OpenAI shifts to workplace agents

OpenAI began rolling out workspace agents on April 22, turning ChatGPT from a question-and-answer tool into software that can run repeatable team workflows. (openai.com) The feature is in research preview for ChatGPT Business, Enterprise, Edu, and Teachers plans, with a gradual rollout over the next few weeks. OpenAI said admins must enable it, and Enterprise workspaces with enterprise key management are excluded at launch. (openai.com) (help.openai.com) These agents can be built from templates or from scratch, connected to Slack, Google Drive, Google Calendar, and Microsoft SharePoint, and scheduled to run automatically. OpenAI also said they can run inside ChatGPT or in Slack channels, with version history and analytics for teams that publish them. (help.openai.com) (openai.com) An agent is OpenAI’s term for a system that starts from a trigger, follows a set of instructions, and uses approved tools to gather information or take actions. The company’s training materials describe them as a way to handle work people would otherwise repeat by hand across shared systems. (openai.com) That puts the product closer to automation software than to a chatbot. OpenAI’s examples include a sales agent that compiles call notes and account research, an information technology agent that routes software requests and opens tickets, and a weekly reporting agent that pulls data, drafts charts, and delivers a report. (openai.com) The launch also extends a broader shift inside ChatGPT’s workplace products. OpenAI said GPTs will remain available during testing, but it plans to make it easy to convert those custom bots into workspace agents. (openai.com) OpenAI has been laying the groundwork with more workplace controls and connectors. Recent help center updates added workspace analytics for Business and expanded app connections, while the company’s cookbook shows agents using calendar and account systems to prepare meeting briefs and save them into SharePoint automatically. (help.openai.com) (developers.openai.com) For customers already paying for ChatGPT at work, the change is less about asking better questions and more about handing off recurring tasks. OpenAI is now selling ChatGPT as a place where teams can build, share, govern, and schedule software workers inside the same workspace. (openai.com)