Welcome to Microsoft's Best Agent Instructions contest as part of Microsoft Build 2025.
2025 is the year of agents... but to build a powerful agent, we need powerful instructions.
Agents are developed and become more effective as we provide instructions, knowledge, and skills. This contest focuses on agent instructions. A well-structured set of instructions ensures that an agent understands its role and tasks and how to interact with users. The following are the main components of agent instructions:
- Purpose
- General guidelines, including general directions, tone, and restrictions
- Skills
So, what are you waiting for?? Unleash your creativity, write your best agent instructions, and submit your prompt for a chance to win amazing prizes! 🥳
The contest is open from May 19 to May 21. The submission deadline is Wednesday, May 21st at at 12:00pm (noon) PST. If your submission is received after this deadline, you will not be eligible to win.
Before submitting, read through the eligibility guidance and make sure you understand the requirements.
Prompt submissions will be evaluated by a panel of judges, including Microsoft VPs, product managers, and developer advocates. Judging criteria will include creativity and applicability.
There will be three winners.
- 🥇 First Place: Surface laptop
- 🥈 Second Place: Surface laptop
- 🥉 Third Place: $200 in Microsoft Store credits
Please reference aka.ms/CanIWin for eligibility. You must be a resident of the United States to be eligible to win a Surface laptop.
The winner will also get a digital badge! All you have to do is register for the M365 & Power Platform Community Recognition Program - https://aka.ms/community/recognition-register along with your agent instructions submission. If you win any of the three places, we will issue you the badge 🎖️.
Need help with prompting? Follow our hands-on lab to learn how to improve your agent instructions.
Or, check out our documentation for how to write effective instructions.