Build AI Agents Overnight: Prompt-to-Prototype

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Simon Doy and Mark Smith explore the rapid shift from experimentation to production use of AI agents. The conversation focuses on practical agent design, Copilot Studio, RAG quality, and where automation fits better than full agents. Simon shares real client work in the NHS, small business realities, and how partners deliver Copilot adoption and agent-led transformation. A recurring theme is choosing the right level of AI, from automation with AI sprinkles to long running agent workflows, while staying pragmatic about cost, governance, and user experience. 

🎙 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/814

👉 What you’ll learn     

• How agentic workflows are moving from demos into real production use 
• When simple SharePoint grounding is enough and when Azure AI Search is required 
• How to combine automation and agents to avoid slow, interactive AI experiences 
• Practical approaches to Copilot adoption for leaders and teams 
• Why token usage, orchestration, and model choice are becoming operational concerns 

✅ Highlights     

• “On Friday, I let Claude Opus go and build me a Teams agent overnight.” 
• “The agentic side and being able to have these long running tasks is really shifting things.” 
• “Customers are now getting much more open to trying things out.” 
• “Copilot Studio is the first port of call.” 
• “You don’t get the quality back from the agent that you need with complex content.” 
• “How you chunk it is so important for RAG.” 
• “Not everything needs to be a full on agent.” 
• “Automation with AI sprinkles is sometimes the better option.” 
• “My world is fast becoming measured by tokens.” 
• “You don’t have to use the most expensive model on everything.” 

🧰 Mentioned     

• Copilot Studio - https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-copilot/microsoft-copilot-studio 
• Azure AI Search - https://azure.microsoft.com/products/ai-services/ai-search 
• EmpowerM365 -  https://empowerm365.com 
• Microsoft MVP YouTube Series - How to Become a Microsoft MVP - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzf0yupPbVkqdRJDPVE4PtTlm6quDhiu7 

✅ Keywords      
ai agents, copilot studio, microsoft 365, automation, rag, azure ai search, sharepoint, claude opus, agentic workflows, copilot adoption, power automate, tokens 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

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Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith