Agentic AI in Manufacturing – Real Use Cases Driving Real Value
3 minute read
Agentic AI, with its ability to operate autonomously and adaptively, is transforming how manufacturers approach everything from customer service to compliance. As Joel Lindstrom, Hitachi Solutions Power Platform Senior Sales, emphasized in our recent webinar, “Start with meaningful business cases… where the biggest rework is, where the biggest frustration is.”
Let’s take a look at a few use cases shared during the webinar:
Use Case 1: Pharmaceutical Manufacturer – Strategic Pilot Deployment
This organization didn’t just flip the switch on Copilot. They began with a strategy—auditing their data, defining personas, and rolling out a pilot with strong governance. The result? A scalable framework for agent deployment that prioritizes security and user readiness.
Use Case 2: Dental Manufacturer – Unified Customer Service
Customer service agents were bogged down by fragmented systems—Oracle, SharePoint, warranty databases. By integrating these into Copilot Studio, they achieved a 90% faster response rate, boosting efficiency.
Use Case 3: Pharma Compliance – Automating Adverse Event Audits
Faced with rigorous FDA compliance, this manufacturer used agents to automate the creation of audit workbooks. The result was reduced risk, faster turnaround, and happier teams.
Here’s a segment from our webinar, where Joel breaks down these use cases in greater detail:
The results from these agentic AI manufacturing use cases:
- Gained deep understanding of M365 Copilot and agents
- Prioritized main pain points across functions and outcomes
- Aligned business goals to maximize productivity and efficiency
- Enhanced security by implementing auto-labelling, preventing data leaks on endpoints and automatically removing inactive content.
- Increased customer and agent satisfaction for more fluid transactions.
As Sugan Narayanan from Microsoft explained during the webinar, “Copilot Studio is the UI for AI.” This wasn’t just a catchy phrase. This is a strategic insight into how manufacturers can operationalize Agentic AI. Sugan outlined how Copilot Studio acts as the interface layer that connects humans to agents, enabling contextual intelligence and orchestration across business processes. He emphasized that agents—whether retrieval, task-based, or autonomous—can be built securely and governed within Microsoft’s enterprise frameworks, and that partners like Hitachi Solutions are already delivering vertical-specific agents tailored to manufacturing use cases.
This vision aligns perfectly with Hitachi Solutions’ approach: meeting manufacturers where they are in their AI maturity journey and helping them scale from simple pilots to fully autonomous agent ecosystems. If you’re exploring retrieval agents or building autonomous workflows, the key is to start with a real business problem. As I mentioned in the webinar, “AI is transformation. You need solid foundations, best practices, and a partner who meets you where you are.”
Want to hear more on this and other topics around agentic AI for manufacturers? You can watch the full Agentic AI in Manufacturing webinar or learn more about how we are partnering with manufacturers in building a digital AI-lead transformation.
