Microsoft has signed an agreement to acquire Genee, an artificial-intelligence-powered scheduling service. Co-founders Ben Cheung and Charles Lee, who plan to join Microsoft, started Genee in 2014 to simplify the time-consuming task of scheduling (and rescheduling) meetings.

Writing on the Microsoft Blog, Rajesh Jha - Corporate Vice President, Outlook and Office 365, said “It’s especially useful for large groups and for when you don’t have access to someone’s calendar.”

Genee uses natural language processing and optimised decision-making algorithms to provide a virtual assistant to arrange meetings.

“For an example of how Genee works, let’s take a look at a common scheduling problem. Say you want to meet a potential customer, Diana, for coffee. Simply send an email to Diana and copy Genee, like you would a personal assistant. Genee understands that you want to “Find a time to meet with Diana for coffee next week” and will streamline the process by emailing her directly with appropriate options that work with your calendar and preferences. Genee will even send out the meeting invite on your behalf – freeing up your time. A coffee meeting scheduled in a snap!,” wites Jha.