Microsoft is expanding its AI agent offerings with the introduction of new agents designed to build applications and automate workflows.
The App Builder and Workflow agents are now available to subscribers of the Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program, enabling them to autonomously execute tasks based on simple natural language prompts.
In a blog post, Charles Lamanna, President of Business Applications and Industry Copilots at Microsoft, stated that the App Builder agent can create and deploy a fully functional application in just minutes. He emphasized that this delivers a truly no-code experience—unlike other agent-based app development platforms, users don’t need to manage underlying database configurations. Instead, the agent runs on Azure and automatically provisions all backend components.
Users can describe the application they want to build and then use natural language prompts to guide the agent in refining elements such as the user interface, dashboards, lists, and more. The entire process occurs directly within Microsoft 365 Copilot and leverages the user’s existing Microsoft 365 content, enabling seamless integration with documents like Word files, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, and Excel spreadsheets.
“You can preview and refine your app through multiple rounds of edits and feedback—all without leaving Copilot,” Lamanna explained. Once satisfied, users can distribute the app by generating a shareable link for team members.
The Workflow agent, on the other hand, is designed to automate routine tasks such as sending emails, managing calendars, and sharing team updates. Similar to the App Builder, users simply describe what they need, and the agent translates those verbal instructions into automated workflows spanning Teams, Outlook, SharePoint, Planner, and other Microsoft platforms. As the agent constructs the workflow in real time, users can observe each step to understand and modify its behavior as needed.
Lamanna noted that while the Workflow agent is optimized for end users, it’s built on the same infrastructure as Agent Flows—the foundation of the full Copilot Studio experience—ensuring enterprise-grade governance and security.
Copilot Gains an Agent Builder
In addition to these new agents, Microsoft has introduced a lightweight Copilot Studio experience directly embedded within the Copilot app, allowing employees to create their own custom AI agents. According to Lamanna, these agents are productivity-focused, designed to automate specific aspects of work by following clear instructions and structured logic.
This lightweight Copilot Studio experience serves as an entry point, but Microsoft ultimately encourages most customers to upgrade to the full Copilot Studio when ready. Doing so unlocks access to more sophisticated workflows and the ability to select from a range of large language models to power their AI agents. It also enables the creation of complex, collaborative multi-agent systems capable of handling advanced, work-related tasks.
Consistent with all its AI offerings, Microsoft states that the App Builder, Workflow agent, and Copilot Studio Lite are built on enterprise-grade security, compliance, and reliability. Agents respect user context and enforce individual permissions along with role-based access controls.
Administrators can manage the rollout of these new agents with granular control through the “Agent Inventory” section in the Microsoft 365 admin center, eliminating the need to configure safeguards individually for each employee.
