Contact centers are where customer loyalty is won or lost, and they’re changing fast. Contact center leaders want to stop managing a collection of point solutions and run one connected operation. Frontier Firms are rebuilding the contact center for agentic service, where AI agents and people work side by side on every channel to resolve issues faster and deliver more personal experiences.

That’s the vision behind Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center. Just three years into our journey, we’ve reached an important milestone: Microsoft has been named a Visionary in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS), in our first year in the evaluation.

Recognition grounded in customer results

Our progress is grounded in what customers are accomplishing as they modernize their contact centers, bringing together people, AI, channels, and customer context to deliver better service. We believe this recognition reflects the tangible results and impact customers are already seeing with Dynamics 365 Contact Center:

• Kotsovolos cut average handle time by 30% and raised CSAT by 6 points.
• Engineers Australia cut average hold time by 18% and reached 70% first-contact resolution, supported by unified member records and Copilot summaries.
• UWV saw productivity gains of more than 30% while cutting the number of systems its agents need by 50%.
• CZ Zorgverzekeringen unified voice and chat for 500 service reps, lowering handle time and making service more personal.
• VCAT resolves 70% of matters earlier through self-service portals and embedded voice.

Microsoft is named a Visionary in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Contact Center as a Service

Read the report

Built for the era of agentic customer service

We believe our placement as a Visionary reflects an approach built for where contact centers are going: AI agents and people working together across the entire customer journey. Dynamics 365 Contact Center brings together the breadth of the Microsoft ecosystem, enabling organizations to build and govern agents with Microsoft Copilot Studio, connect voice through Microsoft Teams, and bring customer and business data with Work IQ into the flow of service.

• For customers: agentic self-service across the channels they choose, with context carried forward when they need a human representative.
• For representatives: real-time assistance with suggested responses, guided resolution, and knowledge across voice and digital channels.
• For supervisors: real-time quality and performance insights that help them identify issues and act sooner.
• For operations teams: intelligent routing, orchestration, and insights to continually improve contact center performance.

The result is a more connected contact center where AI can increasingly take on work, people can focus on the moments that need them most, and organizations can adapt service as customer needs and their business evolve.

Looking ahead

This milestone reflects the trust and partnership of the customers and partners who have helped shape Dynamics 365 Contact Center, and the work of the teams building it every day. We’re proud of the progress so far and excited about the opportunity to transform customer service.

• Read the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Contact Center as a Service report.
• Learn more about Dynamics 365 Contact Center.
• Join us at Microsoft Ignite 2026 to see the latest innovations in action.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service, Drew Kraus, Jason Bridge, Megan Fernandez, Pri Rathnayake, 19 October 2026.

Gartner and Magic Quadrant are trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Microsoft.

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Microsoft has been named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cloud ERP Finance.¹ We believe this recognition reflects something finance leaders are seeing as AI moves into their work: the financial system of record matters more than ever.

Gartner evaluates vendors on their Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute. Learn more in the Gartner Magic Quadrant report.

Figure 1: Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Finance

There’s been no shortage of predictions that agents will make traditional business applications less important. In ERP, we’re seeing the opposite. The answers Microsoft Copilot gives a CFO and the tasks it helps complete for a controller are only as good as the financial data, processes, accounting rules, and controls underneath them. A reconciliation isn’t complete just because two totals match. The underlying transactions must be valid, any discrepancies explained, and the result able to stand up when an auditor asks how it was reached.

Handling financial complexity at the core

That dependency becomes especially important for multinational organizations, where financial complexity is built into the operating model. A single transaction may cross legal entities, currencies, tax jurisdictions, and reporting standards before it reaches consolidated results. Finance must protect the integrity of that path while the business acquires companies, enters markets, and changes how it sells. That work depends on deterministic systems that apply defined rules consistently every time. Agents are most useful when they build on that foundation, helping people understand, prepare, and act, while the ERP continues to govern how transactions are recorded.

That is why we continue to invest in the financial core of Dynamics 365 Finance. The financial journals experience is being re-engineered to support higher transaction volumes and cross-legal-entity complexity, with capabilities designed to help teams view intercompany transactions, create accruals, and preview allocations before posting. We are also investing in capabilities to help organizations address evolving regulatory requirements country by country, including electronic invoicing and e-reporting in France and the next phase of Brazil’s tax reform. For finance leaders considering an ERP modernization, the financial foundation they choose will determine how much work agents can reliably take on.

The Adecco Group illustrates what it takes to manage that complexity at scale. The world’s largest talent advisory company operates 450 legal entities across 60 countries and territories, and it is standardizing its financial processes on Dynamics 365 Finance. In Japan, the company shortened its financial close by two days, and it expects to save $540,000 over three years by decommissioning older systems. “With Dynamics 365, we have been able to significantly improve our control environment,” said Mark Hookey, Head of Finance Transformation Project Office.

Bringing the ledger to where finance works

A trusted financial core is essential, but finance work rarely stays inside the ERP. Analysis is built in Excel, questions about transactions arrive in Outlook, and decisions are made with colleagues in Teams, usually with numbers copied out of the ledger. With Copilot serving as the interface for that work, finance teams can work with ERP data in the flow of their work.

As Dynamics 365 ERP applications connect to Work IQ, Copilot can draw on financial records, business rules, and organizational context within the user’s security permissions. This means a finance leader can ask a question about the ledger during a business review and receive an answer grounded in relevant data. Copilot responses include citations and deep links to underlying records, helping reviewers trace answers to their source. With Copilot Cowork and the Dynamics 365 ERP plugin, an analyst can hand off multi-step work, such as reviewing the status of close tasks across legal entities, while remaining in control of the result. Access to financial data remains governed by the identity, permissions, and compliance controls across the Microsoft Cloud.

Using agents where they help most

Not every finance task needs an agent. Rules-based processes, such as posting and allocations, belong in the ERP, where they are executed consistently according to defined business rules. Agents add the most value where finance teams need to interpret information, such as matching transactions that do not quite line up, processing supplier invoices in different formats, and investigating exceptions.

In Dynamics 365 Finance, the Account Reconciliation Agent can help identify exceptions between subledgers and the general ledger and suggest how to resolve them, with finance teams able to define which legal entities and modules it covers, how much it processes, and when they are notified. Teams can review a simulation of the effect of a resolution before it is applied. In accounts payable, intelligent invoice recognition and suggestions to complete finance entries help more invoices move through processing without manual handling.

