This article summarizes the capabilities of the AI assistant. Use it as a checklist of what the assistant can support. For an overview of how the assistant works, see About the AI assistant.
What employees can do depends on the agents they are eligible to use and the knowledge, tools, workflows, and channels you have configured.
Capabilities at a glance
| Capability | What employees can do | What you configure |
| Conversations | Ask for help in natural language and continue a conversation without repeating information. | Which channels and agents are available. |
| Knowledge | Get answers based on approved company content, with citations where available. | Which knowledge sources each agent can use. |
| Tools and actions | Retrieve live information or complete supported HR tasks in the conversation. | Connections, tools, risk levels, and which tools are attached to each agent. |
| Workflows | Start or continue a guided or agentic process without leaving the conversation. | Which published workflows the assistant can start. |
| Specialist agents | Stay in one conversation while work is handed to the agent best suited to the request. | Which specialist agents exist, who can use them, and which tools they can access. |
| Cases | Get a question answered without creating a case, or raise a case when tracked HR work is needed. | Intake, deflection, and Case Management settings. |
| Visuals | See structured information as cards, lists, charts, maps, or diagrams. | Visual tools and agent instructions. Interactivity depends on the channel. |
| Files | Upload supported files and ask the assistant to use them in the conversation. | Which channels and agents allow attachments. |
| Feedback | Rate responses and provide feedback when an answer or action is unhelpful. | How you review conversations and feedback. |
Knowledge
When an employee asks a policy or process question, the assistant searches the knowledge sources available to the agent, identifies relevant content, and uses that content to generate the response. Responses can include citations that link to the original source.
Knowledge retrieval follows your configured access policies, including role, country, language, and effective-date controls where applicable.
For supported source types and limitations, see Content the AI Assistant can use and How the AI Assistant uses synchronized SharePoint content.
Tools and actions
Agent Tools give an agent access to a specific capability in a connected system. A tool can retrieve information, such as a leave balance, or perform a supported action, such as submitting a time-off request or generating a document.
The assistant can only use tools that are active and attached to the agent. It cannot create a new system action or access a system without a configured connection.
When an action requires several pieces of information, the assistant can collect the details across multiple turns and then complete the request. Confirmation is configurable and should match the risk of the action. Test tools before you make them available to employees.
For the types of tools you can provide, see Tools available and what they do.
Workflows
The assistant can start or continue a published workflow when an employee’s request requires a designed, multistep process. Employees can track progress, provide information when prompted, and cancel a workflow while it is awaiting their response.
Use everyday conversation for open-ended help and individual approved actions. Use a workflow when the process needs a defined path and outcome. See Understand agentic workflows.
Specialist agents
A primary agent can coordinate work across specialist agents when a request requires more than one domain or set of tools. Employees do not choose an agent from a list. The handoff happens within the same conversation.
Specialist agents are not separate employee-facing chat assistants. Each specialist agent can only use the knowledge and tools configured for it. For more information, see Multi-agent orchestration.
Cases
The assistant can help employees resolve questions without creating a case. When a request requires tracked HR work, it can raise or route a case instead.
How this works depends on your Case Management configuration, including intake, deflection, and triage settings.
Visuals
The assistant can present structured information as a visual instead of a long block of text. Visuals change how a result is presented. They do not retrieve data themselves.
Visuals are interactive in the employee portal and mobile app. In Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Outlook, they appear as static images. See Applaud visuals and AI support across channels.
Conversations, files, and feedback
Employees can start, continue, rename, and return to conversations. The assistant keeps context within a conversation so follow-up questions can remain natural.
Employees can upload documents, images, and other supported files. The assistant can read and search those files. Uploaded files are scanned, and unsafe file types are blocked.
Employees can rate responses and leave comments. Use conversation history and Agent analytics to understand what is working and where knowledge, tools, or agent instructions might need improvement.
Channels
Employees can use the same AI assistant in the employee portal, mobile app, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Microsoft Outlook.
The assistant provides the capability; the channel provides the way employees access it. Not every capability looks or behaves the same in every channel. Availability depends on your configuration and subscription.