Event Moment: AlphaBOLD’s Samiullah Khan on Traditional Chatbots vs. AI Assistants

In this moment, excerpted from the session “Empowering Businesses with AI Agents: Harnessing Microsoft Copilot & Azure AI Foundry,” Samiullah Khan, Senior Practice Manager AI & IoT, AlphaBOLD, talks about how AI systems have expanded the capabilities of traditional chatbots, as they can now service as conversational assistants.

Key Takeaways

• Use case example: Samiullah uses an example of a CFO preparing for a board meeting, comparing what this looks like with and without Copilot. “This isn’t future technology,” he notes. “It’s happening now.”  
• Traditional vs. AI chatbots: Traditional chatbots follow specific rules and might break down when real conversation is required. On the other hand, AI systems are a huge improvement; they’re conversational, context-aware systems.
• Reactive assistants: AI assistants can actually talk to you. They’re reactive, waiting for you to prompt and initiate. They go beyond responding as they have the capability to take action on your behalf.