Level 1
Answer questions from company knowledge
Staff policy, IT guides or product documentation: the agent finds the answer and names the source.
Needs: current, approved documents.
AI AGENTS · FOR SWISS SMES
AI agents for SMEs.
What they can do.
What they cost.
An AI agent answers questions from your approved documents, prepares requests or carries out clearly defined steps in your systems. To get started, we recommend an internal knowledge agent.
30 minutes · Free · No obligation
Knowledge agent as Copilot Studio Starter: from CHF 3,500 excl. VATEXAMPLE: A QUESTION ABOUT THE STAFF POLICY
Ask in Teams
Answer with source
Special case goes to HR
The short answers
- What is an AI agent?
- An AI assistant for one specific task. It follows your instructions, uses approved sources and can carry out steps in other systems.
- Where to start?
- With a task that comes up often and whose answer sits in maintained documents, such as questions about the staff policy.
- What does getting started cost?
- Copilot Studio Starter from CHF 3,500 excl. VAT: one internal knowledge agent with one source in one channel. Microsoft licences and consumption come on top.
- How long does it take?
- Typically 2 to 4 weeks from kickoff to production, depending on data sources, integrations and approvals.
What is an AI agent?
An AI agent is an AI assistant for one specific task. It follows the instructions you give it, draws on the knowledge sources you approve and uses tools to carry out steps. That is how Microsoft describes it, too.
Source: Microsoft LearnInstructions
The brief in plain language: what the agent is responsible for, how it answers and when it hands over to a person.
Knowledge
Approved sources such as SharePoint libraries, your website or data from Dataverse. The agent answers questions from them and can cite the source.
Tools
Connections to other systems. With them the agent creates a service case, opens a ticket or triggers an approval, for example.
And Microsoft Copilot?
Microsoft Copilot (formerly Microsoft 365 Copilot) is the general assistant in Word, Outlook and Teams. An agent is tailored to one task and knows exactly the sources it needs for it. It works where your team or your customers already are: in Copilot, in Teams or on your website.
Roll out Microsoft CopilotWhich tasks suit an agent?
Agents take on tasks at three levels. The higher the level, the more groundwork it needs.
Level 2
Prepare requests
The agent clarifies the request, collects the details and hands open cases to your team with context.
Needs: a channel such as Teams or your website and a clear handover.
Level 3
Carry out steps in systems
The agent creates a service case, assembles a draft quote or triggers an approval.
Needs: access to the target system and points where a person approves.
A good fit
- The task comes up every week.
- The answer sits in documents or systems that someone maintains.
- A person can check the result quickly.
- A mistake can be corrected before it has consequences.
Better not as the first one
- Decisions with legal or financial weight without human approval.
- Topics without a reliable, current source.
- Processes that run differently every time.
- Data with unclear access rights.
THE RIGHT ROUTE
Agent Builder, Copilot Studio or a ready-made agent?
Microsoft offers several routes to an agent. Which one fits depends on who uses the agent and whether it only answers or also acts.
Agent Builder
For internal knowledge and assistant agents
In Agent Builder, part of Microsoft Copilot, subject-matter experts describe in plain language what the agent should do and test it straight away. According to Microsoft, employees with a Copilot licence incur no additional usage charges.
Agent Builder and Copilot Studio compared
Copilot Studio
For customer channels, actions and fixed processes
The agent also works on your website, acts in other systems or starts on its own. Copilot Credits apply depending on how the agent is built and used.
Copilot Studio consulting
Agents in Dynamics 365
For sales and customer service
Dynamics 365 comes with its own agents, for example to research new leads or document service cases. We review data and access and set them up.
Agents in Dynamics 365
Custom AI workflow
For processes across several systems
When a process connects several systems, such as CRM and accounting, we build it as a workflow of its own with defined checkpoints.
AI workflows for SMEsThree questions decide the route
1
Will customers or partners use the agent, for example on your website?
Then Copilot Studio.
2
Should the agent act in other systems, follow fixed processes or be tested and released separately?
Then Copilot Studio.
3
Are instructions and knowledge from Microsoft 365 enough?
Then Agent Builder.
Several departments using the agent is not, on its own, a reason for Copilot Studio. And if you need more later, you copy the agent from Agent Builder to Copilot Studio.
COSTS
What does an AI agent cost?
The costs consist of three blocks: implementation, Microsoft licences with consumption, and operations. We list them separately.
IMPLEMENTATION BY THEIA
Copilot Studio Starter
from CHF 3,500 excl. VAT
- One internal agent in Microsoft Copilot Studio for an agreed user group
- One prepared, approved knowledge source
- One channel, such as Microsoft Teams, with sign-in and agreed access
- Instructions and response rules for the agreed use case
- Joint answer tests, including missing knowledge and disallowed requests
- A simple route to a named contact person
- Deployment after acceptance, concise operating documentation and an introduction
Quoted separately: further sources and channels, integrations and system actions, and content preparation. We agree the final fixed price and schedule after free scoping. Licences, consumption costs and ongoing support are separate.
