Microsoft Pushes Autonomous AI Agents Amid Industry Caution

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is kicking off the company’s conference in Chicago with remarks that may outline the future direction of its artificial intelligence strategy.
During its annual Ignite conference, the tech giant is laying the groundwork for its ambitious vision of AI-powered ‘agents.’
These autonomous systems, which can handle everything from customer returns to supply chain management, are widely believed to be able to dramatically change business operations.
But while Microsoft is bullish on the potential of AI agents, their feasibility and cost are raising questions.
Microsoft’s pitch centers on AI agents as more than just chatbots.
The company envisions these agents operating around the clock, performing tasks including reviewing invoices, managing workflows, or approving returns without human intervention.
AI tools, especially those using large language models (LLMs) including Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s Gemini, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, are still expensive to develop and maintain.
While LLMs excel at tasks such as text generation, they struggle with long-term planning and complex decision-making—limitations that make the leap to fully autonomous agents challenging.
Microsoft’s pivot to “agentic AI” comes as businesses and investors question whether the technology’s promises are being overhyped.
“The goal is not just to have a chatbot, but to build agents that can operate with minimal human input,” Microsoft said in a statement—but it remains to be seen if businesses are ready for such a leap.
Adding to the scrutiny, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has criticized Microsoft’s move, calling the rebranding of its Copilot assistant as “agents” a sign of “panic.”
Salesforce, which offers its own AI-powered solutions through “Agentforce,” has questioned the effectiveness of Microsoft’s approach.
Despite these criticisms, Microsoft is doubling down on the idea that the future of AI lies in its ability to perform autonomous, decision-making tasks.
The company has invested heavily in AI technology and sees autonomous agents as a means to go beyond simple chatbots, and integrate AI into business processes at scale.
As the industry grapples with issues of cost, accuracy, and competition, the key question remains whether AI agents can fulfill their promises—or if Microsoft’s vision is simply too ambitious for the current state of the technology.
This article contains additional reporting from The Associated Press