Microsoft Copilot: The Impact of AI on Dynamics 365
In episode 9 of the “Inside Dynamics Communities” podcast, John Siefert, CEO, Dynamics Communities and Summit NA, Ryan Gonzales, Senior Sales Director, Dynamics Communities and Summit NA, and Pam Misialek, Community Director, Dynamics Communities and Summit NA, break down the latest stories happening inside the Dynamics community. In today’s episode, the hosts discuss the impact that AI will have on Dynamics 365, given Microsoft’s latest release.
This episode is sponsored by Summit North America, the largest independent gathering of the Microsoft Business Applications ecosystem, taking place Oct. 15-20, 2023, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Register today to connect with thousands of users across the Microsoft business applications ecosystem at the for user, by user event.
Highlights
00:33 — A recent release from Microsoft titled “Introducing Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot, bringing next-generation AI to every line of business” details how the company plans to modernize Dynamics 365 through artificial intelligence (AI).
02:01 — “There’s obviously two different spectrums here,” says Ryan. On the positive side, Microsoft Copilot has the ability to create a return on time investment. With Microsoft Copilot, sales teams have the ability to craft a draft email or chat response with one single click, “saving 66% of the day for salespeople.” Ryan acknowledges his excitement regarding this announcement, but wonders “if it’s gonna stick around.”
03:53 — John agrees with Ryan’s point and advises that we “be careful about how quickly we hop on the hype cycle with this stuff and what that’s going to mean.” He adds that he likes how Microsoft Copilot enables AI to develop “skills” through the sales process, and the feedback loop between humans and machine learning (ML) enables the two entities to work together to create something.
05:16 — “That’s what I liked about it — the idea that it complements you,” notes Pam. Microsoft Copilot cannot replace humans, but it can offer valuable insights and outline the “next steps” for a salesperson. Pam notes that without human influence, creativity would get lost, although AI can help to eliminate mundane tasks from human workers. “I think it could increase the bottom line,” she says.
06:34 — This model goes far beyond a standard “chatbot and telecommunication kind of thing,” explains John. With Copilot, agents can quickly draft an email or chat responses in a single click. For agents working on emails, Copilot can create relevant and personalized responses to customer queries in seconds. After Copilot has done its share of the work, human workers still have the ability to come into the drafts, revise them, and modify the content before it goes out to the customer.
09:01 — For CEOs with a bottom line, investors, and shareholders, they will always be looking for more efficient ways to “do stuff that used to be a lot harder to do.” This enables the ability to do things in a more efficient way for the business that will drive more revenue or profitability for an organization, which is what every CEO is on the hook for with their business. However, John argues it is more important for C-level executives to look at the data that these tools are providing them to help guide the strategic direction of the business. “That data side is big to me, and then the access to that data and the analytics that you can draw out of that data to make those decisions,” concludes John.
11:00 — Pam suggests that a tool like Microsoft Copilot is an opportunity to ask this intelligence questions that will educate the individual salesperson, allowing them to act more like an entrepreneur than an average salesperson. “It gives them that opportunity to level up and become more you can spend time actually thinking about it.”
12:06 — People have to want to do that, though, says John. For salespeople who have taken on the role of an “order taker,” this technology will expose that pretty fast. With Copilot’s data capabilities, organizations can begin to predict and act on disruptions across all suppliers in a supply chain. Additionally, the tool can recognize inventory shortages, carrier issues, and distribution problems, which is compelling, especially for organizations in the manufacturing industry.
14:20 — In Dynamics 365 Business Central, Copilot is going to help small and medium-sized businesses bring new products to the market faster by producing AI-generated product descriptions. The copilot feature can suggest copy for engaging product descriptions tailored specifically to what brands are positioned to deliver.
15:52 — There is an expectation from the next generation of the workforce that these tools will be here, enabling companies to focus on more strategic, productive tasks.
16:41 — Taking this tool, in combination with human intelligence and influence, Ryan believes it will positively impact customer experience. When asked her final thoughts, Pam wonders how this tool will evolve. How deep can it go? She thinks it will be incredibly interesting to see how these technologies will change the world.
18:31 — Embedding AI into Dynamics 365 — the first ERP system — is pretty game-changing, says John in closing.
