AI-based Solutions for Dynamics 365 Business Central Entering the Copilot
Era with Microsoft

Continuous and strong Growth of the Business Central Customer Base

Mike Morton, General Manager for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) at Microsoft, announced that the number of monthly active users of Dynamics 365 Business Central has increased by more than 75 percent compared to the previous year. The number of customers with more than 100 users even increased by 105 percent. That’s phenomenal continued growth - considering that the number of companies using Business Central is already in the tens of thousands. Morton pointed to the trend that, in addition to smaller companies, more and more medium-sized companies are switching to Business Central.

Competitive Advantages for Partners and Customers

Some speakers particularly emphasized the competitive advantages that the company offers Business Central’s partners and their customers. These include the country/regional availability - 131 countries are already available, 20 more are planned - industry specialization for ISV solutions and the unique position Business Central enjoys at Microsoft with connections to Microsoft 365 tools, Power Platform services and Dynamics 365 Copilot.

---

Copilot: an AI-based Solution for Dynamics 365 Business Central

Copilot is a new solution for Microsoft Dynamics 365 BC, based on artificial intelligence. “Microsoft Copilot is a transformative and future-oriented product,” Mike Morton announced to the Directions audience. With the Copilot brand, the company now covers a large part of its software portfolio. For GitHub, Office, Teams, several Dynamics 365 apps and most Power Platform services, AI functions have been developed at various levels of functionality.

Useful Functions for different Divisions

BC Copilot offers a variety of functions that focus on different business divisions. For example, users can use Copilot to automatically generate orders, track deliveries and even optimize staff planning. The solution also provides product recommendations and analysis based on customer needs, helping companies to increase sales.

Another important feature of BC Copilot is the automatic classification of transactions, which automatically recognizes and classifies the content of documents, reducing manual data entry and minimizing errors. The solution also offers improved budget planning and monitoring by using forecasting models to predict future expenditure.

Work even more effectively and efficiently with the Support of AI Solutions

The introduction of AI-based solutions such as Copilot will bring many benefits to Dynamics 365 Business Central partners and customers in the future. Copilot is an advanced AI solution that supports users in the production of texts, suggestions and recommendations. For example, Copilot helps to create emails, reports and other documents by automatically suggesting suitable texts or even entire sentences. Through the targeted use of Copilot, employees can save time and focus on other tasks.

In addition, Copilot can also be used for machine translations and to automate routine tasks in Dynamics 365 Business Central. The tool helps to improve the quality of data and reports by identifying anomalies and deviations in the data and pointing out issues that require further analysis.

This makes BC Copilot a powerful solution for companies using Business Central. With the AI features and intelligent recommendations, companies have the chance to work more effectively and efficiently. Furthermore, they have the opportunity to continuously improve their business processes.

Automatically create Texts

One function of Copilot is the automatic creation of texts for a product. The extension uses the “Large Language Model ” within the Azure OpenAI Services, to control the results. Other attributes of the article such as length, format and style are also taken into account. The results are to be checked and updated by the ERP users before they are saved for practical use in the trading interfaces. A pre-programmed button for the Shopify integration, another element of Microsoft’s wider Shopify alliance, is able to synchronize product data with an e-commerce store.

Benefits of Copilot for Business Central Users

BC Copilot offers a number of benefits for Business Central users:

• Increased productivity: BC Copilot automates many manual tasks such as searching for customer information or creating orders. This saves time and increases the productivity of users.

• Improved data quality: as BC Copilot is based on machine learning, the solution is able to recognize patterns in the data and automatically suggest corrections, improving data quality and minimizing errors.

• Better decisions: Copilot provides users with real-time insights into the data and automatically recommends the best actions based on historical data and behavioral patterns. This helps users to make more informed decisions.

• Simplified processes: BC Copilot is able to automate complex processes such as quote generation and stock management, resulting in faster and more efficient handling of business processes.

• Personalization: BC Copilot learns and adapts to the individual needs and working methods of the user. This gives each user the best possible experience and support.

• Cost savings: by automating tasks and improving data quality, BC Copilot helps to reduce costs and increase the profitability of companies.

Microsoft’s Partnerships with Adobe and Shopify: even better Range of Offerings for BC Customers

Microsoft is partnering with other companies to further enhance its range of offerings to Business Central customers. In his keynote presentation at Directions North America, Mike Morton announced a new partnership with Adobe. The goal of this partnership is to improve the integration of Dynamics 365 with the Adobe Experience Cloud and enable businesses to deliver personalized interactions with customers and enhance customer engagement. The two companies also plan to work together on a solution to integrate Dynamics 365 with Adobe Sign.

Another important partner of Microsoft is the e-commerce platform Shopify. Microsoft has announced an expanded alliance with Shopify to help customers build and operate online retail businesses. By integrating Dynamics 365 Business Central with Shopify, organizations can automate their business processes and make their business more efficient and productive.

Directions North America 2023: great Success for Microsoft and the BC Partners

Overall, Directions North America 2023 was a great success for Microsoft and its partners in the BC ecosystem. The event offered attendees the opportunity to learn more about the latest developments and trends in the areas ERP and AI-based solutions. Microsoft’s introduction of Copilot will bring many benefits to Dynamics 365 Business Central partners and customers in the future - including increased productivity, improved data quality and increased efficiency in the creation of texts and reports.

Microsoft’s partnerships with companies such as Adobe and Shopify also show that Microsoft is continuously expanding and improving its range of offerings for Business Central customers. By combining AI-based solutions as well as partnerships with other companies, Microsoft will help to optimize its customers’ business processes and their business results.