insights align with company objectives.

The AI Accelerator for Sales will be available from 1 April. Summarising Microsoft's vision, Jared Spataro, Chief Marketing Officer at AI at Work at Microsoft, explains: "Our ambition is to empower every employee with a Copilot and transform every business process with agents. 

“Today, we're announcing two new agents that apply this ambition to sales – the revenue engine for every business – that can be used right in the flow of work."

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