Startup D-ID announced a new partnership with Microsoft today to provide enterprises and developers with tools to create agentic AI avatars for Microsoft Teams and other Microsoft software, meeting the highest security standards. Adding a visually engaging, natural layer to AI agents promises to enable appealing customer interactions and more personalized customer experiences.
Replacing “cold and scripted” customer service chatbots with D-ID’s conversational AI avatars provides “a more human and engaging experience,” wrote Time magazine when it included D-ID on its list of Best Inventions of 2024. Founded in 2017 as a de-identification solution, D-ID has evolved from a narrow focus on privacy-related technologies to a secure online platform for creating real-time AI Avatars, providing a new interface to LLMs and generative AI applications. “Our vision is to disrupt how humans interface with anything digital. Instead of a graphical user interface, we are going to have a human user interface,” D-ID’s co-founder and CEO Gil Perry told me two years ago.
By now, more than 250 million videos have been produced with D-ID’s self-service studio, and more than 280,000 developers are building solutions with the D-ID API. D-ID’s lifelike interactive avatars can be seamlessly integrated with any online conversational agent activity, including marketing, sales, teaching and learning, and customer service. “While the market offers numerous AI agents, D-ID distinguishes itself by specializing in the visual aspect, the human face,” says Perry. “Our real-time video streaming solution provides a more engaging experience with an agent, including visual elements, body movements, accurate lip-sync in any language, personalized voice, and soon, real-time facial expressions and gestures.”
Rapidly advancing what it calls the Natural User Interface or NUI, the company has introduced over the last year real-time visual AI Agents capable of live interaction; the localization of video content at scale with automated translation; and solutions for marketing teams using avatars at every touchpoint in the marketing funnel. “With over 10,000 businesses and enterprise clients like Fidelity, Deutsche Telekom, AXA, Renault, NTT, and PepsiCo, we are leading the future of emotionally intelligent, seamlessly integrated AI in enterprise workflows,” says Perry.
The new partnership with D-ID is yet another example of how Microsoft is navigating the rapidly-evolving AI landscape. In January, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella wrote: “…we’re entering the next innings of this AI platform shift. 2025 will be about model-forward applications that reshape all application categories… We will build agentic applications with memory, entitlements, and action space that will inherit powerful model capabilities. And we will adapt these capabilities for enhanced performance and safety across roles, business processes, and industry domains.”
Microsoft has integrated AI capabilities into its Microsoft 365 suite, branding it as “Copilot.” Used by 60% of Fortune 500 companies, Microsoft 365 Copilot leverages generative AI to assist with routine administrative tasks, enhance productivity, and improve business processes. Copilot Studio is a low-code tool for creating autonomous AI agents—“the new apps for an AI-powered world”—drawing on specific enterprise data. Using Copilot, a Microsoft sales team has achieved 9.4% higher revenue per seller and closed 20% more deals. A Microsoft marketing team saw a 21.5% increase in conversion rate on Azure.com with a custom agent designed to assist buyers.
“Our partnership with Microsoft is incredibly exciting,” says Perry. “We are particularly thrilled by Microsoft’s enthusiasm for generative AI and integrating D-ID into their products. This collaboration positions D-ID and Microsoft to lead a market projected to reach a trillion dollars by 2033. We are energized to work with a team that exemplifies the highest level of proficiency and dedication, especially in areas like responsible AI, ethics, and security.”
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