Users of Copilot unlock new insights and value every day. It sits in the M365 ecosystem and, when properly configured, can access emails, SharePoint, and OneDrive data out of the box. Summarizing and searching documents is a breeze. But the more you use it, the more you realize you repeat the same tasks over and over again.
Perhaps you use Copilot to construct sales orders or contracts, where boilerplate language and a standardized format apply to each and every document you create. You can’t just say “Write a contract for X, Y, and Z.” You must repeat specific instructions around language, structure, and formatting each and every time you need to create a new sales order. Or maybe you use Copilot to extract key obligations and risks from service contracts. Simply asking for these will likely yield inconsistent output unless you provide extended guidance about exactly what you want to know about those documents. For these use cases (and many more), M365 Copilot provides a user-friendly way to bake in those common instructions and make Copilot more useful every time you use it. Here, we will demonstrate how to use Copilot's Custom Agent Builder to create an agent that analyze contracts for obligations and risks.
A Copilot Agent is a custom, purpose-built AI assistant that lives within the Copilot chat experience and performs a specific job. Agents are configured with Instructions (what your agent does and how it responds), Knowledge (what information the agent can use to answer more effectively), and, in more advanced scenarios, capabilities beyond standard chat responses. Agent Builder empowers users to create their own agents using instructions and knowledge, making it easy to package a repeatable Copilot experience around a specific use case.
Copilot Agent Builder can most easily be used right from Copilot itself. In the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, click New Agent in the left pane. From there, you can simply describe the kind of agent you want, and Copilot will generate an initial configuration for you.
After submitting your idea, Copilot will create a draft agent configuration. Keep in mind that you are not locked into what it creates. Each section is editable, so you can refine the instructions, adjust the tone, and point the agent at the knowledge sources you actually want it to use.
In many cases, Copilot creates a pretty good starting instruction, as it did here. We will keep this.
It may also suggest knowledge sources automatically. That is useful, but it is still worth reviewing carefully. In my case, it initially suggested broad SharePoint content, which wasn’t quite right.
I only wanted the agent to use a specific site, so I removed the default suggestion and added the exact location I wanted instead.
Finally, note the Suggested prompts section. These prompt bubbles appear when the agent is opened and help show users what the agent is designed to do. They are especially useful when you are sharing the agent with others and want to make adoption easier.
When your agent is configured, press Create in the top-right corner of the screen. After creation, your agent will be available under the Agents section in the left pane. Now it's time to try it out!
Here’s an example of a portion of the agent’s output when asked about a specific contract in our SharePoint site.
After the initial review, I can even ask follow-up questions about the same contract, such as asking the agent to consolidate the findings into a few paragraphs or restate the output in a more usable format.
The value of Copilot often starts with a good prompt, but it scales much better when that prompt becomes an agent. If you find yourself repeating the same instructions, working from the same knowledge sources, and asking for the same type of output over and over again, Custom Agent Builder gives you a practical way to turn that pattern into a reusable tool. It is a simple step, but in the right use case, it can make Copilot feel much more consistent, much more focused, and much more useful. Contact TEAM IM today and we can show you how Copilot Agents can improve productivity, uncover key insights, and help you make better business decisions!