Tag: artificial-intelligence

2025 Release Wave 2: Transitioning to Proactive, Agent-Based AI Ecosystems The core theme of this release (covering October 2025 to March 2026) is the shift from “Assistive AI” (waiting for user prompts) to “Agentic AI”—autonomous agents that act as proactive partners to drive business outcomes across Sales, Service, Finance, and Supply Chain.

Real-time User Journey: The Autonomous Supplier Communications Agent

A flagship journey introduced in this wave involves the Supplier Communications Agent within Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management:

1. Detection: The agent monitors inventory levels and identifies a potential stockout for a critical component due to a sudden demand spike.
2. Autonomous Outreach: Without human intervention, the agent drafts and sends an inquiry to preferred vendors to check for lead times and pricing.
3. Negotiation: The agent receives vendor replies, compares them against historical data and budget constraints, and identifies the best option.
4. Drafting for Approval: The agent presents a “prepared action” to the Procurement Manager: “I’ve found three vendors who can fulfill this; Vendor X is the cheapest and fastest. Click ‘Approve’ to issue the PO.”
5. Closing the Loop: Once approved, the agent handles the order entry and updates the demand forecast automatically.

Step-by-Step: How to Enable Wave 2 Features

Microsoft has modernized the rollout process by replacing the legacy “Early Access” toggle with a streamlined “Release Channel” system:

• Step 1: Access Admin Center: Log into the Power Platform Admin Center (admin.powerapps.com).
• Step 2: Create a Sandbox: It is highly recommended to create a copy of your production environment for testing before enabling new features.
• Step 3: Switch Release Channel: Navigate to Environments > [Your Environment] > Settings > Product > Behavior.
• Step 4: Opt-in to Monthly Channel: Change the “Release channel” setting to “Monthly channel”. This immediately enables the Wave 2 preview features for your environment.
• Step 5: Configure Specific Agents: For features like the Sales Research Agent or Finance Reconciliation Agent, go into the respective app settings (e.g., Copilot Studio) to ground the agent in your specific Dataverse tables.

Infographic: 2025 Wave 2 Strategic Pillars

This release wave focuses on four key pillars of the “Agentic Era”:

Pillar	Feature Highlight	Impact
Agentic Power Apps	Agent Feed	A hub for humans to supervise and interact with multiple agents working in the background.
Autonomous ERP	Payables & Sales Agents	Moves Business Central from manual entry to automated order-taking and payment reconciliation.
Intelligent Portals	Power Pages Security Agent	Proactively scans external-facing sites for vulnerabilities and suggests fixes to makers.
Unified Governance	Automation Center	A single dashboard to monitor the health, security, and ROI of all agents and flows across the tenant.

Reference

2025 release wave 2 plans for Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Power Platform, and Role-based Microsoft Copilot offerings

What’s New in Copilot Studio: June 2025 – Enhancing Agent Lifecycle and Enterprise Governance

The June update focused on maturing the “Pro-dev” experience, specifically introducing Agent Environments, Managed Identities, and Advanced Analytics to help organizations move agents from prototypes to secure, governed production workloads.

Real-time User Journey: Managed Identity Authentication

One of the most significant “real-time” journeys introduced is how agents access secure company data without managing complex user secrets:

1. Request: An employee asks the agent, “What is the status of the confidential project Alpha in our Azure SQL database?”
2. Silent Authentication: Instead of prompting the user for a login or using a shared service account password, the agent uses its Managed Identity (a secure, Entra-based ID assigned to the agent itself).
3. Secure Access: The agent authenticates directly with the Azure SQL database. The database recognizes the agent’s identity and grants access based on the specific permissions set by the IT admin.
4. Reasoning & Response: The agent retrieves the data, summarizes it using the LLM, and provides the answer—all while ensuring no passwords were ever exposed or stored in the code.

Step-by-Step: How to Enable Agent Environments

This feature allows teams to separate development work from production use:

• Step 1: Admin Center Setup: Log into the Power Platform Admin Center and navigate to the Environments tab.
• Step 2: Create “Dev” and “Prod” Environments: Create two separate environments specifically for your Copilot agents to keep experimental features away from live users.
• Step 3: Move Agents via Solutions: In Copilot Studio, wrap your agent in a Solution (a container for all its topics and tools).
• Step 4: Export/Import: Export the solution from the Dev environment and import it into the Prod environment.
• Step 5: Connection Reference Update: Once imported, update the Connection References (e.g., SharePoint or Outlook links) to point to the production-level data sources.

Infographic: Enterprise Agent Readiness

The June update introduced a “checklist” of capabilities that define an enterprise-ready agent:

Pillar	Feature	Value
Security	Managed Identities	Eliminates the need for hard-coded secrets or credentials.
Lifecycle	Solution Integration	Enables standard DevOps pipelines (ALM) for agent deployment.
Insights	Conversation Transcripts	GA of full transcript logs for auditing and debugging.
Connectivity	Enhanced Connectors	New UI for managing 1,400+ connectors with better error handling.
Discovery	Agent Gallery	A central place for employees to find approved agents.

References

What’s new in Copilot Studio: June 2025

What’s New in Copilot Studio: May 2025 – The Era of Autonomous Agents

The theme of this update was the transition from “Copilots” (assistants that wait for prompts) to “Agents” (autonomous entities that can be triggered by business events to work in the background).

Real-time User Journey: Event-Driven Autonomy

The core feature introduced in May 2025 was the ability for agents to act without a user starting a chat.

User Journey Example: Automated Onboarding

1. Trigger: A new record is created in a HR system (e.g., Workday) indicating a new hire has signed their offer letter.
2. Autonomous Analysis: The agent is “woken up” by this event. It automatically reviews the new hire’s role and department.
3. Cross-App Orchestration: Without human intervention, the agent:
   • Requests a laptop via the IT ticketing system (ServiceNow).
   • Sends a welcome email with a customized first-week agenda to the new hire via Outlook.
   • Pins a “New Joiner” announcement in the specific department’s Microsoft Teams channel.
4. Human Summary: Once finished, the agent sends a notification to the HR Manager saying, “I’ve completed the onboarding setup for [Employee Name]. Here is the summary of actions taken.”

Step-by-Step: How to Enable “Agentic” Triggers

This feature allows you to move beyond the “Ask a question” model.

• Step 1: Open Agent Studio: Navigate to your agent in Microsoft Copilot Studio.
• Step 2: Add a Trigger: Go to the Triggers tab (previously just “Topics”). Select “Add a Trigger based on an external event.”
• Step 3: Connect Data Source: Select a connector (e.g., Dataverse, SharePoint, or an External API). Choose the event type, such as “When a row is added” or “When a file is uploaded.”
• Step 4: Define Instructions: Instead of a dialogue tree, provide the agent with Instructions on what to do when this event occurs. Use natural language to describe the logic.
• Step 5: Configure Actions: Add the “Tools” the agent is allowed to use to fulfill the instructions (e.g., send an email, update a CRM record).
• Step 6: Turn on Autonomy: Toggle the “Run Autonomously” switch and publish the agent.

Infographic: The New Agent Architecture

The May 2025 update fundamentally changed the “brain” of Copilot Studio agents:

Component	Old Way (Bot)	New Way (Agent)
Trigger	User must type a message.	External events (Data/Time/System changes).
Logic	Manual “If/Else” branches.	Generative AI Orchestrator (Reasoning).
Memory	Session-based (Forgot quickly).	Persistent Memory (Remembers across runs).
Tools	Fixed API calls.	Dynamic Selection of tools based on the goal.

References

What’s new in Copilot Studio: May 2025