The Sales Qualification Agent in Dynamics 365 Sales is an AI-powered assistant that helps automate the early stages of lead qualification. It’s designed for sales teams that are overwhelmed by high volumes of inbound leads from websites, events, and webinars, where many leads end up idle in the CRM.

Instead of manually researching every new lead, the agent:

• Works on leads that match your selection criteria (for example, lead source, rating, or geography).
• Analyzes each lead against your target customer profile to assess fit.
• Surfaces insights such as background, recent opportunities, and company news.

In its more advanced mode, it can also engage leads directly, follow up, and qualify or disqualify them based on your rules. This helps your team focus time and energy on leads that show stronger purchase intent, while still keeping a consistent process for all inbound leads.

Importantly, the agent is there to assist, not replace, your judgment. Sellers, supervisors, and admins each have defined roles in how the agent is configured, monitored, and used in day-to-day sales operations.

The Sales Qualification Agent offers two modes so you can match automation to your team’s comfort level and lead volume:

1. Research-only mode

• Focus: Automates research, not engagement.
• How it works:
  • Processes leads based on your criteria (such as source, rating, geography).
  • Builds a profile with background details, recent opportunities, and company news.
  • Evaluates how well each lead matches your target customer profile.
  • Generates an initial outreach email draft for leads that meet your criteria.
• Seller role: Sellers review the insights, decide which leads to pursue, and choose whether to send or adapt the suggested outreach email.

2. Research and engage mode

• Focus: Automates both research and engagement.
• How it works:
  • Uses the same selection criteria (source, rating, geography) to pick leads.
  • Researches each lead and then autonomously engages with them.
  • Sends follow-ups and clarifies questions as needed.
  • Evaluates purchase interest based on engagement signals.
  • Applies BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline) to assess readiness to buy.
  • Hands over leads that show purchase intent and meet most criteria to sellers.
  • Disqualifies leads that don’t meet your thresholds and can notify supervisors about disqualified leads.
• Seller role: Focuses on leads that have already been filtered for fit and intent.

When to use which mode?

• Research-only: If your team wants AI support for research but prefers to keep all outreach fully human-driven.
• Research and engage: If you’re dealing with high lead volumes and want the agent to both research and manage early engagement, so sellers spend more time on high-potential opportunities.

Setting up the Sales Qualification Agent involves configuration, capacity planning, and ongoing oversight. Different roles in your sales organization contribute in specific ways:

Key roles

• Administrator
  • Configures the Sales Qualification Agent in Dynamics 365 Sales.
  • Defines selection criteria (for example, lead source, rating, geography).
  • Sets up the target customer profile that the agent uses to evaluate fit.
  • Configures seller hand-off rules and disqualification rules, especially for the Research and engage mode.
  • Manages capacity and billing (prepaid or pay-as-you-go).
• Seller
  • Works on leads that the agent has researched or fully qualified.
  • Uses the agent’s insights and email drafts to prioritize and personalize outreach.
  • Applies judgment to accept, refine, or override the agent’s recommendations.
• Supervisor
  • Monitors leads handled by the agent.
  • Reviews disqualified leads and notifications to ensure the rules are working as intended.
  • Provides feedback to refine criteria, hand-off rules, and messaging.

Capacity and usage

• The agent uses the AI capacity assigned to your tenant to process leads and generate insights.
• You can choose between prepaid capacity and pay-as-you-go models.
• Usage can be monitored through tools such as “Manage consumption-based billing for agent capabilities” and “View the agent’s usage consumption.”

Responsible AI and governance

• The Sales Qualification Agent is built with responsible AI principles in mind and is intended as a productivity tool, not a replacement for human decision-making.
• Microsoft provides dedicated Responsible AI FAQs for both Research-only and Research and engage modes, outlining how quality and safety are evaluated.
• Your team can use these resources to shape internal guidelines on how sellers and supervisors should review and act on the agent’s recommendations.

By combining clear configuration, capacity planning, and responsible AI practices, you can reimagine how your team handles lead qualification while keeping human oversight at the center.