Microsoft’s new AI agents all but take business trips, automating sales tasks from research to closing deals

Microsoft‘s latest AI tools are set to transform sales operations by automating research, outreach, and even closing deals for low-impact leads. These new autonomous agents represent a significant evolution in how sales teams interact with customer data, potentially helping companies close more deals while reducing mundane administrative work. The strategic expansion of Microsoft’s AI agent ecosystem into sales functions signals the company’s broader vision of AI-assisted workplaces across industries.

The big picture: Microsoft has unveiled Sales Agent and Sales Chat, two new AI tools designed to automate sales processes and help teams close deals faster without manually navigating CRM systems.

• Sales Agent can autonomously research leads, schedule meetings, contact customers, and even close sales for low-impact leads by leveraging the company’s CRM, internal data, and Microsoft 365 information.
• Sales Chat provides an AI-powered conversational interface that pulls relevant information from CRM data, pitch decks, meetings, emails, and web sources, reducing time spent searching for information.

Key details: The new tools integrate with industry-leading CRM platforms and will be available through Microsoft 365 Copilot starting in May.

• Users can access these tools via natural language prompts such as “Give me a list of deals that are at risk of falling through” or “What should I know going into tomorrow’s meeting with this customer?”
• Both agents integrate with Dynamics 365 and Salesforce, allowing sales professionals to close deals without directly accessing their CRM systems.
• The tools will be accessible through a public preview in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat beginning in May 2025.

Beyond the tools: Microsoft is also launching AI Accelerator for Sales, a comprehensive program designed to help organizations transition to AI-enhanced sales operations.

• The program includes access to Microsoft 365 Copilot, pre-built and custom agents, Dynamics 365 Sales, and AI model fine-tuning capabilities.
• Organizations will be able to work directly with Microsoft’s AI experts to facilitate their transition to these new tools.
• The AI Accelerator program will be available to customers starting April 1, 2025.