AI Agents are everywhere right now. We've all seen the flashy demos and read countless articles, but I wanted to understand how a research agent actually works beyond the marketing buzz.
So I spent about 45 minutes completing Microsoft's Applied Skills – Generate Reports with AI Research Agents.
Unlike a typical certification exam, this is a hands-on lab that runs inside a virtual machine. Instead of answering multiple-choice questions, you're guided through building an AI-assisted reporting workflow using Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat and Research Agents.
The most interesting part wasn't the AI model itself—it was the workflow.
Rather than asking a single prompt and hoping for a good answer, the Research Agent follows a structured process:
