The new Microsoft report ‘Agents, human agency and the opportunity for every organisation’ explores how businesses must change their operating models to gain the most value from new tools and technologies. The report highlights that it is not enough to simply adopt AI, businesses need to look at how value is delivered, ‘through workflows, roles, decision rights, governance and the everyday architecture of execution.’
Microsoft AI agents are now able to be embedded across end-to-end processes, workflows and systems rather than just specific tasks. This means that business leaders need to enable their teams to redesign their existing processes to build models that deliver the most value.
How are employees using AI – Experiment, learn and redesign
Microsoft analysed over 100,000 conversations in Microsoft 365 Copilot to see how it is supporting users, the results showed that:
- 49% conversations support cognitive work – tasks including analysis, evaluation and problem solving
- 19% communication tasks
- 17% producing work
- 15% finding information
The wide availability of AI tools makes it easier for businesses to experiment with ways to improve productivity and gain additional value but it is important to learn from these experiments.
AI can be used to extend capability but it can also create overconfidence, when accelerating work with agents you may uncover brittle processes, unclear decision rights and weak governance.
Microsoft’s research shows that people fear being replaced by AI but that they are using it in ‘advanced resourceful ways’. The report shows how ‘Frontier Professionals’ (those with a deep understanding of the modes of AI required for a task) are intentionally making time to decide which parts of a task require human input vs which can be done by AI and how they never outsource their thinking to ensure they continue to build skills.
Many individuals are using AI to expand their expertise and extend their knowledge but the organisations they work for are not always ready for this. Microsoft data shows ‘that organisational factors – culture, manager support, talent practices – account for twice the reported AI impact of individual effort alone.’ This means that to take full advantage of the benefits AI can bring to your business, you need to make the time to review and redesign processes and internal governance to make the transformation strategic.
By allowing AI agents to be part of workflows and processes, time is freed up for employees to do higher value work. Dr Laura Hamill, Director of Research, AI@Work thought leadership at Microsoft said “What I’m excited about is how we might start thinking about how to solve problems that we never thought we could solve before.”
What are the key takeaways from the report:
Organisations will be able to get ahead if they:
- Capture feedback from their AI processes and use this to learn and redesign processes
- Invest in technology, processes and people.
Taking these steps now lays the foundations for you to stay ahead as technology progresses beyond what we can currently imagine. It is not enough to just adopt new technologies, as business leaders you must be willing to invest the time in adapting processes and strategy to gain the real value from these tools.
Working with Active Informatics
At Active Informatics, we help ambitious businesses transform everyday processes into streamlined, automated solutions using the Microsoft technology you already invest in. Whether you want to improve efficiency, connect disconnected systems, gain better visibility of your data or create a better experience for customers and staff, we can help you get there faster.
Our specialists deliver tailored Microsoft solutions that solve real business challenges , helping your to achieve more from the systems you have already invested in. Talk to our team to find out more.
Read the full report
Mircosoft’s Work Trend Index Reports offer unique insights on trends reshaping work for business leaders and employees.
Sources
All quotes and figures in this article are from the Microsoft 2026 Work Trend Index Annual Report ‘Agents, human agency and the opportunity for every organisation’.