Build 2025: Microsoft is rewriting how work gets done with new AI Agent tools
The company didn’t just talk about Copilot. It showed what happens when your software starts behaving like a capable coworker.
If Build 2024 was about baking AI into Windows, Build 2025 seems to be about turning that AI (Copilot) into something deeper: an ecosystem for building intelligent, enterprise-ready agents that that can understand, reason, and take real action across Microsoft 365.
On day one of the four-day developer conference (running May 19–22), Microsoft focused heavily on what it calls AI Agents. It’s a move that could reshape the way enterprises think about productivity, and place Microsoft in direct competition with OpenAI, Google, and Salesforce in the race to build the most useful workplace AI.
Kelechi Edeh
Here’s a closer look at the most important ‘AI in Work’ announcements from Build 2025:
/1. Copilot Tuning makes AI personal at scale
One of the most powerful updates from the event is Copilot Tuning. Starting next month, large enterprise customers (those with 5,000+ licenses) will be able to fine-tune Microsoft 365 Copilot using their own data.
That means companies can train Copilot to mirror their tone, workflows, or regulatory needs—like a law firm building a contract-writing agent that reflects internal style guides, or a consultancy training an agent to answer complex compliance queries.
This seems to be more about making AI more useful in highly specialised environments than just personalisation, a move that echoes what OpenAI is doing with AI agents like Operator and what Google is attempting with Gemini 1.5 Pro’s memory features.
/2. Agents that collaborate, talk, and remember
Microsoft is also pushing AI beyond solo-tasking. With multi-agent support and the new Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol, the company says developers can now build AI agents that talk to each other directly, securely and efficiently.
Think of it like letting different bots work as a team instead of waiting around for separate commands. Moreover, using the updated Teams AI library (now in preview for JavaScript and C#), developers can create smarter agents that collaborate inside Microsoft Teams.
For example, one agent could take meeting notes while another cross-checks compliance or schedules follow-ups—without needing human input to connect the dots.
/3. Copilot Studio becomes the platform, not just the interface
To power all this, Microsoft is turning Copilot Studio into a serious developer platform.
There’s now an Agents SDK, pro-code tooling via Visual Studio, and a growing Agent Store (already live) that lets developers publish reusable agents across Microsoft 365 endpoints like Teams and Outlook. It even supports over 1,900 models from Azure AI Foundry and integrates with low-code/no-code builders.
This push turns Copilot Studio into Microsoft’s answer to platforms like Salesforce’s Einstein Studio—only with tighter links to Microsoft’s productivity suite and enterprise-grade security baked in.
/4. Agents in Microsoft Teams
If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking, “Why can’t Microsoft Teams act more like ChatGPT or Gemini and actually remember stuff?” Well, it’s happening.
Microsoft Teams workspace will now have agents that work with you. These new agents come equipped with agentic memory, meaning they can retain the context of your past meetings, chats, and tasks. So, instead of starting from scratch every time, your AI actually remembers stuff like a real teammate who’s been there all along.
It gets even better with built-in collaboration. Thanks to the Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol, one agent can seamlessly pass off work to another.
/5. Entra Agent ID and enterprise-grade governance
To avoid what Microsoft calls “agent sprawl,” every new agent created with Copilot Studio or Azure AI Foundry now gets a unique identity through Entra Agent ID. Admins can track, govern, and secure agent access; an increasingly critical feature as companies deploy dozens (or hundreds) of internal agents.
Microsoft is also adding compliance features via Purview, including risk evaluations and policy enforcement. Together, these updates aim to give enterprises the confidence to scale agentic AI without sacrificing control.
/6. Microsoft doubles down on open standards for agentic AI
Finally, Microsoft is taking a more open approach. It’s contributing new standards to the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and launching NLWeb, an open project meant to bring conversational interfaces directly to websites. Think of it as HTML for AI agents.
This move positions Microsoft as a key player in shaping how agents interact across the web, while also setting the groundwork for compatibility beyond its own ecosystem.
Conclusion
With everything that was announced, it’s clear Microsoft is taking the next big step in AI development with these AI agents. This isn’t just about adding new features, it’s about reshaping how we actually work. Imagine AI that remembers what you did last week, talks to your other tools and agents, and quietly handles all those annoying tasks that usually steal your time. It’s the kind of help you didn’t even know you needed until it’s there.
I’m excited to see what else Microsoft has up its sleeve as Build 2025 unfolds, but one thing’s for sure, the future of work just got a lot more interesting.
