Copilot Podcast: Microsoft’s Mike Morton on Business Central Copilot Capabilities, Copilot in Production

In episode 6 of the “Copilot Podcast,” host Aaron Back is joined by Mike Morton, Vice President, Dynamics 365 Business Central, Microsoft. The two discuss the Copilot capabilities that are available in Business Central, Microsoft’s AIM program, and the necessary skills required to succeed in the Copilot and AI ecosystem.

This episode is sponsored by Community Summit North America, the largest independent gathering of the Microsoft Business Applications ecosystem, taking place Oct. 13-17, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. Register today to connect with thousands of users across the Microsoft business applications ecosystem at the for user, by user event.

Highlights

00:49 — To start, Aaron references the AI Summit Preconference, which took place at Community Summit North America 2023. Mike participated in the Preconference, explaining how SMBs could benefit from Copilot capabilities in Business Central, as well as putting context around Microsoft’s AIM program.

01:38 — Mike explains how AIM is a relatively new program from Microsoft and focuses on getting users to the cloud. “For customers to be part of this real transformation with Copilot, step one is really getting to the cloud.”

AIM is more than just a marketing program — it’s about giving customers what they need to make it over the “hump” that is moving to the cloud.

04:25 — Aaron notes three new Copilot capabilities within Business Central and asks Mike to dive deeper into them:

• Complete bank account reconciliations
  • Available in public preview as of November 2023
• Easily integrate generative AI with AL solutions
  • Generally available as of December 2023
• Chat with Copilot
  • Available in public preview as of February 2024

Mike explains that bank reconciliations are a great example of a capability that, when Copilot is integrated, can be easily automated and become more efficient. As it relates to the “Chat with Copilot” capability, Mike explains that his feature is a way to use natural language to generate specific outputs from Copilot, which will enhance the system’s overall performance. Finally, integrating generative AI with AI solutions means that OpenAI will help users write code that integrates with Business Central, bringing Microsoft’s AI capabilities to customers, partners, and developers.

10:23 — When asked about the necessary skills for users to have in order to succeed in the Copilot and AI ecosystem, Mike notes that, for developers, it’s important to have the skills of engineering prompts and grounding. For users, he explains that they should “try to unlearn what you think AI might be able to do and not do.” In simple terms — interact with AI as if it’s another human.

16:30 — Aaron notes how 2024 is the year of “Copilot in production,” meaning this will be the year of more real-world applications of Copilot and companies applying it. He asks Mike what other companies are using Copilot to drive success.

17:54 — Companies large and small are using Copilot in production today. Mike notes how many customers are using Copilot for creative purposes, or analyzing problems.