Dynamics CE/CRM and Power Platform General Sessions Recognizes All-Stars, Look into 2024 Release Wave 2
Programming Committee member Heidi Neuhauser kicked off the Dynamics CE/CRM and Power Platform General Session on Wednesday, October 16 with the presentation of the 2024 All-Star Winners, before handing the stage to Jason Kim, GM, FastTrack for Dynamics 365 & Partner Success, Microsoft, who explored the ways that Copilot and Dynamics 365 are transforming the customer experience.
2024 CE/CRM and Power Platform All-Stars
This year’s 2024 All-Stars are Sebastian Sieber, Ashley Steiner, and Malcolm McAuley. Congratulations to this year’s winners and thank you for your continuous commitment and contributions to this community!
Transforming Customer Experience with Dynamics 365 and More
Kim explained that Microsoft’s existing software products, like CRM and other ERP offerings, will continue to be “turbocharged with AI,” and new AI-first products will emerge.
It’s evident, explained Kim, that we are in the “era of Copilots,” with over 130,000 organizations experiencing Copilot in Dynamics 365 & Power Platform.
“AI can really help you, and really, Copilot, our version of the AI, [it] really helps you to generate the content, respond to work quicker, and really transform the way it helps people. We see a lot of those examples as part of our sales and customer service engagement.”
He described that AI, and more specifically, Microsoft Copilot, serves as a real-time collaborator that can:
- Generate content
- Spark creativity
- Automate cognitive tasks
- Create enhanced user experiences
Further, he defined the CRM “Megatrends”:
- Generative AI is disrupting CRM
- Categories are converging
- Customer expectations are shifting
Road to Autonomous an Autonomous Customer Experience Platform
Kim defined the path to creating a unified customer experience platform that combines Sales, Service, and Marketing, and an emerging concept of AI Agent Learning Loops – which involves real-time monitoring and the ability to address customers’ pain points quickly.
He gave a demonstration of how this AI Agent Learning Loop can improve the efficiency of customer service agents by providing quick solutions and reducing the time spent on problem resolution, which speaks to the overall impact that AI plays in enhancing customer interactions and improving overall customer experience.
Release Wave 2 Features and Updates
In Dynamics 365 Sales, 2024 Release Wave 2 updates include:
- Administration and extension experiences
- Copilot and AI Innovation
- New seller experiences
Programming committee member Kylie Kiser reviewed some of the specifics of these new features of the product, focusing on:
- AI-generated Account Summaries
- Seller Conversation Tactics
- Power BI Integrations
Kiser encouraged attendees to engage with these new features and provide feedback to Microsoft which will accelerate general availability – Kim encouraged the same. Finally, she highlighted the full-screen Copilot overview in CRM, which includes goal-tracking and meeting preparation features.
In Dynamics 365 Customer Service, new features for Release Wave 2 include:
- Support agenda
- Empower agenda
- Autonomous agents as supervisors of AI agents
Will McLendon further defined the new features that enhance agenda experiences, such as:
- Enhanced Cases View
- Proactive Prompts and Insights
- Omnichannel agent dashboards in Contact Center
Key Areas of Investment in D365 Applications
In closing, Kim outlined Microsoft’s key investment areas, such as security and fundamental investments into the D365 platform itself, focusing specifically on ongoing investment in autonomous Customer Experience platforms given the tangible value they bring to individual users.
“We are going to keep enhancing around those, aAnd based on that, you can imagine the apps on top of it, autonomous Sales, autonomous Customer Service… so that you can really see the value, tangible value, from the individual perspective,” noted Kim.
Leveraging AI and Copilot features improves the efficiency of the system and enhance customer engagement.
