The company is making Microsoft Scout available to a select group of customers in private preview and to Frontier organizations, it said in a Tuesday (June 2) blog post.
Microsoft Scout operates across cloud, desktop and web; connects to Teams, Outlook, OneDrive and SharePoint; and connects to the user’s data, including chats, email, calendar and contacts, according to the post.
“It can proactively schedule and coordinate meeting times across time zones, flag important meetings, and generate the materials you need to prepare while keeping you in the loop,” Omar Shahine, corporate vice president of Microsoft Scout, said in the post. “It identifies upcoming deliverables, then automatically blocks time on your calendar to help you stay on track. It can also spot risks, like stalled decisions, so you can address them before they become blockers.”
Microsoft Scout is the first entry in a new category of agents Microsoft called “Autopilots,” according to the post.
Autopilots are agents that are always on, work autonomously, have their own identity and act on the user’s behalf, according to Microsoft.
Advertisement: Scroll to Continue
“Autopilots stay active in the background, understand how work gets done across your apps and systems, and take action without needing to be prompted each time,” Shahine said in the post. “Because they operate with their own identity, they can carry out tasks within the permissions and policies you and your organization set.”
PYMNTS reported in May that Google and Meta are building personal AI agents that operate in the background, handle tasks without being asked twice and get sharper at anticipating needs the longer they run. Google’s agent is described internally as a round-the-clock assistant for work, school and everyday life.
Microsoft introduced is Copilot Cowork feature in March, saying it allows the company’s AI assistant to carry out tasks across Microsoft 365 applications. Copilot Cowork is designed to handle work that takes more than a single prompt and can complete a task across apps like Outlook, Teams and Excel.
