How do you open AI agent building to employees without losing governance? When AGCO faced that question, it adopted Microsoft Copilot Studio and Microsoft 365 Copilot, pairing employee makers with expert support. More than 900 employees volunteered to build agents, and some quality reviews dropped from weeks to about an hour. Read the story to learn from AGCO's experience.
Why did AGCO choose Microsoft Copilot Studio for AI agents?
AGCO wanted employees to use AI in a **governed, secure way**, not through disconnected tools and shadow IT.
Employees were already working every day in **Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, and SharePoint**, so choosing **Microsoft Copilot Studio** for agent creation and **Microsoft 365 Copilot** for productivity meant they could:
- Work inside familiar tools instead of learning entirely new platforms.
- Keep data and workflows within enterprise security and compliance boundaries.
- Pair **citizen development** (non-technical makers) with expert support from AGCO’s AI leaders and Microsoft specialists.
As AGCO’s CDAIO Todd Bailey put it, the goal is **not to experiment with AI for its own sake**, but to apply it where it matters most—helping AGCO **move faster, reduce friction, and support better decisions** for farmers and customers.
This approach lets AGCO reimagine how work gets done while maintaining clear governance, measurable ROI, and alignment with real business needs.
How is AGCO scaling employee-built AI agents safely?
AGCO treats **AI literacy and governance** as the foundation for scaling agents.
Key elements of their approach:
1. **Start with volunteers and literacy**
At a leadership meeting with about **2,200 people**, AGCO asked who wanted to build agents—**around 900 employees** immediately volunteered. Training started the next day, and a **maker community in Microsoft Teams** was set up so people could ask questions and help each other.
2. **Pair citizen makers with expert support**
AGCO’s AI leaders and Microsoft specialists work alongside teams. Employees bring **friction points and gaps** in their work; AI champions help shape the right **agent, automation, or workflow**. As Aryn Drawdy notes, the focus is not “How can AI help?” but **“Where are your friction points today?”**
3. **Governed path from idea to enterprise agent**
AGCO is building an **agentic framework**, not one-off bots:
- **Hundreds of citizen-built and team agents** are already in use.
- **Several hundred enterprise agents** are in production, with several hundred more moving through cohorts to be consolidated and optimized for enterprise use.
4. **Continuous expansion with control**
The maker community has grown from the original **900+ makers to roughly 2,000** across AGCO. Licenses are requested, ideas are shared, and solutions are refined into **governed, business-ready deployments** rather than isolated experiments.
This model lets AGCO scale AI agents quickly while keeping them **connected, governed, and aligned to real business outcomes**.
What business impact are AGCO’s AI agents delivering?
AGCO’s AI agents are reshaping how work flows across manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and sales by targeting specific friction points.
Some of the most notable impacts include:
1. **Faster quality reviews in manufacturing**
Previously, quality and warranty processes could stretch over **weeks or even months** as small expert teams reviewed issues, validated data, and aligned on next steps. With AI agents:
- Some quality reviews have been cut **from weeks to about an hour**.
- Agents help **interpret, validate, and advance** quality issues more quickly.
- Expert knowledge is still central, but it’s easier to apply it where it’s needed, reducing delays and improving visibility.
2. **Smarter supplier and contract decisions**
A **supplier agent** reads contracts and flags where AI suppliers could add value and potential savings over the next **one to two years**. This helps AGCO:
- Identify cost-saving opportunities earlier.
- Make more informed decisions about where to apply AI in supplier relationships.
3. **More effective sales conversations with agronomy insights**
An **agronomy agent** combines AGCO agronomy studies, sales guidance, and web content so sales teams can:
- Connect specific agricultural issues to the right machines and solutions.
- Turn internal expertise into actionable guidance at the moment of customer interaction.
4. **Momentum across the business**
AGCO now has:
- **Several hundred enterprise agents in production**.
- **Several hundred more** moving through structured cohorts for optimization.
- A roadmap focusing next on **supply chain, product management, and customer acquisition** through 2026.
Across these areas, the common thread is **turning expertise into accessible, in-the-flow-of-work intelligence**—helping teams move faster, reduce friction, and support better decisions for manufacturing teams and farmers.
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