Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations/AX General Session Delivers Product Insights, All-Star Awards Ceremony
Elif Item, Michelle Peters, and Brittany Burke welcomed Finance & Operations User Group attendees to the FO/AX General Session on Tuesday, October 15. This session featured programming committee recognition, a presentation of the All-Star Awards, and insights from Microsoft’s Swamy Narayana.
Programming Committee and All-Stars
Thank you to the 2024 Finance & Operations Programming Committee members, Crystal Ahrens, Nigel Cox, Beau Schwieso, Alex Meyer, and Bobby Small.
2024 Finance & Operations All-Star Awards were presented to winners Beau Schwieso, Alex Meyer, and Brittany Burke.
Additional 2024 nominees include:
- Justin Carter
- Steve Goodwin
- Mark Zerr
- Jody Cronk
- Peter Ramer
- Anne Krupke
- Neal Folgers
Maximizing Value with Dynamics 365 FSCM
Microsoft’s VP of Customer Experience Programs, Dynamics 365, Swamy Narayana, delivered a compelling presentation, “Maximizing Value with Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management: Moving to the Cloud and Beyond.”
Narayana highlighted how Microsoft is working to maximize the value of Dynamics 365 by integrating core capabilities into the product, reducing reliance on third-party solutions. He provided examples like the unified pricing engine, which allows for advanced pricing configurations and simulations based on factors like bundle pricing, volume discounts, and promotions.
This gives customers more flexibility and control over their pricing strategies directly within the Dynamics 365 platform. Narayana also discussed the invoice automation capabilities that leverage AI to capture invoices from various channels, automating administrative processes like GL coding and approvals, and provide a fully automated accounts payable solution. By building these capabilities natively, Microsoft is able to deliver a more seamless and efficient experience for customers.
In the area of supply chain management, Narayana explained how Microsoft has built advanced planning and optimization capabilities directly into Dynamics 365. This includes AI-powered demand planning and visual forecasting, as well as real-time MRP optimization that can run complex calculations in minutes rather than days.
He emphasized the importance of reducing complexity and providing these advanced features as part of the core product, rather than requiring customers to integrate with third-party ISV solutions. He highlighted how this allows Microsoft to scale and deliver these capabilities to organizations of all sizes, from small and medium businesses to large enterprises.
Looking to the future, Narayana outlined Microsoft’s vision for leveraging AI and automation to transform business processes, moving towards more autonomous experiences. This includes automating repetitive tasks like data entry, enabling autonomous administration of systems, and ultimately orchestrating entire end-to-end business processes.
The goal is to integrate these AI-powered capabilities directly into the user experience, allowing users to complete their work within the applications they already use, with the system guiding and automating tasks proactively based on context and recommendations. He emphasized the importance of responsible AI, ensuring the models are trained and validated to avoid errors and maintain human control.
Narayana also highlighted the importance of integrated business planning, with the recent acquisition of Xandr to enhance the planning capabilities of Dynamics 365. This will provide a unified experience across sales, demand, and financial planning, leveraging AI to automate planning processes and provide dynamic recommendations to improve efficiency and decision-making. By bringing these planning functions together, Microsoft aims to deliver a more comprehensive and cohesive solution for customers.
