There’s a lot of noise right now about AI agents. Everywhere you look someone is saying create an agent, build a workflow, automate everything, connect systems, train your AI. And while that all sounds impressive, what I’m seeing inside real organisations is something very different. Most teams don’t need an agent. They need better structure. They need better content. They need clarity around how information works. Because the reality is that Microsoft 365 already gives you far more AI capability than most organisations are using, and it’s available straight out of the box.
The Problem With the “Agent First” Mindset
There’s currently a rush to build something clever. IT teams are experimenting with custom agents, automation layers and advanced AI scenarios. Consultants are talking about orchestration, connectors and complex workflows. But when I go into environments, I see documents stored in random folders, multiple versions of the same file, no metadata, broken permissions and content that nobody fully trusts. If your information is messy, no agent is going to fix that. AI does not create value from technical sophistication alone. It creates value from well-organised, well-governed information.
What You Can Already Do Without Building Anything
This is the part many people are overlooking. With Microsoft 365 today, you can already summarise documents directly in OneDrive or SharePoint. You can ask Copilot questions about a file. You can generate content based on documents stored within a folder or library. You can use version history to track changes. You can apply retention and lifecycle policies. You can control access through permissions. You can filter and organise content using metadata. None of that requires custom development. None of that requires a bespoke agent. It requires your content to be in the right place, structured properly, and owned by someone who cares about it.
Metadata Is Still the Real AI Strategy
If you want Copilot to give good answers, it needs context. That context does not magically appear because you switched a feature on. It comes from clear document locations, consistent naming, defined content types, meaningful metadata, logical site structure and trusted permissions. When content is structured properly, Copilot can find the right information faster, summarise more accurately, generate meaningful insights, reduce hallucination risk and respect security boundaries. This is not a new discipline. It is the same information architecture work we have always needed in SharePoint. The difference now is that AI exposes whether you did it properly.
The Folder Myth and the Opportunity
Even small improvements unlock significant value. If you place related documents into a well-structured library, add a few key metadata fields, remove duplicates and archive outdated content, you immediately improve the quality of what Copilot can surface. Suddenly you can summarise a project, generate reports or create new material based on trusted information. That is powerful, and it does not require a single custom agent. It requires intention and structure.
When Agents Do Make Sense
Agents are not the problem. They are just not the starting point. They make sense when you need to bring together multiple systems, automate decision logic, handle high-volume repetitive processes or create specialised business workflows. But if your core content is disorganised, agents simply automate that disorganisation. Structure first. Automation second. The order matters more than people realise.
The Human-Centred Approach to AI
The biggest risk right now is not that organisations will ignore AI. It is that they will chase complexity instead of fixing the fundamentals. A human-centred AI approach asks practical questions. Can people trust the content? Can they find what they need? Is the information current? Is ownership clear? If people do not trust the information, they will not trust the AI. And if they do not trust the AI, adoption fails regardless of how sophisticated the technology is.
The Real Copilot Readiness Strategy
If you are thinking about building agents, start with this instead:
- Clean up duplicate content
- Define simple, consistent metadata
- Organise sites and libraries logically
- Fix permissions
- Archive outdated material
- Establish ownership and accountability
Most organisations will get more value from doing this foundational work than from any custom AI solution layered on top. The tools are already there. The capability already exists. What is missing in many cases is structure and discipline.
The Bottom Line
AI does not have to be complicated to be powerful. Before you build an agent, build a foundation. The organisations that will get the most value from Copilot will not be the ones with the most advanced automation. They will be the ones with the cleanest, most trusted content. And that is something no agent can manufacture for you.
- Clean, logical SharePoint structure (sites, libraries, navigation)
- Metadata + content types that people will actually use
- Permissions and ownership that reduce risk and chaos
- A practical roadmap you can apply immediately
