Issue/Question
I want to create my own AI Agent, which tool do I use?
Environment
- AI
- Copilot
- Agent
- Copilot Chat
- Copilot Agent Builder
- Copilot Studio
- Azure AI Foundy
- Microsoft Power Platform
Cause
Need to increase or automate business or personal processes to gain efficiency and capacity.
Resolution
1. Overview of Each Tool
1.1 Agent Builder (Microsoft 365 Copilot)
The easiest way to build your own declarative agents is to use the Agent Builder feature in Microsoft 365 Copilot. It offers an immediate, interactive AI development experience that's perfect for quick and straightforward projects.
Key Characteristics:
- You can specify dedicated knowledge sources, including content on SharePoint and information provided by Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors. You can also test the agent before deploying it for use in your conversations with Microsoft 365 Copilot or sharing it with others in your organization.
Access Points:
- You can build agents from the following apps and sites: microsoft365.com/chat, office.com/chat, Microsoft Teams Desktop and web client.
Use Cases:
- An agent that provides writing or presentation coaching tailored to organizational standards. A team onboarding agent that responds with specific information about the user's new team and helps them complete onboarding tasks.
1.2 Copilot Studio (Full Platform)
Copilot Studio is a platform for building and managing agents. Connect them to your business data, create your own with natural language, and publish them across the channels your teams and customers use.
Key Capabilities:
- Build conversational capabilities - Design agents that respond to natural language prompts with a conversational flow—answering questions, guiding workflows, or completing tasks using your business data.
- Add autonomous capabilities - Build agents that manage tasks or business processes autonomously—planning, learning, and escalating work items when needed.
- Use pre-built agents and templates - Get ready-to-use agents from the Agent Store or start with a template and customize it based on your business needs.
- Design agents with voice - Create voice or phone-based agents powered by generative AI to help users and customers more quickly.
Integration Options:
- Build agents that can complete actions on your behalf through a variety of tools such as flows, prompts, and APIs that connect to your business systems. Use multi-agent orchestration for complex processes, routing tasks to the right agent when specialized knowledge or actions are required.
Deployment Channels:
- Deploy your agents directly in the Microsoft 365 apps your employees use every day—such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Microsoft 365 Copilot. Publish agents in the tools or channels your customers already use, from web apps to messaging platforms.
1.3 Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat offers secure, AI chat that adds pay-as-you-go agents. Copilot Chat includes: Secure, AI chat grounded in the web and powered by the latest models. A side-by-side experience that's aware of a user's open content in select Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook.
Key Features:
- Pay-as-you-go agents accessible from chat, priced on a metered basis. IT controls, enterprise data protection, and agent management. Features like Copilot Pages, file upload, and image generation.
Data Access (Key Differentiator):
- Copilot uses Microsoft Graph to access user data that's in the user's unique context. This user data includes emails, chats, and documents that the user has permission to access.
- Copilot only accesses data that an individual user is authorized to access, based on, for example, existing Microsoft 365 role-based access controls. Copilot doesn't access data that the user doesn't have permission to access.
