It’s been another busy week for the customer experience and service space, with big announcements from Microsoft’s Ignite 2024 event, a substantial acquisition from Salesforce, and another significant announcement unifying CCaaS and CRM solutions.
Here are extracts from some of our most popular news stories over the past seven days.
Microsoft’s Autonomous Agents Are Now Available In Public Preview
Microsoft has announced a public preview of its agentic AI.
Announced at Microsoft Ignite 2024, the preview will allow customers to test pre-configured agents and envision how to build their own via Copilot Studio.
Microsoft’s autonomous agents combine different types of AI – including generative AI (GenAI) – to mechanize tasks without a human in the loop.
Copilot still acts as a virtual assistant. However, autonomous agents add another layer to that strategy, completing tasks with human oversight but without human input.
“We’re helping every organization scale that impact on ROI by transforming business processes with agents built-in Copilot Studio,” confirmed Frank X. Shaw, Chief Communications Officer at Microsoft.
It’s our vision to empower every employee with a copilot and a team of agents working with them and on their behalf.
As part of Microsoft’s vision, those autonomous agents may collaborate to automate more complex processes that cross departments (Read on…).
Microsoft & SAP Make Copilot & Joule Co-Operative
Microsoft and SAP have confirmed plans to integrate their virtual assistants.
Having initially been teased during SAP Sapphire in June, the integration also featured as a key talking point at Microsoft Ignite 2024.
Indeed, during the event, the companies are running demo previews of the integrated offering.
The collaboration will allow customers to use either the 365 Copilot or Joule as their predominant virtual assistant across integrated Microsoft-SAP environments.
Meanwhile, it will also combine their capabilities.
As such, users may complete tasks and access insights and data across both SAP’s and Microsoft’s platforms, without switching between applications.
For example, Microsoft 365 users can use Copilot to access SAP tasks and data, while SAP users can leverage Joule to integrate Microsoft 365 information and workflows (Read on…).
Salesforce Completes Its Own Company Acquisition, Ignites Ownership vs. Partnership Debate
Salesforce has completed the acquisition of Own Company.
Having initially been announced in September, the $1.9BN deal is now complete.
The roll-up marks Salesforce’s most expensive purchase since Slack for $28BN in 2021.
As a specialist in SaaS data backup, management, and recovery solutions, Own will beef up Data Cloud’s security and protection posture.
According to Steve Fisher, President and GM of the Sales Einstein 1 Platform and Unified Data Services, this has “never been more critical.”
However, the move has divided the customer experience community.
While some view it as a shrewd pickup that aligns well with Salesforce’s focus on being viewed as a data company – especially when you consider that Own was valued at $3.35 billion a few short years ago – others have questioned the decision to pursue ownership rather than partnership (Read on…).
Talkdesk Introduces an Offering That Embeds CCaaS Tools Into CRM Platforms
Talkdesk has announced plans to embed elements of its CCaaS platform inside third-party CRM and helpdesk systems.
It will do so via a new offering: Talkdesk Embedded.
Talkdesk Embedded serves up no-code and low-code tools that allow businesses to insert aspects of its Workspace, Conversations, and Copilot apps into the systems “agents most often use in contact centers.”
These include systems offered by the likes of Salesforce, ServiceNow, Dynamics, Pega, Oracle, and Zendesk, with Talkdesk claiming that the move will help simplify agent experiences.
Such an offering will primarily appeal to system integrators (SIs). After all, if an SI has to build a custom contact center application, they can embed Talkdesk into that, making it a flexible solution for various needs.
In doing so, Talkdesk finds new ways to deliver its technology and engage with a broader prospective customer base.
Talkdesk’s ability to spin up such an offering also speaks to its agile, cloud-native CCaaS foundation. This is also evident in its differentiative industry innovation.
Yet, perhaps most notably, the latest innovation chimes with a larger trend of CRM and CCaaS convergence (Read on…).