Pamarco Technologies, a manufacturer of anilox rolls and printing technology with seven legal entities and customers in almost 70 countries, provides an example of this approach in practice. Working with Copilot Cowork, Microsoft Copilot Studio, and the Dynamics 365 ERP MCP server on top of Dynamics 365 Finance, Pamarco applied AI to several finance workflows: progressing tasks in its financial period close workspace, coding non-purchase-order freight invoices with about 95 percent success, and preparing reporting such as its monthly board sales presentation. “We’ve been able to automate roughly 40% of financial close tasks with autonomous AI agents,” said Glyn Wilson, Chief Information Officer. Throughout, the close workspace, permissions, and records in Dynamics 365 Finance remain the system of record the finance team relies on.

Let’s get started

Agents will take on more of finance’s work, but only as much as the foundation underneath them allows. That’s why we’re investing in three things in Dynamics 365 Finance. The first is a financial core built for multinational complexity. The second is Copilot, bringing that data into the tools finance teams already use. The third is agents, applied where interpretation and judgment are needed rather than where rules already do the job. We’re proud of this recognition from Gartner, and we’ll keep investing so finance leaders can take on more without giving up the control and confidence their organizations depend on.

• Read the report: 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cloud ERP Finance.
• Explore Dynamics 365 Finance or request a demo.
• See Dynamics 365 at Microsoft Ignite, November 17–20, 2026.

Microsoft named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cloud ERP Finance

Read the report

¹ Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP Finance, Mike Helsel, Irmina Melarkode, October 13, 2026

Gartner and Magic Quadrant are trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any company, vendor, product or service depicted in its publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s business and technology insights organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this publication, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Microsoft.

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A late shipment, a shift in demand, or a jump in costs means procurement, production, and finance all have to respond at once. You need business applications designed to help maintain transaction accuracy, auditability, and control. And with your people turning to intelligent tools to work faster, you need governance that keeps every action grounded in the data, policies, and controls your business runs on.

Managing that complexity is what Microsoft Dynamics 365 is built for, and Microsoft has been named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide AI-Enabled Operational ERP 2026 Vendor Assessment.¹ The assessment evaluates vendors on both their current capabilities and how well their strategies align with what customers will need over the next three to five years.

Microsoft was named a Leader by IDC MarketScape

IDC observes that “Dynamics 365 is differentiated by the wider Microsoft platform,” and that Microsoft’s agentic ERP vision “is built on an open, MCP-first architecture that connects AI agents directly to business systems, data, and processes.” The report identifies three strengths:

• Interoperability across the Microsoft platform. A key differentiator for Dynamics 365 is its native connection to Microsoft 365, Power Platform, Microsoft Azure, Dataverse, and Microsoft Copilot. For organizations already standardized on Microsoft, this brings ERP into the tools people already use and provides a single foundation for security, identity, compliance, and analytics, which reduces integration friction.
• Agentic AI built on the Microsoft AI stack. Microsoft’s agentic ERP vision is built on an open, MCP-first architecture that connects AI agents to business systems, data, and processes. The Dynamics 365 ERP MCP server provides standardized, governed access to ERP capabilities and business context. Through Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Cowork, Work IQ, and AI agents, customers can enable agentic scenarios across finance, supply chain, and manufacturing workflows.
• Cloud-current delivery with flexible, composable licensing. Dynamics 365 delivers frequent automatic updates that keep customers current, which references value for staying on the latest release without falling out of date, alongside fast deployments where more than a third of customers go live in under six months. 

The future of ERP is agentic

Today, too much of running a business still means working around software: switching between applications, rebuilding context, and translating decisions into the steps each system expects. A more modern approach makes it possible to organize software around the work instead. As Satya Nadella wrote in The Infinite SaaS Factory:

The lesson is that more agents don’t make systems of record less important. They make trusted places to maintain information, coordinate changes, and manage state even more important. We see a similar pattern in sales, customer service, finance, and ops.

—Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft

Copilot provides the new front end for work, while Dynamics 365 provides the governed foundation that makes ERP business logic and context available to agents.

Bringing ERP into the flow of work

Finance and operations leaders make decisions in meetings, conversations, documents, and spreadsheets, not only inside ERP applications. Microsoft 365 Copilot can bring financial and operational context and actions into those places, helping people work in natural language, reason over enterprise data, and identify risks without switching applications. Work IQ can connect business data from Dynamics 365 with the organizational context of Microsoft 365, so the information that surfaces can help to reflect how the business actually works.

For example, depending on configuration and data connects, a finance leader can explore how changing customer payment patterns affect cash flow while preparing for an executive review. An operations leader can see how a supply constraint affects production priorities and customer commitments without first assembling information from multiple teams.

Bringing agents into business processes

Beyond individual productivity, agents can transform how work moves across the organization. Take that late shipment: a sourcing change may protect production but raise costs, and a revised schedule may preserve capacity but put customer commitments at risk. Decisions take coordination across people, applications, and processes, and that coordination is often what slows the business down.

Dynamics 365 delivers agents for quick deployment including the Procurement Agent, Account Reconciliation Agent, Time Entry Agent, Expense Agent, and the Activity Approvals Agent (all in production-ready preview). These agents can draw on business and productivity data and bring people in when judgment or approval is needed. Using the Dynamics 365 ERP MCP server, Dynamics 365 ERP apps Cowork plugin, and tools like Microsoft Copilot Studio, organizations can also build agents and business skills tailored to their own workflows, which can help extend ERP intelligence across teams, applications, and business processes.

Reinventing the system of record for an agentic world

As agents evolve to take on more responsibility, the ERP foundation matters more, not less. Dynamics 365 ERP apps are your systems of record that can help you provide your policies, controls, and governance to agentic workflows. Their data, business logic, and security can help provide Copilot and agents the context to reason over the work and operate in accordance to your business frameworks and processes. Intelligence is applied where intelligence adds value, with ERP logic helping to manage execution. Through MCP, Power Platform, Microsoft Fabric, and Azure, organizations can extend that foundation to fit how their business runs, while staying connected to the systems of record they already depend on.

Let’s get started

The future we’re building with Microsoft Dynamics 365 brings ERP into the flow of work and agents into business processes, on a financial and operational foundation. Agentic ERP isn’t about making tasks faster, it’s about making the business faster. The next era of ERP will be defined by how effectively organizations connect people, agents, and enterprise systems to turn intelligence into action and drive business growth.

• Read the report: IDC MarketScape: Worldwide AI-Enabled Operational ERP 2026 Vendor Assessment excerpt.
• Explore Dynamics 365: Dynamics 365 Finance and Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management.
• See the broader vision: The Infinite SaaS Factory by Satya Nadella and Bringing CRM into the flow of work and agents into business process by Jeff Teper.

¹ IDC MarketScape: Worldwide AI-Enabled Operational ERP 2026 Vendor Assessment, September 2026, IDC Doc #US54134726.

The post Microsoft named a Leader in the 2026 IDC MarketScape for AI-Enabled Operational ERP appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Sales teams have access to more information in the flow of work than ever before. Customer conversations, customer relationship management (CRM) data, meetings, emails, service interactions, and market signals can all provide valuable context—but only if sellers can quickly turn that information into meaningful next steps.

For many organizations, that is becoming the real challenge. The issue isn’t a lack of data or activity. It’s helping sellers understand what matters most, prioritize effectively, and confidently take the next step with customers.

That’s why the sales force automation market is evolving. Organizations are increasingly looking beyond traditional CRM capabilities and evaluating how AI can help transform research, decision-making, and execution across the sales process. They’re looking for a system of action, not just a system of record.

We’re excited to share that Microsoft has been recognized as a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for CRM Sales Platforms, marking the sixteenth consecutive year in the Leaders quadrant.

Microsoft is named a Leader in 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for CRM Sales Platforms

Read the report

Dynamics 365 Sales continues to evolve with AI-powered capabilities designed to help sellers work more efficiently and focus on customer engagement. Organizations can use these capabilities to streamline everyday sales activities, surface relevant information, reduce manual work, and support more informed customer interactions while maintaining control over how AI is applied within their sales processes.

Why this matters for sales teams

Sales organizations are under growing pressure to do more with less.

Buyers expect more personalized engagement, faster responses, and better experiences across every interaction. At the same time, sellers must navigate increasing amounts of information spread across multiple systems and touchpoints.

As a result, many teams are spending valuable time researching accounts, gathering context, updating records, and coordinating next steps rather than focusing on customer engagement.

This is where AI is beginning to play a meaningful role.

Rather than simply surfacing information, AI can help sellers synthesize insights from multiple sources, identify possible priorities, recommend actions, and support decision-making throughout the sales cycle. The goal is not to replace sellers; it is to help them move faster with better context and greater confidence—through a system of action that helps guide the next best step.

For sales leaders, these same capabilities can provide improved visibility into pipeline health, potential risks, and areas that require attention, helping organizations make more informed decisions and improve execution across teams.

How Microsoft is helping modernize sales execution with AI

Dynamics 365 Sales is designed to help organizations bring together CRM data, productivity tools, collaboration experiences, and AI-powered assistance into a unified sales experience. Gartner notes that Microsoft helps sales teams improve pipeline visibility and seller productivity through AI-driven research, analytics, and workflow automation. By combining CRM, productivity, and collaboration data with extensible AI agents, organizations can make more informed sales decisions while reducing manual effort.

For example, capabilities such as Sales Research Agent, Data Enrichment Agent, and Sales Agent help keep customer and opportunity data current, while Sales Qualification Agent can help sellers research, engage, and qualify leads more efficiently. Together, these tools help shift CRM from a system for recording sales activity to one that can actively support sellers throughout the sales process.

Microsoft also brings AI directly into the flow of work through Sales Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot, enabling context-aware meeting preparation, record summaries, follow-up assistance, and sales insights across Dynamics 365, Outlook, and Teams.

For organizations with unique business requirements, Copilot Studio and Microsoft Power Platform enable the creation of customized AI agents that connect systems, automate workflows, and support specialized sales processes subject to customer configuration, governance, and applicable product capabilities.

Together, these capabilities create a more connected selling experience—helping teams turn insights into action, collaborate more effectively, and execute with greater consistency across the sales cycle.

Hear from our customers

Sales Research Agent helps our sales leaders get from idea to business insight and action much faster. They can ask complex business questions in natural language and get clear, decision-ready insights in minutes. It simplifies disparate data sources into a centralized experience where we can make better planning and performance decisions with far less manual effort.

Karl Phenix VP, Global Microsoft Strategy & GTM at TTEC Digital

Sellers want more control and less manual work. Sales Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot prompts them to update records, assign tasks, and keep data current—without ever opening the CRM.

Keith Mescha, Executive Director, Tech Consulting, EY

AI‑driven data enrichment will improve the quality, consistency, and completeness of customer data in Dynamics, reducing administration for every person on the sales teams while improving our ability to action, analyst, and improve customer outcomes.

Nick Segger, Head of Sales & Agency Transformation, NFU Mutual

As selling continues to evolve, Microsoft remains focused on helping organizations apply AI in practical ways that drive business outcomes while empowering sellers to focus on building customer relationships and moving opportunities forward.

1 Gartner, Magic Quadrant for CRM Sales Platforms, Adnan Zijadic, Guy Wood, Wendy Butler-Mafuz, August 6, 2026

Gartner and Magic Quadrant are trademarks of Gartner, Inc., and/or its affiliates.

All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any company, vendor, product or service depicted in its publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s business and technology insights organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this publication, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

*This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Microsoft. 

**Microsoft Dynamic CRM has been recognized as a Leader since 2011 and Microsoft Dynamics CMR Online has been recognized in the report since 2011. In 2017, Gartner combined all feedback for both products into a single Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales evaluation.

The post Microsoft named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for CRM Sales Platforms for the sixteenth consecutive year appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Growth is exciting—but it introduces complexity. 

As small and midsize businesses scale, finance and operations become harder to manage. Transactions increase, reporting requirements expand, and disconnected systems start to strain visibility and margins. What once worked becomes a constraint. 

A newly published Forrester Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study helps quantify what many organizations are already experiencing: modernizing on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central delivers measurable financial impact.

Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate the potential return on investment organizations may realize by deploying Business Central. Based on interviews with four business decision makers, which were aggregated to model a fictitious composite organization¹, the study projected that the composite organization could potentially realize: 

• More than 200% return on investment (ROI) over three years 

• An estimated $460K net present value (NPV) over three years 

• Potential payback in six months 

Across finance productivity, enterprise resource planning (ERP) consolidation, improved profitability, and reporting efficiency, the composite organization modeled by Forrester realized more than $680K in three‑year, risk‑adjusted present value benefits. 