2. Feature Comparison Matrix
2.1 Core Capabilities
-
| Feature |
Agent Builder |
Copilot Studio |
M365 Copilot Chat |
| Natural language agent creation |
✅ Yes |
✅ Yes |
N/A (not for building) |
| Knowledge from SharePoint |
✅ Yes (pre-configured) |
✅ Yes (pre-configured) |
✅ Yes (dynamic, user-contextual) |
| Knowledge from OneDrive |
✅ Limited |
✅ Yes (pre-configured) |
✅ Yes (dynamic, user-contextual) |
| Knowledge from uploaded files |
✅ Yes |
✅ Yes |
✅ Yes |
| Knowledge from public websites |
✅ Yes |
✅ Yes |
✅ Yes (web grounding) |
| Access user's emails |
❌ No |
❌ No (requires Graph API) |
✅ Yes |
| Access user's calendar |
❌ No |
❌ No (requires Graph API) |
✅ Yes |
| Access user's Teams chats |
❌ No |
❌ No (requires Graph API) |
✅ Yes |
| Dynamic user data access |
❌ No |
❌ No |
✅ Yes |
| Custom workflows/flows |
❌ No |
✅ Yes (Power Automate) |
❌ Limited |
| API integrations |
❌ No |
✅ Yes (1,400+ connectors) |
❌ No |
| Multi-step autonomous tasks |
❌ No |
✅ Yes |
⚠️ Limited |
| Voice/IVR agents |
❌ No |
✅ Yes |
❌ No |
| Multi-agent orchestration |
❌ No |
✅ Yes |
❌ No |
2.2 Target Users and Complexity
-
| Aspect |
Agent Builder |
Copilot Studio |
M365 Copilot Chat |
| Primary User |
Information workers |
Makers, developers, IT pros |
End users |
| Technical Skill Required |
None |
Low-code to pro-code |
None |
| Time to Create |
Minutes |
Hours to days |
N/A |
| Complexity Level |
Simple |
Simple to complex |
N/A |
| Best For |
Personal/team assistants |
Enterprise solutions |
Personal productivity |
- Copilot Studio Agent Builder serves as an entry point for business users and knowledge workers without programming expertise. Implemented directly within the M365 Copilot interface, it functions as a simplified agent creation tool with a conversational interface.
- By comparison, Microsoft Copilot Studio targets technical practitioners, solution architects, and IT professionals tasked with developing comprehensive agent solutions. While classified as a low-code platform (with optional pro-code capabilities), it requires technical proficiency beyond what's needed for Agent Builder.
2.3 Deployment and Sharing
-
| Deployment Option |
Agent Builder |
Copilot Studio |
M365 Copilot Chat |
| Personal use only |
✅ Yes |
✅ Yes |
✅ Yes |
| Share with team |
✅ Yes |
✅ Yes |
N/A |
| Share organization-wide |
⚠️ Limited |
✅ Yes |
N/A |
| External customers |
❌ No |
✅ Yes |
❌ No |
| Microsoft Teams |
✅ Yes |
✅ Yes |
✅ Yes |
| SharePoint |
❌ No |
✅ Yes |
✅ Yes |
| Custom websites |
❌ No |
✅ Yes |
❌ No |
| Mobile apps |
❌ No |
✅ Yes |
✅ Yes |
| Social platforms |
❌ No |
✅ Yes |
❌ No |
2.4 Knowledge Source Limits
-
| Knowledge Aspect |
Agent Builder |
Copilot Studio |
M365 Copilot Chat |
| SharePoint URLs |
Limited |
25 URLs (generative mode) |
Unlimited (user permissions) |
| Files per agent |
Limited |
Up to 1,000 files |
Unlimited (user permissions) |
| File size limit |
7 MB (200 MB with M365 Copilot license) |
7 MB (200 MB with license) |
Varies by app |
| Knowledge scope |
Pre-defined by maker |
Pre-defined by maker |
Dynamic per user |
| Security model |
Respects user permissions |
Respects user permissions |
Respects user permissions |
2.5 Licensing and Cost
-
| Licensing Aspect |
Agent Builder |
Copilot Studio |
M365 Copilot Chat |
| Required License |
Microsoft 365 Copilot ($30/user/month) |
Standalone or included with M365 Copilot |
Free (with M365) or M365 Copilot |
| Pricing Model |
Included in M365 Copilot |
Consumption-based (Copilot Credits) or pre-purchase |
Free or per-user |
| Internal agents |
✅ Included |
✅ Included with M365 Copilot |
N/A |
| External agents |
❌ Not available |
Requires standalone Copilot Studio plan |
N/A |
| Usage limits |
Unlimited for internal use |
Based on Copilot Credits |
Capacity-based |
- Microsoft 365 Copilot includes agent-building capabilities for use within your organization. To publish or share agents to outside channels, choose a standalone Copilot Studio plan.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot $29.00 user/month, paid yearly. Includes Copilot Studio access for all licenses—great for empowering employees to build and use agents internally. Create internal agents that work within Microsoft 365. Access Copilot Studio at no extra cost—available to all licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot users. Build and access agents for internal workflows as often as you need without usage limits.
