Foundations of AI Agent Development and Copilot 365 Extensibility

Organizations are rapidly adopting AI assistants, but the true power of automation lies in customizing these tools for specific business workflows. This text-based course introduces the foundational concepts required to build intelligent AI agents and extend existing Copilot 365 capabilities to suit your unique operational needs. You will transition from a basic AI user to understanding the architecture, integration points, and development paths for custom conversational agents. Through clear written explanations and structured examples, you will learn how to design, configure, and deploy agents that connect to external data sources and automate routine tasks. What you will learn: - Understand the fundamental architecture of AI agents and how they interact with large language models. - Configure custom conversational agents using Copilot Studio and related development tools. - Extend Copilot 365 using plugins, connectors, and custom APIs to bridge data gaps. - Apply retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) principles to ground your agents in secure organizational data. - Design effective conversational flows and instructions for predictable agent behavior. - Evaluate security, compliance, and governance considerations when deploying AI agents in an enterprise environment. This course begins with essential terminology, basic concepts, and foundational definitions before guiding you through development paths, tool selection, and practical integration patterns. It is designed specifically for beginners, IT professionals, and business analysts looking to enter the world of AI development, with no prior programming experience required. Start reading today to build smarter, more connected AI solutions for your workspace.