How to build an AI agent: A simple guide for anyone

Imagine an office worker clicking on a phishing link at 2:13 a.m. As the IT team sleeps, an AI agent detects unusual login behavior and disables the compromised account. Then, it checks to see if malware spread to any other devices or accounts, opens a ticket, sends an alert to the security team and drafts an incident summary.

This is the beauty of AI agents. They can help workers in all kinds of roles do a range of things, like track project deadlines, monitor shared inboxes, create nightly reports and more. What sets them apart from AI chat apps is that while chat apps excel at answering questions, agents can also take action.

You can think of agents as apps for an AI-powered world. Getting started is easier than it sounds. This guide walks through the key steps — from defining the problem to building and sharing an agent using Microsoft 365 Copilot — so you can go from idea to working prototype without writing any code.

If you have Microsoft 365 Copilot, go to Microsoft 365…