In this introductory video, April, a principal cloud advocate at Microsoft, presents the concept of building your own AI agent—an intelligent assistant capable of understanding tasks, making decisions, and executing actions. Unlike simple chatbots, these AI agents are designed to have autonomy, memory, and rule-based behavior, making them more versatile and practical for various applications. April emphasizes that creating such agents is accessible, even for those without advanced AI experience, and highlights their growing presence in research, internal tools, and customer service across industries.
The series aims to guide viewers through the entire process of developing an AI agent using the AI toolkit within Visual Studio Code. This toolkit transforms the editor into a comprehensive AI development environment, allowing users to create, test, and deploy their agents seamlessly. April assures that whether you’re an engineer, a hobbyist, or just AI-curious, you’ll find the series approachable and informative. The goal is to empower viewers to not only use AI but to actively create and customize their own intelligent assistants.
April explains what an AI agent is by comparing it to a smart coworker that performs specific tasks with some level of independence. These agents are equipped with memory to recall important information and follow defined rules to guide their actions. She notes that AI agents are already in use in various sectors, powering research tools, internal co-pilots, and customer experiences. Learning how to build one places you at the forefront of AI development, enabling you to innovate and tailor solutions to your needs.
Throughout the series, viewers will learn how to select appropriate language models, define agent behavior, interact with their agents, and test responses. The series will also cover connecting agents to servers, measuring performance, and structuring output effectively. As AI technology evolves, additional videos will be added to expand skills and keep pace with new developments, ensuring that learners can continually grow their expertise in building AI agents.
Finally, April highlights the practical aspects of the development environment, mentioning that the AI toolkit within Visual Studio Code leverages GitHub-hosted models, which are free within certain limits. This setup allows for experimentation without unexpected costs. She invites viewers to subscribe to the VS Code YouTube channel and expresses excitement about helping them start building their first AI agent in the next video, beginning with choosing the right model for their project.
