So Long Power Virtual Agents, Hello Microsoft Copilot Studio

Since the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), Microsoft has led the charge. As a pioneer in AI-based tools, the technology giant has forged valuable solutions for businesses of all sizes to work smarter, not harder. In November 2023, they made yet another advancement by incorporating Power Virtual Agents into Microsoft Copilot to launch Microsoft Copilot Studio. 

In this blog, we explain what’s behind this transition and what it means for Western Computer customers. 

Saying Goodbye to Power Virtual Agents 

Power Virtual Agents—Microsoft’s no-code solution that allowed businesses to create chatbots integrated with Teams—set the foundations for Copilot Studio. As the company explains, generative AI and conversational chatbot technology have evolved in mind-blowing ways over the last few years. (Even more so over just the last year.) Power Virtual Agents has been a highly valuable tool for many organizations since its launch in 2019, but it’s fundamentally a part of Microsoft’s fleet of conversational AI technologies. It was only natural for the company to weave it into Copilot Studio. 

What Is Microsoft Copilot Studio? 

Copilot Studio is “a low-code tool to customize Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 and build standalone copilots,” says the company. If you’re unfamiliar with Microsoft Copilot, it’s a large language model (LLM)-based chatbot. Copilot Studio is a conversational AI platform that allows you to take advantage of the latest in generative AI to improve countless workflows and employee and customer experiences. 

Copilot Studio is now included in Copilot for Microsoft 365 and combines custom generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) technology with generative AI plugins and more to give users the ability to quickly build, test, and publish standalone copilots and custom GPTs. You can use Copilot Studio to manage your copilots in a central place and create however many you desire to provide tailored responses and workflows across endless types of business scenarios. 

Here are some ways to envision using Copilot Studio: 

• Building a copilot to automate complex tasks that were once manual, such as submitting expenses or updating employee benefits. 
• Getting answers to questions rapidly by pointing a copilot to specific sources so it elevates its accuracy and response time. 
• Engage with users throughout your digital properties by distributing copilots across websites, social media, and more. 
• Enable those copilots to interact with customers using dynamic, helpful responses that keep engagement personalized and contribute to a better customer experience. 

Do all this and more with Microsoft’s renowned security behind you. Copilot Studio gives you a dedicated admin center that allows you to manage your copilots using the highest standards of data control and governance. This admin center enables IT to monitor usage and analytics as well to gain full visibility into standalone copilots and any customizations.  

If you have professional developers working for your organization, they will be interested to know that Copilot Studio is already integrated with Azure OpenAI Studio—supporting future generative AI innovation. 

What Happens to Power Virtual Agents? 

Businesses that are currently using Power Virtual Agents need not worry about their tools going defunct. Microsoft says, “There will be no interruption to your experiences or solutions. You will be able to use the same capabilities now found within Microsoft Copilot Studio—and all your existing bots will light up within Copilot Studio, just as they did in PVA.” 

Western Computer is here to answer any questions you may have about this transition and how to leverage these powerful AI-based solutions from Microsoft. We have been helping businesses grow through technology for over 35 years, and we’d be happy to demonstrate how your organization can take advantage of generative AI solutions to scale for the future. Get in touch with a Microsoft specialist today.