3. When to Use Each Tool
3.1 Use Agent Builder When:
-
| Scenario |
Example |
| Quick personal assistant |
"I need an agent to help me write emails in my company's tone" |
| Small team Q&A bot |
"Our team needs a bot that answers questions about our project docs" |
| Simple knowledge retrieval |
"Answer questions from these 5 SharePoint documents" |
| No technical resources |
"I'm not a developer but need a custom assistant" |
| Rapid prototyping |
"I want to test an idea in 15 minutes" |
3.2 Use Copilot Studio When:
-
| Scenario |
Example |
| Enterprise-wide deployment |
"We need an HR bot for all 5,000 employees" |
| Complex workflows |
"The agent needs to create tickets, send emails, and update CRM" |
| External customer support |
"We need a customer-facing chatbot on our website" |
| System integrations |
"The agent must connect to SAP, Salesforce, and our internal APIs" |
| Autonomous processes |
"The agent should monitor orders and escalate issues automatically" |
| Voice/phone support |
"We need an IVR system powered by AI" |
| Multi-agent orchestration |
"Multiple specialized agents need to work together" |
| Governance requirements |
"IT needs full control over deployment and versioning" |
- Instead of having one generic AI helper—it's about building dozens of specialized agents that understand your company's unique way of operating. A customer service agent knows your products, policies, and support procedures. An HR agent understands your benefits, policies, and organizational structure. A supply chain agent knows your inventory systems, supplier relationships, and logistics networks.
3.3 Use Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat When:
-
| Scenario |
Example |
| Personal productivity |
"Summarize my unread emails from this week" |
| Dynamic data access |
"Find the document I was working on yesterday about Project X" |
| Cross-app intelligence |
"What did John say in our Teams chat about the budget?" |
| Meeting preparation |
"Prepare me for my 2pm meeting based on previous emails and docs" |
| Document drafting |
"Draft a response to this email using info from our proposal" |
| No pre-configuration needed |
"I want AI to just work with whatever I have access to" |
- The work graph can include signals from: Emails, meetings, and calendar invites in Outlook. Files in OneDrive and SharePoint. Chats, channels, and meetings in Teams. People, roles, and relationships across your business.
4. Architectural Differences
4.1 Data Access Model
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ DATA ACCESS ARCHITECTURE │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ AGENT BUILDER / COPILOT STUDIO │
│ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐ │
│ │ Maker │───▶│ Pre-configured │───▶│ Agent serves │ │
│ │ configures │ │ knowledge │ │ users with │ │
│ │ sources │ │ sources │ │ filtered │ │
│ └─────────────┘ │ (static) │ │ results │ │
│ └─────────────────┘ └─────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ • Sources defined at design time │
│ • Limited to configured SharePoint sites, files, websites │
│ • User permissions filter results, but don't expand scope │
│ │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ MICROSOFT 365 COPILOT CHAT │
│ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐ │
│ │ User │───▶│ Microsoft Graph │───▶│ Dynamic access │ │
│ │ asks │ │ (live query) │ │ to ALL user's │ │
│ │ question │ │ │ │ permitted data │ │
│ └─────────────┘ └─────────────────┘ └─────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ • No pre-configuration needed │
│ • Access to emails, files, chats, calendar, Teams - dynamically │
│ • Scope expands/contracts based on user's actual permissions │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
4.2 Agent Complexity Spectrum
Simple ◄─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────► Complex
Agent Builder Copilot Studio Copilot Studio
(Lite) (Standard) (Advanced)
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐
│ Q&A Bot │ │ Workflow │ │ Multi- │
│ with │ │ Agent │ │ Agent │
│ docs │ │ with │ │ System │
│ │ │ actions │ │ with │
│ │ │ │ │ APIs │
└──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘
Minutes to build Hours to build Days/weeks to build
No code Low-code Low-code + pro-code
Internal only Internal + external Enterprise-wide
5. Decision Framework
5.1 Decision Tree
START: What do you need?
