The Citizen Developer

Don’t Make Software, Make Agents

• By Howard M. Cohen
• December 4, 2024

We’ve previously discussed here in The Citizen Developer how we’re experiencing a new Layer of Abstraction, which I and others are calling "Citizen AI"—even before that we hinted at the future direction of citizen development platforms when we asked, "Where Did Low Code/No Code Go?"
At the Ignite conference in Chicago last week, Microsoft added their answer to that question with their announcement of the arrival of "The Agentic World."

Agents, Agents Everywhere

AI developer Kanerika defines agents this way: "AI agents are intelligent software systems designed to perceive their environment, make decisions, and take actions to achieve specific goals autonomously. Think of them as digital workers that can sense, reason, and act based on programmed objectives – much like a human employee but operating in the digital realm."

Many major corporations, including ServiceNow, Salesforce, and Amazon, are introducing "agentic" capabilities, but Microsoft took a step further at their Ignite conference by describing how everyday employees, including those who have become citizen developers, can easily create, develop, improve, and benefit from their own agents. These personal agents are designed and created using Copilot Studio which features a common language interface on which you can describe everything you need your agent to do.

Agents can be assigned to produce and deliver reports on a schedule, or whenever a threshold is exceeded, or when the agent thinks you may need it based on its knowledge of your personal requirements. They can also present a selection of products to a customer and assist them in choosing the most preferable one, based on a wealth of information already collected about that customer. They can track and analyze shipping processes to assure that all charges are accurate, as well as communication costs, physical plant, and other costs based on inputs from carriers, providers, and the internal systems that use these commodities.

Connecting People and Processes

The original promise of low-code/no-code (LCNC) platforms was to enable typical end users, knowledge workers with no programming background, to create the software they needed as long as they knew the processes they were working with. They could represent those processes by moving tiles around the screen and dropping them into proper sequences. Seems like just yesterday this was brand new and incredibly exciting.

As we hurtle forward toward the new, agentic world, the blush comes off that rose as we see new possibilities sprouting all around us. With Copilot Studio, citizen developers no longer need to move tiles around. Nor do they need to create support for complete and comprehensive processes. Instead, you simply tell Copilot Studio in plain-spoken language, what you want each agent to do, what you want the agent to look for, what you want them to evaluate when they find what they’re looking for, and what to do about it based on their determination and evaluation.
Agents may be triggered by a human request, or they may act autonomously when triggered by a specific time, a specific thing happening within the system, or even things occurring outside the system.

The potential for time-saving alone is staggering. Imagine having an assistant who can make decisions for you based on agreed-upon criteria, and then taking the required action on your behalf! How many of the things you do each day could be assigned instead to that kind of assistant, and without having to hire another human! By delivering valuable information at the best possible time, agents support improved decision-making both in terms of quality as well as timeliness.

Of course, one of the key goals of LC/NC was to provide continuous improvement through continuous development (CI/CD). An interactive user interface like Copilot Studio holds the promise of a whole new definition of CI/CD.

Agents Right Where You Need Them Most

Almost every Microsoft platform imaginable has a Copilot ready to form a tighter interface between platform and user. Perhaps the one most important to citizen developers is Copilot for Microsoft 365. There is a Copilot for each of the applications in the cloud Office suite. Outlook Agents can constantly evaluate your inbox, determining which incoming emails require attention first based not only on the content of the message, but also upon an understanding of your relationship with the sender. Copilot for PowerPoint can take your story or script and create a brilliant presentation for you. Copilot for Word can, of course, assist in writing whatever you need to write. There are also Copilots for SharePoint and the Dynamics family.

This is right where the typical user that becomes a citizen developer lives. Beyond answering questions, offering advice and guidance, and creating content, agents created for each of these Copilots hold the promise of simplifying the lives of your citizen developers, enabling them to create the automation of the tasks they need without having to worry about integrating them into a larger system. This can augment the functionality of the software your company runs on by adding new functions easily. It can also redefine the value your company can enjoy from all your software investments.

Citizen developers, prepare to up your tools and up your game!