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SALT / LEARN 5 MIN READ
PART 1 OF 2 · AI AGENTS

What is an AI Agent,
really?

You've heard the word. Maybe you've already used Copilot. But "AI Agent" isn't just a chatbot, and it isn't a script. It's software that thinks, decides, uses tools, and gets work done — with a person reviewing the calls that matter.

Five minutes here, and you'll know exactly what's behind the word — and why it changes how a Microsoft Dynamics 365 implementation actually works.

An AI Agent is not what you've used before.

Three things that look similar but aren't the same thing. Pick the tab to compare.

A SCRIPT / RPA BOT
×Follows a fixed sequence of clicks. If the screen changes, it breaks.
×Cannot reason about exceptions. Either succeeds or fails.
×Doesn't know why it's doing the work.
×Cannot pick which tool to use — every step is hard-coded.
AN AI AGENT
Reads the situation, decides what to do, picks the right tool.
Handles exceptions — escalates to a person when judgment is required.
Understands the goal, not just the steps.
Reasons across systems — Microsoft Dynamics 365, email, documents, databases.

Four parts. Every AI Agent has them.

Whether it's an AI Agent that closes books, configures a Microsoft Dynamics 365 implementation, or routes support tickets — the anatomy is the same.

01 · BRAIN
A foundation model
A large language model — typically Azure OpenAI — that reads context, reasons, and decides what to do next.
02 · MEMORY
What it knows
Your business context — process documentation, prior decisions, schema, customer data — fed in so the AI Agent reasons about your work, not generic patterns.
03 · TOOLS
What it can do
Approved actions: read CRM, write to ERP, send email, query database, post to Teams. Each tool is permissioned, audited, reversible.
04 · GUARDRAIL
When a person decides
Every AI Agent has a review archetype: Approver, Spot-checker, Exception-handler, or Director. Humans set direction; the AI Agent runs the volume.

How does AI create an AI Agent?

An AI Agent isn't trained from scratch. It's composed — three ingredients, snapped together.

INGREDIENT 01

A foundation AI

Azure OpenAI provides the reasoning layer — the same model that powers Microsoft 365 Copilot. SALT doesn't train it. We compose with it.

INGREDIENT 02

A role definition

A persona, a goal, a set of instructions, and a rulebook. "You are a Microsoft Dynamics 365 configuration specialist. Your goal is X. You may use tools A, B, C. Escalate to a person when…"

INGREDIENT 03

Tools and data access

Hooks into your Microsoft Dynamics 365 environment, your data warehouse, your email, your task queues. Permissioned, audited, reversible.

That's it. Three ingredients. Snap them together and you have an AI Agent that knows what to do, can do it, and stops when a human should make the call.

Watch an AI Agent think out loud.

Pick a question or type your own. You'll see the AI Agent reason, choose a tool, get a result, and check itself — the same loop that runs across every SALT engagement.

SAMPLE — ACCOUNTS-PAYABLE AI AGENT

When AI Agents do the work, implementations don't take humans.

Traditional Microsoft partners staff a project with consultants who click, configure, validate, and reconcile — by hand. SALT staffs the same project with AI Agents that do those things at machine speed, reviewed by a much smaller human team.

That's why SALT can deliver the same outcome at half the cost — with higher quality, because every action is logged, telemetry-instrumented, and reversible.

94%
of Microsoft Dynamics 365 configuration tasks executed autonomously by SALT AI Agents
65%
less delivery labor compared with traditional implementation
Wk 1
first AI Agent live in production on the SALT AI-Native Delivery Approach — across any Microsoft Dynamics 365 product

Now: what happens when your whole business is built around AI Agents?

When AI Agents handle volume across every department, your firm becomes something different. Microsoft calls it a Frontier Firm. Read on.