How we work/Copilot agents course

Copilot agents course

A short course on Copilot agents, for anyone in your firm.

Agents are already part of Copilot, and working with them will soon be a normal part of everyday work. This course shows your team what an agent is, how to use the ones they already have and how to use them safely. No technical knowledge needed.

Book a free 30-minute call Compare the two versions

In the course

Your first agent
Making a first agent and asking it a question A simple agent is described in plain English and given a document to answer from. It then appears in Copilot Chat, where typing @ brings it into the conversation. It answers the question and shows the document the answer came from, so it can be checked. @ @
  1. 01 Describe the job
  2. 02 Add what it knows
  3. 03 Ask it with @
  4. 04 Check the source
Understanding Copilot Agents Two hours, with a live demo of Agent Builder
£650
Building Your First Copilot Agent Three hours, with Agent Builder hands-on
£850

Per session. All prices exclude VAT.

Why now

Agents are already in Copilot.

Open Copilot and there's a section for agents. Microsoft has built several already, and anyone can make a simple one by describing it in plain English. They're there whether or not anyone has shown your team how to use them.

Before long, asking an agent for help, checking what it gives back and knowing when not to use one will be an ordinary part of the working day. A team that understands agents now will be ahead when that happens, and better placed to decide which jobs the firm should hand to one.

None of this replaces anyone. Agents take on defined jobs. The judgement, the client relationship and the sign-off stay with your team.

What the course covers

From what an agent is to using one safely.

Both versions follow the same outline. The difference is Agent Builder: a live demo in the two-hour version, hands-on in the three-hour one.

  1. What an agent is

    Copilot given one job. The difference between agents you talk to, which find and draft things when someone asks, and agents that run, which start on their own when something happens and stop for a person to approve.

  2. The anatomy of an agent

    The four parts every agent is built from: instructions, knowledge, actions and triggers. Once your team can name the parts, they can make sense of any agent they come across.

  3. Using agents with @ in Copilot Chat

    Type @ and an agent's name to bring it into the conversation. Where to find the agents you already have, how to ask them well and how to check what comes back.

  4. Microsoft's built-in agents

    The agents that come with Copilot, such as Researcher and Analyst. What each one is for, when it helps and which ones your firm's licences include.

  5. Agent Builder

    Copilot's tool for making an agent by describing it in plain English. Your team sees the four parts come together in something they could make themselves.

    Understanding Copilot Agents
    A live demo.
    Building Your First Copilot Agent
    Hands-on. Everyone builds a simple agent for their own job.

  6. Using agents safely

    What an agent can see, and why it only shows each person what they could already open. Checking an answer before relying on it, and why anything that goes to a client still waits for one of your team.

  7. Next steps

    What to try over the following weeks, and how to take agents further if the firm wants to.

The anatomy of an agent

Four parts, and what each one does.

This is the idea the course keeps coming back to. A simple agent made in Agent Builder uses the first two. Actions and triggers are what let an agent start on its own and do the work, and they're built in Copilot Studio.

Agents with triggers and actions are what we build for firms, each with a point where one of your team approves.

See the agents we build for accountancy firms
The four parts of an agent Instructions and a folder of knowledge make up the agent. Actions join it to the work it can do: filing a document, updating a list and drafting an email. Then a trigger, an email arriving, starts it without anyone asking. The agent files the document and updates the list on its own, and the email draft waits for a person to approve.
  1. 01 Instructions
  2. 02 Knowledge
  3. 03 Actions
  4. 04 Triggers

  1. Instructions

    What the job is and how to do it, written in plain English.

  2. Knowledge

    What it answers from, such as the firm's procedures or a client folder.

  3. Actions

    The steps it can take, such as filing a document, updating a list or drafting an email.

  4. Triggers

    What starts it without anyone asking: an email arriving, a meeting ending, a date coming round.

Two versions

Two hours, or three with a hands-on build.

Both are for anyone in your firm and need no technical knowledge. Choose the three-hour version if you want everyone to leave having built an agent of their own.

Two hours

Understanding Copilot Agents

£650

Per session

What agents are, how to use them and how to use them safely, with a live demo of Agent Builder.

  • What an agent is, and its four parts
  • Using agents with @ in Copilot Chat
  • Microsoft's built-in agents
  • A live demo of Agent Builder
  • Using agents safely, and next steps

Three hours

Building Your First Copilot Agent

£850

Per session

Everything in Understanding Copilot Agents, with Agent Builder hands-on. Everyone builds a simple agent for their own job, with us alongside.

  • Everything in the two-hour version
  • Agent Builder hands-on, not just a demo
  • Everyone builds a simple agent for their own job

Run live, online through Microsoft Teams or in your office. All prices exclude VAT.

Who it's for

Anyone in your firm. No technical knowledge needed.

If someone can write a clear email, they can follow the course.

  • Partners deciding where agents belong in the firm
  • Managers and seniors who'll check what agents produce
  • The office team and anyone else who uses Microsoft 365 every day

Not the same as Enable

Enable workshops are for the few people in your firm who'll build agents that run on their own, in Copilot Studio. This course is for everyone, and it's a sensible first step for those people too.

See Enable

After the course

A first step, not a commitment.

Some firms stop at the course, and that's fine. For others it raises a better question: which jobs in the firm should an agent take on? If it does, this is where to go next.

  1. A free 30-minute call

    Talk through what came up on the course and whether an agent fits. No pitch and no obligation.

    Book a free call

  2. Discover

    Up to six hours of conversations with the people who do the work, then a costed plan of where the hours go. £1,500, covering Design too, and credited back.

    See Discover

  3. Enable workshops

    Hands-on workshops for the few people in your firm who know the work and will build agents. Not an IT course, and no coding needed. From £850.

    See Enable
Who is the course for?
Anyone in your firm who uses Microsoft 365, from partners to the office team. No technical knowledge is needed. If someone can write a clear email, they can follow it.
Which version should we choose?
Understanding Copilot Agents if you want your team to know what agents are, how to use them and how to use them safely. Building Your First Copilot Agent if you also want everyone to build a simple agent for their own job. The three-hour version covers everything in the two-hour one.
What does the course cost?
£650 for Understanding Copilot Agents, which runs for two hours, or £850 for Building Your First Copilot Agent, which runs for three and includes a hands-on build. Prices are per session. All prices exclude VAT.
Does everyone need a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence?
No. Anyone can follow the course. Researcher, Analyst and agents that answer from your firm's own files need a licence. Without one, Agent Builder makes agents that answer from the web. We check your licences with you beforehand, so the session fits what your team can use.
Is it online or in person?
Either. It runs live, online through Microsoft Teams or in your office, with time for your team's questions.
Will agents replace anyone in our team?
No. Agents take on defined jobs, such as answering questions from the firm's procedures or preparing a first draft. The judgement, the client relationship and the sign-off stay with your team.
What happens after the course?
Nothing, unless you want it to. If the course raises questions about where agents would help in your firm, the next step is a free 30-minute call. From there, Discover finds the work worth handing to an agent and Enable workshops train the few people who'll build.

Next step

Talk through whether the course suits your firm.

A free 30-minute call with James Wilkinson. No pitch and no obligation.

Book a free 30-minute call See the accountancy agents