Microsoft licences and consumption
What Microsoft charges depends on the route. According to Microsoft, agents from Agent Builder incur no additional usage charges for employees with a Copilot licence. In Copilot Studio, Copilot Credits apply depending on how the agent is built and used. We clarify which licences and how much capacity your agent needs before the quote.
Operations
After launch, an agent needs care: new content, adjusted rules and an eye on quality and consumption. Your team takes this on, or Theia on request.
As of 10 November 2026. Microsoft changes licences and billing for agents frequently. Microsoft's own information is authoritative. Sources on Microsoft Learn: Choose between Agent Builder and Copilot Studio · Plan licensing and cost
Where the limits are
An agent takes work off your hands. The responsibility stays with you.
It can be wrong.
Even with good sources, an agent does not always answer correctly. The risk can be reduced: with approved content, cited sources, tests before launch and a handover to a person.
It shows what permissions allow.
An agent shows each person what they are allowed to see, including content that was shared too widely by mistake. That is why sharing settings should be reviewed before it gets access.
It does not decide for you.
For decisions that carry weight, the agent prepares and a person approves. We agree where those points are before building.
Three steps to your first agent
1
Choose the task
In a free 30-minute call we clarify the user group, knowledge source, channel and prerequisites. You then receive a written fixed-price quote.
2
Build and test
We configure the agent, connect the source and test answers and the handover together with your subject-matter team.
3
Accept and launch
After your acceptance we deploy the agent, document operations and introduce the person responsible.
Typically 2 to 4 weeks from kickoff to production, depending on data sources, integrations and approvals.
Bring one recurring task to a free, no-obligation 30-minute call. We tell you whether an agent suits it and which route fits.
Book an intro callEXPERIENCE
What Theia brings
Microsoft specialization
In October 2026 Theia earned the Microsoft Agentic Business Solutions specialization.
Offer in Microsoft Marketplace
The Copilot Studio Starter is listed as a consulting offer in Microsoft Marketplace.
View the offerAn agent of our own in operation
Theia's Support Agent answers Microsoft questions and hands unresolved requests to our team.
See the Support AgentCommon questions
An AI agent is an AI assistant for one specific task. It follows your instructions, draws on the knowledge sources you approve and can use tools to carry out steps in other systems, such as creating a service case. Unlike a general assistant such as Microsoft Copilot, it is tailored to one task and its sources.
Copilot Studio Starter from CHF 3,500 excl. VAT: One internal knowledge agent with one approved knowledge source in one channel, including authentication, answer tests, simple human escalation and handover. Further sources, channels and integrations are quoted separately. We agree the final fixed price and schedule after free scoping. Licences, consumption costs and ongoing support are separate. What Microsoft charges on top depends on the route: according to Microsoft, agents from Agent Builder incur no additional usage charges for employees with a Copilot licence. In Copilot Studio, Copilot Credits apply depending on how the agent is built and used.
Tasks that come up often, whose answer sits in maintained documents or systems and whose result a person can check quickly. Typical starting points are questions about the staff policy, IT guides or product documentation. Less suitable are decisions with legal or financial weight without human approval and topics without a reliable source.
Microsoft recommends Agent Builder as the starting point when instructions and knowledge from Microsoft 365 are enough. You need Copilot Studio when customers or partners use the agent, when it acts in other systems, follows fixed processes or should be tested and released separately. An agent from Agent Builder can be copied to Copilot Studio later.
Not necessarily. According to Microsoft, employees with a Copilot licence use agents from Agent Builder without additional usage charges. Without a Copilot licence, Microsoft bills through Copilot Credits, depending on the agent and the data source. We clarify which licences you already have and what is missing before the quote.
An agent built with Copilot Studio typically takes 2 to 4 weeks from kickoff to production, depending on data sources, integrations and approvals. A simple knowledge agent in Agent Builder is ready sooner. A custom workflow across several systems typically takes 4 to 8 weeks.
It can happen. The risk can be reduced, but not ruled out: the agent relies on approved content and can show sources, we test the answers with your subject-matter team before launch, and open or sensitive cases go to a person.
That depends on the services and models chosen; there is no blanket answer. Before launch we document the services, data flows, processing regions and permissions for your agent and check them against your requirements. This is a technical assessment, not a legal one.
LET'S LOOK AT YOUR PROCESS
What would you like to simplify?
We discuss your starting point and the next useful step. 30 minutes, free and without obligation.
Milan Pincar
Managing Partner