These outcomes reflect the potential impact of modernizing finance and operations on a single, integrated cloud ERP platform—while also establishing the foundation for AI‑powered experiences like Microsoft 365 Copilot and intelligent agents. 

Where the value comes from

The Forrester TEI study highlights several areas where organizations can potentially realize tangible, risk‑adjusted benefits when using Business Central. 

Support faster, more efficient finance operations

Manual processes often slow growing organizations. Interviewed customers reported meaningful efficiency gains across accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR), billing, and financial close. 

By year three, the composite organization was projected to potentially achieve: 

• Up to 30% reduction in monthly close time 

• Up to 50% time savings for AP, AR, and billing activities 

These improvements translated to more than $215K in present value over three years in finance productivity alone for the composite organization—allowing teams to shift focus from reconciliation to higher‑value analysis. 

Standardizing data and workflows in Business Central also creates the conditions necessary for AI‑enabled automation. While AI benefits were not independently quantified in this study, interviewees noted that unified processes accelerate the adoption of Copilot‑supported approvals, variance analysis, and exception handling. 

Lower total cost of ownership through ERP consolidation

Interviewees reported operating aging on‑premises ERP systems alongside spreadsheets and disconnected point solutions. Consolidating onto Business Central reduced infrastructure complexity and IT overhead. 

The study projected the following potential benefits for the composite organization over three years: 

• More than 10% reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO) 

• More than $170K in present value savings from retired systems and reduced maintenance 

Beyond direct savings, simplification can reduce operational risk and improved scalability—allowing organizations to grow without layering on new systems to compensate for gaps. 

Enable improved profitability through better visibility

Unified, real‑time visibility across finance and operations enables faster, more informed decisions. 

By year three, the composite organization was modeled to potentially experience: 

• Up to 3% improvement in net profit margins 

• More than $245K in present value from improved profitability 

Better insight into costs, projects, and performance enables earlier course correction. AI‑powered experiences such as Copilot can further assist by surfacing cost variances, project overruns, or unbilled work sooner. While AI alone does not drive margin improvement, modern ERP data and standardized processes strengthen an organization’s ability to act with precision. 

Fast reporting and audit readiness

Business Central’s integrated data model and native Microsoft Power BI capabilities streamlined reporting and audit preparation. 

Based on modeling by Forrester, by year three, the composite organization was projected to potentially reduce: 

• Audit preparation time by up to 30% 

• Time spent creating internal and executive reports 

These projected improvements were valued at nearly $50K in present value, while also enabling increased confidence in data accuracy and consistency. 

Beyond the numbers: Building an AI-ready foundation

In addition to quantified financial outcomes, interviewees highlighted broader operational improvements, including enhanced customer experience, reduced days sales outstanding (DSO), better warehouse management, and a more intuitive user experience. 

Just as importantly, Business Central provides an AI‑ready ERP foundation. 

By unifying finance and operations data and aligning processes to best practices, organizations are better positioned to leverage Copilot, Power BI, and intelligent agents to: 

• Help reduce time-to-insight—not just report creation
• Surface anomalies and trends quickly 
• Enable more proactive, data‑driven decision‑making 

While AI‑driven outcomes were not directly measured in this TEI, the study reinforces a critical principle: realizing AI value at scale depends on clean data, integrated systems, and standardized processes. Business Central delivers that foundation. 

Read the full study

For SMB‑focused organizations and partners evaluating ERP modernization, the full Forrester TEI study provides a detailed financial framework to help quantify potential projected value—grounded in customer interviews and risk‑adjusted modeling. 

Join us at Directions North America 2026

The Forrester TEI study highlights the potential value organizations may realize with Business Central—from faster financial processes to improved profitability and lower total cost of ownership. 

We’ll continue these conversations at Directions North America 2026, where partners, Microsoft engineering, and product leaders come together to discuss what’s next for the Business Central ecosystem and the future of AI-powered ERP. 

Join me for the keynote, where I’ll explore how Business Central is evolving into an AI-powered system of action with Copilot and intelligent agents. 

Attendees will: 

• Gain insight into the Business Central roadmap 
• Prepare for upcoming AI-powered capabilities 
• Connect directly with Microsoft engineering and product experts 
• Engage with partners across the Business Central community 

1. Composite organization assumption: Results are based on a Forrester modeled composite organization derived from customer interviews, with $50M in annual revenue, 300 employees, 15 core finance and accounting users, and 100 light users, using Dynamics 365 Business Central in a cloud deployment. All quantified benefits represent the three-year, risk-adjusted present value for the composite organization.

The post Enable accelerated growth with confidence: A Forrester TEI study projects more than 200% ROI over three years and six-month payback using Dynamics 365 Business Central appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

As organizations continue to seek ways to differentiate through exceptional customer service, many are turning to emerging agentic AI capabilities as a catalyst for transformation. However, the promise of agentic service—better experiences, greater efficiency, and continuous improvement—can only be realized when AI is deeply embedded and seamlessly orchestrated across every workflow and channel. This requires more than just automation; it demands a unified context and intelligence layer that travels with the work.

At Microsoft, we believe the future of customer service is one where Microsoft Dynamics 365 becomes the context and intelligence platform for Copilot and AI agents, grounding every interaction in rich customer data and business processes. With Dynamics 365 providing composable skills across the tools people already use every day, we enable intelligent, proactive self-service and augment human capabilities. This empowers service reps, supervisors, and leaders to amplify their impact, delivering more consistent, personalized, and effective service at scale.

The Forrester Wave™: Customer Service Solutions, Q1 2026

Microsoft has been recognized as a Leader

Read the report

With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service, we’re already delivering on this vision, helping our customers achieve tangible business outcomes with agentic service. Dynamics 365 Customer Service combines our latest AI advances with robust core capabilities, all deeply integrated with the entire Microsoft portfolio across Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Microsoft Power Platform, Microsoft Azure, and the Microsoft Fabric data platform.

​Today, we’re excited to announce that Microsoft has been named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Customer Service Solutions, Q1 2026.

Delivering measurable outcomes with agentic service

Our customers and the industry at large recognize we’re leading the way in agentic service innovation and enterprise adoption.

In Dynamics 365 Customer Service, AI agents orchestrate context and automate workflows in simple and complex inquiries across voice and digital channels. Agents can handle routine interactions and execute actions autonomously within robust governance and compliance guardrails. Customer Intent Agent continuously discovers new intents from conversations across channels, enabling evergreen self-service.

Agents like Case Management Agent automate repetitive tasks and integrate with Copilot to surface next-best actions during human-assisted interactions, helping reps offer rapid resolutions.

