Bots (or conversation agents) are rapidly becoming an integral part of your users' digital experience. They're as vital a way for users to interact with a service or application as a web site or mobile experience. Developers writing bots all face the same problems. Bots require basic I/O, they must have language and dialog skills, and they must connect to users – preferably in any conversation experience and language the user chooses. This session will show you how to build and connect intelligent bots to interact with your users naturally wherever they are, from text/sms to Skype, Slack, Facebook, e-mail and other popular services. You'll explore the Microsoft Bot Framework, which provides just what you need to build and connect intelligent bots that interact naturally wherever your users are talking. Live demos will cover the Bot Connector in the cloud, the Bot Build SDK with ASP.NET WebAPI & C# (Node.js is also supported) and how to handle natural language input from the user with the Language Understanding Intelligent Service (LUIS) from Microsoft Cognitive Services. Every business needs bots to provide a more personal experience to its users and customers. Come learn how you can build your own bots in just a few hours.

You will learn:

• About the role of bots and conversation agents in various business scenarios
• The fundamentals of the Bot Framework, including the Bot Connector, the Bot Builder SDK and Language Understanding Intelligent Service (LUIS) from Microsoft Cognitive Services
• How to get started with building simple intelligent bots that support natural language and can interact via the web, Skype, Slack, texting and other channels