Written by Jon Rastia, Senior Director of Innovation & Strategy

It’s not unusual for a business to relaunch a specific product or service. Typically, it’ll do so with a “V 2.0” or “new and improved” attached to the old name.

But when a product is revolutionized with generative AI? A simple relaunch or “[product name] on steroids” won’t do. You gotta go bigger.

And that’s what Microsoft has done with the product formerly known as Power Virtual Agents. We (and Microsoft, of course) proudly introduce you to Copilot Studio, an AI-fueled low-code tool to build conversational bots, intelligent, virtual agents, customizations, and so much more.

“What about my existing PVAs?” That’s a great question! They’ll run the same as they do now. According to Microsoft:

“For existing Power Virtual Agents customers, 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.”

So… what’s different? TONS. Copilot Studio builds on what you know and love about PVA, but goes offer some extraordinary advancements and advantages to users of all levels:

Customizable Copilots: Build conversational AI assistants to fit your needs and assets (e.g., you can control where info is sourced from—no worries about the competition sneaking into any conversations).

Integration with plugins: Use a drag and drop interface to leverage pre-built connectors (more than 1,100 of them as of this writing!).

Workflow design: Automate multiple tasks concurrently and create a more sophisticated user experience.

More than customer service: Unlike PVA, Copilot Studio lets you create and publish standalone Copilots designed for purposes beyond customer service (such as the aforementioned workflows and plugin integrations).

Microsoft 365 integration: Copilot Studio has deep hooks into core Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications, enabling the Copilots you create to access and utilize user data and context for more personalized interactions.

Windows integration: Coming in 2024, it will tap into the Windows desktop, empowering your Copilots to get content and context from your workstation.

And for developers and administrators, the hits will keep coming: tools for iterative conversation design, simplified deployments, Microsoft 365-level security, and more.

Ready to learn more about Copilot Studio and other generative AI tools from Microsoft? Just contact us. We’d be delighted to take you on a guided tour.