Importantly, these service agents create self-learning loops, helping improve resolution accuracy and speed. This continuous improvement extends to service reps as well. Quality Evaluation Agent monitors service quality in AI-powered and human-assisted interactions to enhance agent performance and recommend coaching opportunities for reps. Meanwhile, Customer Knowledge Management Agent adapts knowledge bases, updating content and generating new articles based on fresh insights or recurring issues.

This powerful combination of agentic and human service is orchestrated through Agent Hub, which routes tasks to the most appropriate AI agent or service rep and optimizes task distribution based on real-time KPI results.

Customers like Visa are saving time by using the Customer Knowledge Management Agent to turn customer conversation data into knowledge articles.

Auto-knowledge generation reduces article creation time by 88%, from four hours down to 30 minutes per article. And by mining 7,000 cases, we’ve been able to produce 700 knowledge articles, just for one line of business and we continue to accelerate knowledge creation at scale.

Lidia Daldoss, Vice President, Service Digitization & AI Acceleration, Visa

Accelerating successful AI adoption

Despite the numerous benefits on offer, navigating the AI adoption journey can be extremely complex for many organizations. Sometimes there’s uncertainty about where to start, or a lack of clarity about how to get a measurable return on AI investments.

Microsoft simplifies AI adoption, enabling organizations to quickly realize significant efficiency and productivity gains in customer service operations. We offer structured guidance and proven methodologies to help accelerate adoption success for organizations at every level of AI maturity.

Our customers particularly value the FastTrack for Dynamics 365 program, which is built on our Success By Design framework that paves the way for effective solution design, deployment, and operation. With proactive, expert guidance, organizations can confidently implement an agentic service platform based on advanced technologies that are already delivering tangible business outcomes for enterprises worldwide.

Enhancing core customer service capabilities

While AI agents automate and orchestrate workflows, and Copilot provides contextual guidance for reps, Dynamics 365 Customer Service also offers a strong set of core capabilities.

Intelligent, omnichannel routing, for example, is a cornerstone of effective service, directing inquiries to wherever customers will find the fastest path to resolution. Similarly, Microsoft’s longstanding strengths in business intelligence, process management, and forecasting and scheduling provide an essential foundation for efficient operations.

Integration with Microsoft Teams also enables seamless collaboration across service, sales, and marketing, streamlining issue resolution and highlighting opportunities to enhance the end-to-end customer experience.

Another notable strength of Dynamics 365 Customer Service is its extensibility, both within Microsoft’s suite of business applications and productivity tools, and across our extensive partner ecosystem and third-party marketplace.

The biggest impact of Dynamics 365 is that the customer information is more centralized, which saves time and gives us a 360-degree view of the customer.

Petra Velten, Business Expert Customer Service, Lufthansa Cargo

With Dynamics 365, our team has a single pane of glass with all customer information and tasks in one place. The Rheem knowledge base within Dynamics 365 Customer Service also gives [reps] fast, easy access to specific product information during customer calls.

Jordan Bond, Senior Manager, Product Owner, Dynamics Service, Rheem

Amplify your impact with Dynamics 365 Customer Service

We’re delighted to be recognized as a Leader in The Forrester Wave™, but this is just the beginning of the agentic service era that Microsoft and our partners are shaping. We’ll continue to make significant R&D investments that help accelerate AI breakthroughs and work alongside our pioneering customers to define the future of service.

Explore how you can boost efficiency and enhance service in every channel:

• Dynamics 365 Customer Service
• Dynamics 365 Contact Center

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In today’s economy, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have evolved far beyond traditional back-office functions. They are now strategic drivers of growth, agility, and resilience. Modern business leaders require ERP solutions that deliver more than transactional processing; they need intelligence, insights, and automation at scale. Selecting a platform with embedded AI today helps set your organization up for tomorrow’s competitive advantage.

We’re excited to announce Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a Leader in three Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ reports:

• Cloud ERP for Service-Centric Enterprises
• Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises
• Cloud ERP Finance

We believe the recognition of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Leader placement in all three Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ reports shows our commitment to delivering end-to-end coverage for modern organizations. Our expertise is especially critical as most businesses today need the flexibility to manage both products and services, backed by the trust and security of a robust financial backbone. With embedded AI capabilities at the core of Dynamics 365, enterprises can confidently unify operations, adapt to evolving market demands, and help ensure their financial systems are secure, scalable, and future-ready.

Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Service-Centric Enterprises

The ERP landscape is evolving rapidly. Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for service-centric enterprises predicts “by 2027, 62% of ERP application spending will include AI capabilities, a significant leap from just 14% in 2024.”¹ Dynamics 365 is at the forefront of this transformation, helping businesses harness AI to drive efficiency, agility, and growth.

Dynamics 365 is a software as a service (SaaS) ERP, delivered from Microsoft Azure data centers worldwide. It combines natively developed ERP components with a robust partner ecosystem to deliver industry-specific functionality. Serving midsize to large service businesses across EMEA, the Americas, and APAC, Dynamics 365 is designed for scale and flexibility.

Our core competencies

• AI-powered innovation: Embedded AI through Microsoft Copilot delivers actionable insights and automates finance, operations, and service processes. Tasks like account reconciliation and cash flow forecasting can become simpler and smarter.
• Connected ecosystem: Smooth integration with Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, Power Platform, and Azure enables unified data and workflows across the enterprise.
• Industry-specific capabilities: Our partner ecosystem extends Dynamics 365’s functionality for specialized industries, supporting flexibility and scalability.

Key strengths driving leadership:

• AI-powered capabilities: Advanced AI empowers organizations with actionable insights and automation to enhance critical business processes.
• Integrated business management: Core financial and operational systems seamlessly connect with productivity and collaboration tools, enabling holistic visibility and informed decision-making.
• Cloud platform advantage: Built-in integrations with enterprise-grade cloud services provide scalability, security, and a unified data foundation for innovation and growth.

Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises

Microsoft is also recognized as a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Management and Finance solutions, which in our opinion underscores our commitment to helping upper-midsize and large enterprises transform operations with intelligent, connected systems.

Dynamics 365 integrates with the broader Microsoft ecosystem. Azure provides scalability and security; Microsoft 365 enables collaboration, and Power BI delivers actionable insights. When data flows freely and tools work together, businesses can operate faster, smarter, and with greater confidence.

