Microsoft AI agents just encountered a reality check. According to Ars Technica, Microsoft has lowered sales growth targets for its AI agent products after many sellers missed quotas in the fiscal year that ended in June. That reset comes despite months of positioning 2025 as the “era of AI agents” and a steady stream of Copilot announcements. For business leaders, the signal is straightforward: the market wants clearer outcomes, steadier ROI, and easier deployments before committing to fully agentic workflows.

What changed with Microsoft AI agents

Per the report, Microsoft adjusted expectations because buyers didn’t move as quickly on AI agents as the company hoped. AI agents—software built on large language models that can carry out multistep work automatically rather than simply answering a single prompt—were supposed to be the next big leap. Microsoft highlighted scenarios like generating dashboards from sales data or producing customer reports without manual effort. It also rolled out new agent features inside Microsoft 365 Copilot (including agents for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) and tools to build and deploy agents through Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio.

As the year wraps, the promise has proven tougher to deliver at scale. That doesn’t mean agents don’t work; it means organizations are still figuring out where they fit, how to govern them, and how to measure value beyond a cool demo.

What Microsoft AI agents promised—and what stalled

Microsoft’s vision centered on autonomous assistants that could reduce tedious, repeatable tasks across knowledge work. On paper, it’s compelling: fewer manual reports, faster document drafting, and automated follow-ups. In practice, many teams need a clearer path from “interesting” to “in production.” The leap from a prompt to a reliable, multistep process often exposes practical hurdles: defining the right steps, deciding when humans review outputs, and keeping information sources organized.

From a buyer’s perspective, these questions show up as three core frictions:

• Outcome clarity: Leaders want guaranteed, repeatable results in specific workflows—weekly reporting, proposals, customer updates—more than broad autonomy.
• Governance and risk: Even when outputs are helpful, teams need guardrails and review steps before anything client-facing goes out.
• Change management: Agents impact roles and processes. Without training and ownership, the tech stalls at pilot stage.

Put simply: agentic AI needs to be packaged as business solutions, not just powerful tools. Microsoft’s shift in targets reflects that buyers are asking for proof of value in defined use cases before scaling spend.

Business impact for SMBs: where the value is today

If you run on Microsoft 365, this is more opportunity than setback. The news suggests you’ll see more practical agent features—especially inside the apps your team already uses—along with clearer starter templates and guardrails. Here’s where small and mid-size businesses can capture value now:

• Document-heavy workflows: Use Word agents to assemble first drafts of proposals, SOWs, and client summaries from structured inputs (deal notes, ticket fields, or CRM properties). Expect to edit, but you’ll cut the blank-page time by 50–70%.
• Lightweight reporting: Excel agents can help format recurring reports and validate simple calculations, while PowerPoint agents can assemble slides from a brief. Keep the scope narrow—weekly metrics, a standard QBR deck, or a campaign recap.
• Meeting-to-action pipelines: Agents summarize meetings, extract tasks, and draft follow-ups. Have a human edit, then publish to the CRM or project board.

Combine these agent features with your current automation stack to lock in value. For example, pair Microsoft 365 Copilot with Zapier or Make.com to move structured data (CRM fields, form submissions, ticket updates) into a clean template before the agent writes. That simple “data first, draft second” pattern keeps agents predictable and measurably useful.

What’s realistic? Many SMBs can free 8–15 hours per month across a 10-person knowledge team by focusing on three repeatable, document-centric flows. Even at a conservative $40/hour burdened cost, that’s $320–$600/month in reclaimed time you can redeploy to selling or service quality.

Action plan: pilot AI value in 30, 60, 90 days

Days 0–30: Prove a single outcome

• Pick two precise use cases: e.g., “Draft a 1-page project update from our ticket data each Friday” and “Assemble a 10-slide weekly sales deck from last week’s numbers.”
• Baseline your time: Measure how long these tasks currently take, and set a target (30–50% reduction).
• Stand up the basics: Enable Microsoft 365 Copilot and test Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents on copies of your templates. Keep your prompts stable and your data sources tidy.
• Add a trigger: Use Zapier or Make.com to deliver cleaned inputs (CSV, JSON, or pre-filled tables) into your template before the agent drafts.

Days 31–60: Add structure and guardrails

• Codify the workflow: Write a 6–8 step checklist for each agent flow, including where humans review.
• Try Copilot Studio (lightweight): Build a basic bot that takes a standard brief and returns a draft document or deck. Keep the scope narrow; resist one-bot-to-do-everything.
• Instrument results: Track time saved, rework rates, and stakeholder satisfaction (simple 1–5 score).

Days 61–90: Expand carefully

• Scale to 3–5 processes: Clone what worked; don’t chase edge cases yet.
• Strengthen templates: Lock the format, section headers, and data inputs. Less creativity, more consistency.
• Review costs and benefits: Compare hours saved to license and integration costs. Keep only what clears your threshold.

Tools to use: Microsoft 365 Copilot (with Word/Excel/PowerPoint agents), Copilot Studio for simple agent experiences, Azure AI Foundry if you have in-house devs experimenting with custom agents, and integrations via Zapier or Make.com to structure inputs. Layer in HubSpot or Salesforce only for the data you actually use in the document flow—keep scope tight.

What’s next: our outlook for 2025

Thursday’s theme is “what’s next,” and here’s the practical read: Microsoft’s target reset points toward more grounded agent rollouts in 2025. Expect tighter, app-specific agents inside Office; clearer templates that map to common outcomes (weekly business reviews, status updates, QBRs); and stronger governance options for approvals and publishing. The pitch will likely shift from “autonomous agents” to “assistants with measurable ROI” embedded in everyday tools.

For SMBs, that’s good news. The winning pattern is simple: keep agents close to your documents and data, add a reliable trigger, and require human review before anything public. Start small, measure, then expand. The companies that do this now will be ready to scale when the next wave of agent features lands.

For more details on the report, read Ars Technica.

Curious how this applies to your business? We help SMBs design low-risk agent pilots that show real results in under 60 days.