Microsoft unveils tool to help companies control, track AI agents

Microsoft made it easier for corporate workers to make AI agents that go off and do work. Now it’s demonstrating a tool that IT specialists can use to see and manage those agents.

The software, named Agent 365, provides a list of artificial intelligence agents inside companies’ systems, even if they’re from other companies, Microsoft announced Tuesday. The company will present the product to business leaders and information technology practitioners at its Ignite conference in San Francisco this week.

“In the same way you provision an identity for a new employee or a contingent worker, you’ll provision identity and access controls for your agents,” Judson Althoff, CEO of Microsoft’s commercial business, told CNBC in an interview.

With Agent 365, administrators will be able to approve new agents, see which ones are becoming popular and find out how many hours of employee time they’re saving each week. They’ll also be able to spot security risks and block agents. End users will be able to analyze agents’ activities.

Following the ascent of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022, software companies have built AI agents capable of developing software, generating ads and performing other simple tasks. Traditional corporations have started buying in.

Agents from Adobe, Cognition, Databricks, Glean, ServiceNow and Workday will automatically show up in Agent 365. The software will also display agents that customers have built with Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio. Other companies that sell AI agents can integrate with Agent 365, said Ray Smith, vice president of autonomous agents at Microsoft.

EY, one of the world’s top accounting firms, had built an internal catalog of its AI agents, but has started implementing Agent 365 to gain more control, said Mark Luquire, a managing director for the company.

Companies selling cybersecurity software recognize the complexity that might result from agents proliferating. Okta, which sells software for managing access for employees, said in September that it will bring out tools for discovering agents and tracking their activity.

Customers enrolled in Microsoft’s Frontier program for receiving early access to AI features can request to try Agent 365, Smith said. Microsoft has not finalized pricing.

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