Key strengths

Three core strengths for driving enterprises success:

• AI-powered automation: Advanced AI and Copilot technologies enable intelligent automation and empower organizations to create custom agents for streamlined and tailored workflows.
• Unified cloud platform: Seamless integration across Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem delivers a secure, scalable, and unified foundation for business operations.
• Global capabilities: Comprehensive localization and language support helps ensure Microsoft solutions meet the needs of organizations worldwide.

Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP Finance

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance has been recognized as a Leader in the Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP Finance for its Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute. In an era where CFOs face mounting pressure to deliver agility, transparency, and predictive capabilities, Dynamics 365 Finance stands out as a transformative solution.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance is a robust platform designed for enterprises operating across multiple geographies. It offers extensive financial dimensions, user-defined tags, and a global chart of accounts, enabling organizations to manage complex, multi-entity environments in over 50 countries. These capabilities support compliance with diverse regulatory frameworks while maintaining operational efficiency.

One of the most innovative features is Microsoft Copilot Studio, which empowers users to build AI agents using natural language. This functionality allows finance teams to automate repetitive tasks, freeing up time for strategic decision-making.

Key strengths driving leadership

1. AI automation
   Microsoft Dynamics 365 leverages Copilot and embedded AI agents to deliver advanced automation across core business processes. These capabilities support predictive analytics, automated transaction processing, and real-time insights, empowering finance leaders to:
   • Enhance forecasting accuracy by analyzing both historical and live data.
   • Minimize manual reconciliations, freeing up valuable time.
   • Identify anomalies in transactions to help reduce compliance risks.
2. Customer-driven innovation
   Microsoft’s product development is guided by direct customer feedback, gathered through surveys, advisory boards, and innovation hubs. This approach has resulted in:
   • Low-code automation tools that enable teams to build workflows without developer support.
   • Enhanced dispute resolution features, streamlining interactions between organizations and their customers.
   • Capabilities that optimize cash flow management, supporting business business resilience in dynamic markets.
3. A global partner ecosystem
   Transformation is a collaborative journey. Microsoft’s extensive global partner network brings specialized expertise in cloud migration, industry-specific solutions, and deployment support. Whether operating in manufacturing, retail, or professional services, organizations benefit from:
   • Tailored implementations that help accelerate time-to-value and mitigate risk during transitions from legacy systems.
   • Co-development opportunities that foster innovation and deliver best-in-class solutions for unique business needs.

Why this matters for CFOs

The role of the CFO is evolving from financial steward to strategic advisor. Today’s finance leaders must deliver insights that drive growth, manage risk, and enable agility. Dynamics 365 equips CFOs with tools to:

• Predict outcomes using AI-powered analytics.
• Automate routine tasks, freeing resources for strategic initiatives.
• Collaborate seamlessly across global teams through integrated workflows.

Looking ahead: The future of finance

As we approach 2026, the finance landscape will continue to shift toward intelligent automation and predictive capabilities. Microsoft’s vision for agentic AI promises a future where finance teams operate with unprecedented efficiency and foresight. From managing exceptions autonomously to delivering real-time scenario planning, these innovations will redefine what’s possible in enterprise finance.

Organizations that embrace these technologies today will be better positioned to navigate uncertainty, capitalize on opportunities, and maintain a competitive edge.

Your path to a smarter future

Microsoft Dynamics 365 exemplifies how technology empowers business leaders, including CFOs, operations executives, and IT strategists, to move beyond transactional processes and become architects of enterprise strategy. We believe being recognized as a Leader in three Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ reports: Cloud ERP for Service-Centric Enterprises, Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises, and Cloud ERP Finance, Dynamics 365 sets the standard for modern ERP solutions.

With its combination of AI-powered automation, customer-centric innovation, and global scalability, Dynamics 365 delivers intelligent, adaptable solutions for organizations across industries and geographies. Whether optimizing operations, transforming supply chains, or streamlining finance, Dynamics 365 offers a clear path forward—one that blends intelligence, agility, and trust.

As organizations embrace the opportunities of an AI-powered future, Microsoft remains dedicated to empowering enterprises with solutions that are intelligent, seamlessly connected, and built to scale. Discover how we are positioned by Gartner and read the full Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ service-centric, product-centric, and finance reports for deeper insights. 

See how organizations using Dynamics 365 are enhancing operational efficiency, boosting flexibility, and unlocking intelligent insights throughout their business processes.

• Dynamics 365 drives Cat® dealership into the 21st century
• Camfil harmonizes processes with Dynamics 365 bolster sustainability and profitability
• Alltech fortifies business operations with Dynamics 365

1. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Service-Centric Enterprises, Robert Anderson, Johan Jartelius, Tomas Kienast, Sam Grinter, Denis Torii, Chaithanya Paradarami, 13 October 2025.
2. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises, Greg Leiter, Tomas Kienast, Johan Jartelius, Denis Torii, Dennis Gaughan, 13 October 2025.
3. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Finance, Mike Helsel, Irmina Melarkode, Nick Duffy, Nisha Bhandare, 27 October 2025.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designations. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s Research & Advisory organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Gartner is a registered trademark and service mark and Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

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Across the globe, pioneering organizations are harnessing the power of AI and agents to enable smarter, faster decisions, and take action to deliver meaningful business outcomes. The rise of AI and agents is especially apparent in customer service, where automation, productivity tools, and access to insights have the potential to improve customer experiences and boost operational efficiency.

Now, Frontier Firms are building on past successes to create the foundations for agentic service. They’re reimagining how work gets done by using agents to continuously monitor, analyze, and execute key processes across self-service and human-assisted interactions.

As agentic service continues to gain traction in the customer service world, we’re delighted to announce that Microsoft has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for CRM Customer Engagement Center.

Microsoft is named a Leader in 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for CRM Customer Engagement Center

Read the report

We believe this placement recognizes the successes our customers are achieving with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service. To take just one example, Rheem Manufacturing is seeing remarkable efficiency gains—and customer satisfaction improvements—with Dynamics 365.

“Our goal is to continually improve average call-handling-time and we’re seeing those times reduced with Dynamics 365. We’re on track for a 14% total improvement in average call-handling-time and we are starting to see CSAT scores trending up in some of our contact centers.”

—Adam Schuster, Director, Customer Experience at Rheem Manufacturing

What’s truly exciting to see is the Gartner evaluation of our completeness of vision. We believe it’s a testament to the continuing strategic investments we’re making across the service category—including Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Dynamics 365 Contact Center—as well our broader Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 portfolio.

