From Chatbot to Goal-Oriented AI Agent Using Semantic Kernel

The most popular AI demo is the AI chatbot that responds to questions asked by a human. This is a valid and instructive scenario, but we aspire to go beyond the basics in this talk.

Imagine an AI not limited to answering individual questions but rather actively working towards goals you've assigned to it. In this session, we'll explore the building of an AI Agent – an autonomous actor that can execute tasks and achieve objectives on your behalf.

We'll start with a basic C# chatbot built using Microsoft's Semantic Kernel framework. Then we'll transform it into a simple yet powerful AI Agent by giving it access to some tools and assigning it a goal to accomplish using those tools.

The end result is the core (or perhaps 'kernel' 😉) of an AI Agent - a new coworker willing to handle tasks on your behalf without you being there.

Along the way we will explain some of the key (but often confusing) knobs under your control that influence output - and how these relate to agents.

By the end of this talk, you'll understand how to approach building goal-driven AI solutions using Semantic Kernel and (hopefully!) be inspired to apply these techniques to your own projects.

This talk assumes user-level familiarity with LLMs like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot and basic prompt engineering concepts. Anything else will be explained.

Designed as a 60- to 90-minute presentation. Target audience is developers and other technical roles. While C# code will be used to illustrate some of the concepts, it is not necessary to be a C# developer to understand this talk.