AI technology and Azure AI continue to evolve rapidly, bringing innovations and options that can be applied to business operations. Two recent announcements in the Azure AI Foundry —Microsoft’s Responses API and the Computer-Using Agent (CUA)—are set to enable Agentic AI to help with workflows, boost productivity, and eventually reshape business processes, workflows and even integrations. CUA may be more familiar via OpenAI Operator, and now/soon this technology will be available in Azure AI Foundry to be utilized by enterprises and businesses.
In summary, these technologies offer businesses new ways to automate complex tasks and workflows, which enhances operational efficiency, and drives innovation. The Responses API can simplify integration of AI into existing business systems, making AI-driven decision-making more accessible and effective. The Computer-Using Agent extends automation further by enabling AI to directly interact with software/application interfaces, executing tasks and automating workflows to bridge the gap between digital tools and real-world tasks.
Together, these capabilities empower businesses to reimagine AI not just as an assistant—but as an active digital workforce. Enterprise customers will soon gain access to these innovations driving automation, efficiency, and intelligence at scale.
Responses API: Simplifying AI IntegrationPractical Use CasesComputer-Using Agent (CUA): Empowering AI to Interact with Your SystemsPractical Use CasesWhat Does This Technology Mean for Your Business?Read more
Let’s take a look at these technologies and explore their potential impact.
Responses API: Simplifying AI Integration
The Responses API is a bridge connecting AI agents seamlessly with the systems, data, and functions they need to perform tasks effectively. It unifies retrieval, reasoning, and action execution into one simplified API call, dramatically reducing the complexity of building robust AI-driven solutions.
Responses API combines Chat Completions API with the advanced capabilities available through Assistants API and Azure AI Agent Service. Enabling interaction with tools like CUA, function calling, and file searching in the same ,a single, API call. This enables AI systems to retrieve data, process information, and take actions. This means we are connecting AI to enterprise workflows and processes.
Key capabilities include Integrated AI Tools, which combine multiple AI functionalities, improving efficiency without managing complex integrations. Tool & functions calling, computer use, and file search are supported. With this you get Enterprise Data Interaction: AI agents can dynamically access internal documents and databases to retrieve necessary information instantly. It also supports Chaining responses into conversations, which means conversations are contextual. Agent maintains context across interactions, enabling more fluid, meaningful AI-driven dialogues.
Responses API ensures enterprise-level privacy and data security, critical for organizations in regulated industries. It has.Enterprise-grade data privacy, and it is built with Azure’s trusted security and compliance standards.
As the result combining and consolidating retrieval, reasoning, and action execution into a single API, the Responses API simplifies agentic AI development.
Practical Use Cases
Customer Service Automation: AI solutions access customer histories, handle inquiries efficiently, and execute requests, such as issuing refunds, without manual intervention.
Financial Reporting: Automated retrieval and consolidation of financial data simplify compliance and reporting tasks, reducing errors and operational overhead.
Computer-Using Agent (CUA): Empowering AI to Interact with Your Systems
The CUA represents a significant leap forward by enabling AI to interact directly with computer applications through their graphical interfaces, performing tasks traditionally handled manually or through rigid automation scripts.
The Computer-Using Agent (CUA) is a specialized AI model in Azure OpenAI Service that allows AI to interact with graphical user interfaces (GUIs), navigate applications, and automate multi-step tasks—all through natural language instructions. Unlike traditional automation tools that rely on predefined scripts or API-based integrations, CUA can interpret visual elements, adapt dynamically, and take action based on on-screen content.
Some Computer-Using Agent key capabilities are, similar to ChatGPT Operator:
GUI Interaction: AI autonomously performs actions like opening applications, clicking through workflows, entering data, filling forms, and navigating multi-page applications & processes.
Dynamic Adaptation: It intelligently adapts to interface changes or updates without extensive reprogramming, overcoming limitations of traditional automation with rigid scripts.
Cross-Application Operation and Task Execution: Seamlessly operates across multiple software environments, both web-based and desktop, integrating disparate systems and interfaces without API dependencies.
Natural language command interface: Describe tasks in plain language, and CUA determines the correct UI interactions to execute.
This is how OpenAI visualizes how CUA works.
Practical Use Cases
IT Task Automation: Automating installations, updates, configuration adjustments, and system diagnostics, greatly improving IT efficiency.
Inventory Management: Automatic inventory checks, order placements, and updates across multiple systems, ensuring accurate, real-time supply chain management.
What Does This Technology Mean for Your Business?
Adopting the Responses API and the Computer-Using Agent isn’t just about enhancing technology—it’s about fundamentally improving how businesses operate. What about if there wouldn’t be a need to develop a SAP integration or integration to legacy LOB-system, but agentic CUA would just click around those applications to get and enter the data? With these technologies, we can take a step forward in automating repetitive and routine tasks. This can allows teams and people to concentrate on strategic projects, boosting overall productivity.
This would mean
Greater Accuracy and Reduced Risk: Minimizing human intervention in data-heavy tasks reduces errors and increases reliability, enhancing decision-making confidence.
Scalability and Growth: Businesses can scale quickly, expanding capabilities without proportional increases in complexity or staffing.
Accelerating Innovation: With less time spent on mundane tasks, your teams can focus on innovation, rapidly developing new customer-focused solutions and services.
In essence, these technologies will empower enterprises and businesses to stay agile, responsive, and ahead of competition, turning technological advancements into clear, strategic business advantages. In other words: agentic AI with CUA and Responsive API will deliver what has been visioned since GenAI became well known a few years ago.
Enterprise customers will gain access to the Responses API and CUA in Azure OpenAI Service in the coming weeks.
This article is a combination of ChatGPT Deep Research GPT-4.5 and my writing. Never use the text AI creates without reading it and adjusting the result when necessary. In the age of AI, it would be quite strange to talk and write about AI without using it to speed up what I do.
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I work, blog and speak about Future Work : AI, Microsoft 365, Copilot, Microsoft Mesh, Metaverse, and other services & platforms in the cloud connecting digital and physical and people together.
I have about 30 years of experience in IT business on multiple industries, domains, and roles.
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