Rather than following the market, our approach is to deliver innovative agentic capabilities that will revolutionize the way people work and how customer service teams deliver value.

Gartner defines CRM customer engagement center (CRM CEC) as a cohesive set of software built around core case management tools used to provide customer service and support by engaging with customers, while intelligently orchestrating the processes, data, systems, and resources of an organization. CRM CEC applications also offer workflow management capabilities and may be used as a system of record for customer interactions.

We’re entering the era of agentic service

Our recognition as a Leader coincides with the general availability of a suite of agents for Dynamics 365 that span the service lifecycle:

• The Case Management Agent simplifies and streamlines case management by creating cases, updating details, following up with customers, and enabling timely closures.
• The Customer Knowledge Management Agent keeps knowledge content current by autonomously creating or updating articles based on insights from cases, conversations, emails, and notes.
• The Customer Intent Agent supports evergreen self-service and assisted service by analyzing customer interactions to understand how to identify and resolve issues as they emerge.
• The Quality Evaluation Agent gives supervisors real-time insights into service quality across AI-led and human-assisted interactions, along with proactive recommendations for improvement.

At yourtown, a charity that provides children’s services, agents are already having an impact.

“By adopting agents in Dynamics 365 service solutions, we’re making every interaction faster and more empathetic. In a service where demand exceeds capacity, this can be a game changer. Agents help gather information, route contacts based on need, and streamline resolution—enabling counselors to focus on direct support to young people.”

—Helen Vahdat, Chief Information Officer at yourtown

Similarly, California State University, San Marcos (CSUSM) is using agents to help support its students.

“Providing individualized support across multiple channels is central to our student philosophy. Service Agents for Dynamics 365 have the promise to both help us enable personalized 24/7 self-service capabilities and provide our staff with the necessary information to ensure continuity of support.” 

—Tasos Lazarides, Ph.D., Director of Digital Transformation at CSUSM

Many of our customers are also creating bespoke agents in Microsoft Copilot Studio. At Vera Bradley, for example, a customer support agent integrated with Dynamics 365 Customer Service automates more than 2,000 monthly support cases, significantly improving efficiency and easing the burden on the customer service team.

“The use of Microsoft Copilot Studio for autonomous chat-based self-service has reduced live agent chat escalations by 25%, allowing our agents to focus on more complex issues. By offloading routine inquiries, our agents report feeling more empowered and engaged in solving meaningful customer challenges. The AI-powered agent has been especially valuable during peak retail seasons, handling increased case volume without additional staffing.”

—Susan Campbell, Director, Customer Experience at Vera Bradley

Shaping the future of customer service

We’re proud to be recognized again as a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™. Alongside our trailblazing customers, we’ll continue to pioneer AI-fueled innovation that supports amazing customer experiences.

Next steps

Read the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for CRM Customer Engagement Center report.

Join us at Microsoft Ignite 2025 to connect with industry leaders, explore hands-on demos, and delve deeper into how agentic business applications are reshaping the future of work—including my session on agentic CX and how organizations are evolving toward frontier service models.

¹ Gartner, Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Engagement Center, Pri Rathnayake, Drew Kraus, Francesco Vicchi, Jim Robinson, October 27, 2025

*Gartner is a registered trademark and service mark and Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.  

**This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Microsoft.  

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For decades, growing revenue in business-to-business (B2B) sales meant expanding the sales team. More sellers, more deals. But AI is providing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine customer relationship management (CRM), and business leaders are keen to use its potential to boost sales outcomes and do more with less. Organizations are building the sales teams of the future by investing in generative AI and autonomous AI agents that can empower sales teams to deliver faster, hyper-personalized buying experiences—deeply understanding customer intent and proactively guiding decisions to influence pipeline.

Autonomous agents can handle the manually intensive parts of a typical sales workflow; for example, researching sales leads while allowing reps to spend more time in front of the customers selling and closing revenue. This is what we call agentic sales—where humans guide agents through fully autonomous workflows, transforming the sales journey and delivering meaningful customer engagements. Becoming an agentic sales organization is top mind for leaders, but many don’t know where to start.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales

Close more deals and increase seller efficiency with an AI-powered CRM solution.

Get started today

The pressure to deliver on customer expectations is higher than ever. Buyers want faster responses and better customer experience and are willing to walk away if those needs are not met. But with data barriers and organizational silos teams globally are struggling to meet these demands. In the face of these challenges, yesterday’s CRM systems are taking time away from what matters—building relationships and delivering personalized interactions across the sales journey. Sales leaders now rely on AI to provide sales insights and recommend next best actions from their customer data; and they are increasingly looking to agents to automate and augment work like researching, qualifying, and drafting outreach. Gartner predicts that by 2028, at least 15% of day-to-day work decisions will be autonomously through agentic AI, up from 0% in 2024.¹

We’re excited to share that Microsoft has been recognized as a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant* for Sales Force Automation for the fifteenth consecutive year.

How Microsoft is making selling easier

Reimagine resource-intensive workflows across the sales pipeline

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales enables sellers to boost sales outcomes and improve customer experience powered by a CRM system that embeds AI and agents throughout the key stages of the deal cycle. Sellers can develop, prioritize, and close pipeline faster by adopting a consistent cadence across teams with autonomous AI agents and Copilot. Dynamics 365 helps sellers stay on top of their deals and deliver high-quality customer engagements across touchpoints with AI-powered engagement guidance and real-time action recommendations. With conversational intelligence built-in, sellers get real-time call transcriptions, sentiment analysis, and actionable insights that help them stay focused and responsive. Sales managers are able to use these insights to scale winning teams and grow their business with intelligent forecasting. Sales operations leads are able to tailor the agentic sales solution to meet the needs of the business and deliver sales efficiency with trust and accountability.

Integration with an expanded ecosystem 

Organizations can harness the breadth of the Microsoft Cloud to empower their sales teams with intelligent, connected experiences—easily integrating data, collaboration, and AI-powered insights. Integrated collaboration tools that streamline communication and drive accountability across marketing, sales, and service departments. Embedded Microsoft Teams chat within Dynamics 365 enables real-time discussions through dedicated teams and channels, fostering cross-functional alignment. With Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales sellers can easily share opportunities, leads, and account information plus set up deal rooms directly in Teams with automatic sharing of data and files from Dynamics 365 Sales. Copilot in Power Apps makes it easier than ever to tailor the sales experience. Whether it’s customizing dashboards, building forms, or automating workflows, sellers can use natural language to optimize the user interface around how you work. It’s a smarter, faster way to extend Dynamics 365 Sales—without needing to write a single line of code.

