Beyond the Hype: What I Learned from a 45-Minute AI Research Agent Lab

AI Agents are everywhere right now. We've all seen the flashy demos and read countless articles, but I wanted to understand how a research agent actually works beyond the marketing buzz. So I spent about 45 minutes completing Microsoft's Applied Skills – Generate Reports with AI Research Agents . Unlike a typical certification exam, this is a hands-on lab that runs inside a virtual machine. Instead of answering multiple-choice questions, you're guided through building an AI-assisted reporting…