│
├─► "I need to ask questions about MY files, emails, calendar"
│ └─► Use Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat ✓
│
├─► "I need a simple Q&A bot for my team"
│ │
│ ├─► "I have 15 minutes and no coding skills"
│ │ └─► Use Agent Builder ✓
│ │
│ └─► "I need more control over the experience"
│ └─► Use Copilot Studio ✓
│
├─► "I need to automate workflows with approvals, notifications"
│ └─► Use Copilot Studio ✓
│
├─► "I need to serve external customers"
│ └─► Use Copilot Studio (standalone plan) ✓
│
├─► "I need the agent to connect to Salesforce, SAP, custom APIs"
│ └─► Use Copilot Studio ✓
│
└─► "I need voice/phone support"
└─► Use Copilot Studio ✓
5.2 Quick Reference Table
-
| If you need... |
Use this tool |
| Personal AI assistant with access to all your M365 data |
M365 Copilot Chat |
| Simple team Q&A bot in 15 minutes |
Agent Builder |
| Enterprise-grade agent with workflows |
Copilot Studio |
| Customer-facing chatbot |
Copilot Studio |
| Agent that dynamically accesses any user's files |
M365 Copilot Chat |
| Agent with pre-defined knowledge sources |
Agent Builder or Copilot Studio |
| Integration with Power Automate |
Copilot Studio |
| Voice/IVR system |
Copilot Studio |
| No-code solution |
Agent Builder or M365 Copilot Chat |
6. Migration Path
- If you need more advanced capabilities like Actions to integrate external services, we recommend that you use Microsoft Copilot Studio, which provides a comprehensive set of tools and features for more complex requirements.
From Agent Builder to Copilot Studio:
- Organizations can start with Agent Builder for quick wins and migrate to Copilot Studio as needs grow:
-
| Phase |
Tool |
Capabilities |
| Phase 1: Prototype |
Agent Builder |
Quick Q&A bot, test concept |
| Phase 2: Enhance |
Copilot Studio |
Add workflows, integrations |
| Phase 3: Scale |
Copilot Studio |
Multi-agent, external deployment |
7. Summary Comparison Matrix
-
| Dimension |
Agent Builder |
Copilot Studio |
M365 Copilot Chat |
| Purpose |
Simple agent creation |
Enterprise agent platform |
Personal AI assistant |
| User Type |
Business users |
Developers, IT pros |
All employees |
| Technical Skill |
None |
Low-code to pro-code |
None |
| Build Time |
Minutes |
Hours to weeks |
N/A |
| Data Access |
Pre-configured sources |
Pre-configured sources |
Dynamic (Microsoft Graph) |
| User's Email Access |
❌ |
❌ (without custom dev) |
✅ |
| User's OneDrive |
⚠️ Pre-configured only |
⚠️ Pre-configured only |
✅ Dynamic |
| User's SharePoint |
⚠️ Pre-configured only |
⚠️ Pre-configured only |
✅ Dynamic |
| User's Calendar |
❌ |
❌ (without custom dev) |
✅ |
| User's Teams Chats |
❌ |
❌ (without custom dev) |
✅ |
| Workflows/Automation |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
| External Customers |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
| API Integrations |
❌ |
✅ (1,400+ connectors) |
❌ |
| Voice/IVR |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
| Multi-Agent |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
| Deployment |
M365 Copilot, Teams |
Any channel |
M365 apps |
| Governance |
Basic |
Enterprise-grade |
IT-managed |
| Licensing |
Included in M365 Copilot |
Consumption-based or included |
Free or M365 Copilot |
| Cost |
$30/user/month (M365 Copilot) |
Variable (Copilot Credits) |
Free or $30/user/month |
8. Recommendations
For University of South Dakota:
Based on your use case (allowing users to analyze their own cybersecurity documents against CIS Controls):
-
| Option |
Tool |
Pros |
Cons |
| Option A |
M365 Copilot Chat |
Dynamic access to user files; no pre-configuration |
Less customizable; general-purpose |
| Option B |
Copilot Studio + File Upload |
Customized CIS analysis logic; controlled experience |
Users must upload files manually |
| Option C |
Copilot Studio + Power Automate + Graph API |
Custom + dynamic access |
Complex to build; requires development |
Recommendation: For the most seamless user experience where users can reference any document they have access to, Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is the appropriate tool. For a specialized agent with expertise that requires users to upload documents, Copilot Studio with file upload enabled (which you've already configured) is the best approach.