Our customer’s success 

Ricoh Japan drives digital transformation with Dynamics 365 Sales incorporating generative AI for enhanced sales capabilities and seamless integration with Microsoft 365.

Among the most significant benefits of implementing Dynamics 365 Sales for Ricoh was their new access to generative AI technology. As an example of how Ricoh Japan is using generative AI, product recommendations from four sources appear when users access the new system: from daily reports entered in Dynamics 365 Sales, from industry information on the web, from purchase history, and top-selling products by customer segment. “These all appear automatically,” says Kazunari Sakai, CRM Promotion Group Leader in the CRM Planning Office, Marketing Center, Digital Service Sales Division at Ricoh Japan. “Microsoft 365 Copilot is used to summarize Outlook emails as well as chats and meetings conducted using Teams.”

There are many strengths in our sales process that we have honed over a 20-year period and hope to carry forward. Dynamics 365 Sales integrates with Power Platform, a line of products facilitating low-code/no-code development and able to meet our Fit to Standard framework.”

—Makoto Nagai, General Manager of the CRM Promotion Office, DX Promotion Center, Corporate Planning Division, Ricoh Japan

As organizations continue to begin adopting AI agents, Microsoft is here guiding each team as they become an agentic sales organization built on trust and security in leading products like Dynamics 365 Sales.

¹Gartner®, Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2025, October 2024

²Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation Platforms, Adnan Zijadic, Guy Wood, Steve Rietberg, Wendy Butler-Mafuz, 21 July 2025.

*The report was titled Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation from 2007-2008. Microsoft was recognized as Microsoft Dynamics CRM from 2011-2014 and as Microsoft (Dynamics CRM Online) in 2015-2016. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner and Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

**This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Microsoft.

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2025’s Gartner® CFO & Finance Executive Conference featured sessions and hands-on product demonstrations from finance and operations providers covering growth strategies, cost management tools, and of course, AI in finance. I’ve had the pleasure of attending for a few years now, and what struck me this year was the excitement and enthusiasm for not just learning about but applying agents and generative AI to financial processes. Based on the conversations I had with customers at the event, here are the three things finance leaders should know about getting started with agents and AI.

Automate high-impact processes first

The journey to AI-powered finance doesn’t require a complete overhaul—it can start with targeted, high-impact steps that build momentum and deliver measurable value. Start with areas that are ripe for automation and deliver immediate impact to your team and bottom line. Financial close, account reconciliation, and supplier communications are ideal entry points using prebuilt agents available from Microsoft, like the Supplier Communications Agent in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, which can automatically respond to vendor emails, assess supply chain disruptions, and update purchase orders—helping to ensure continuity without manual intervention.

The breadth of agent possibility doesn’t stop with what’s available today as a prebuilt solution. Microsoft empowers finance professionals to build custom agents for ERP processes, applying automation and intelligence to critical processes, like the process at the heart of finance: record to report. Imagine the impact agents can have helping your team update tax strategies in a complex macroeconomic environment or surfacing real-time financial audits. Microsoft Copilot Studio agent builder provides a simple interface to quickly and easily build agents like the Financial Insights Agent, a tool designed internally for Microsoft to help finance professionals quickly surface and analyze key financial metrics. By using Azure OpenAI and semantic search, this agent allows users to ask natural language questions like “What’s my total operational expenditure (OPEX) as a percentage of expenses?” and receive instant, contextual answers. It can significantly reduce time spent on manual data retrieval and analysis while enhancing decision making with real-time insights. This agent exemplifies how AI can transform planning and analysis workflows, helping make finance teams more agile and strategic. Build your own agent here.

Establish a Center of Innovation to upskill your finance team

Create a dedicated team or initiative to explore, test, and scale AI use cases across finance. This “Center of Innovation” can serve as a hub for experimentation, governance, and best practices—helping ensure that AI adoption is intentional, secure, and aligned with business goals. Creating space for experimentation and testing means giving finance teams the freedom to test new tools, workflows, and ideas without the pressure of immediate perfection. It involves setting up low-risk environments, like sandboxes or pilot programs, where teams can trial AI agents, automate processes, and iterate quickly. This approach fosters a culture of curiosity and continuous improvement, allowing teams to scale what works and learn from what doesn’t.

Establishing a Center of Innovation was central to the growth and success of Microsoft’s own AI adoption. Microsoft Director of Modern Finance, Cory Hrncirik, joined the Microsoft session to share tangible examples of both AI adoption and the structures put in place to get us there.

As team members begin to shift from transactional to strategic roles, it’s imperative to equip your team with the skills required to work alongside AI. This could include training on prompt engineering for your function, data literacy, and how to manage and monitor AI agents.

Microsoft Copilot Studio offers a low-code environment where finance professionals can build and customize agents without needing deep technical expertise.

Work with IT to define your human-agent operating models to scale what works

As agents take on more operational tasks, CFOs must define how humans and AI will collaborate. This includes setting clear roles, responsibilities, and oversight mechanisms. Think of your team as a hybrid workforce—where agents handle the repetitive and analytical, and humans focus on judgment, strategy, and innovation. Due to the sensitive nature of financial material, early collaboration on security and permissions with IT will be crucial to implementation and driving outcomes.

Getting started with Microsoft and Microsoft Dynamics 365

If you’re ready to start reimagining ERP processes with agents, learn more about the pre-built agents announced in April 2025, explore how the new Model Context Protocol servers for Dynamics 365 will accelerate the ability for customers to build agents, and visit “AI-Powered ERP Solutions” for more product information.

Want to dig deeper? Learn how your organization can benefit from using Dynamics 365 Finance and Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management in a three-year projection window¹:

• 106% return on investment (ROI).
• USD8.9 million in productivity gains from unified data access, streamlined processes, and automated workflows.
• USD1.2 million in profitability improvements from real-time visibility and enhanced decision making.
• USD3.9 million in infrastructure savings by moving from legacy on-premises systems to the cloud.

These benefits are grounded in real-world outcomes and are explored deeper in a Forrester Total Economic Impact study, commissioned by Microsoft. The study’s composite organization is modeled after interviews with Dynamics 365 customers, and the report explores how teams reported significant improvements in operations.

Source:

¹The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP, Cost Savings And Business Benefits Enabled By Dynamics 365 ERP, a Forrester Total Economic Impact™ Study commissioned By Microsoft, April 2024

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

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