AI in ERP

Most conversations start with "Should we use Copilot?" But that's a bit like asking "Should we use software?" The real question is: What outcome are we trying to achieve?  Over the past few months, I've been exploring Microsoft's enterprise AI ecosystem and have found that many people use the terms Copilot , Cowork , and Copilot Studio interchangeably. In reality, they represent three very different layers of value. Copilot helps people do work, Cowork does work on behalf of people, and Copilot Studio enables organizations to build AI agents tailored to their business. Together, they form a progressive AI operating model that moves from productivity, to automation, to enterprise-scale agent development. What I find most interesting is how these capabilities build upon each other. Microsoft 365 Copilot sits closest to the employee, helping create content, summarize discussions, analyze information, and improve day-to-day productivity. Cowork then raises ...

Microsoft Foundry is quickly becoming the engineering‑grade backbone for building, deploying, and operationalizing AI systems at scale. Unlike traditional “chatbot builders” or UI‑only agent platforms, Foundry is designed for real developers — people who care about versioning, reproducibility, security boundaries, and clean architecture. At its core, Foundry gives you a unified place to define models, agents, tools, workflows, and evaluations, all backed by Azure’s enterprise‑grade infrastructure. But the real power shows up when you bring Foundry into Visual Studio Code, where everything becomes code‑first, scriptable, automatable, and production‑ready. In this blog, we’ll walk through the setup steps to connect and use your Microsoft Foundry LLm models in VS Code.  Prerequistes: Download and install VS Code -  https://code.visualstudio.com Set up GitHub Copilot in VS Code -  https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/setup Create a Project for Microsoft Foundry -  ...

UDE represents a shift toward treating F&O apps as part of the broader Dynamics 365 and Power Platform ecosystem, simplifying administration and improving productivity. But wait! What if we could take this one step further? What if deploying a UDE‑enabled environment didn’t require building templates in Power Platform Admin Center, exporting JSON, re‑importing configurations, and manually triggering deployments? What if you could simply ask Copilot: “ Deploy a new UDE‑enabled latest release F&O environment for me  in Australia with the name 'Patrick-Dev'. Keep all other settings same as my last sandbox. ” No templates. No PPAC wizard. No repetitive configuration steps. Just a conversational deployment pipeline. No Drama! Introduction Unified Developer Experience (UDE) in the Power Platform Admin Center (PPAC) is a modern approach for developing, testing, and deploying Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (D365 F&O) applications. It replaces traditional, costly remote...

Microsoft has just introduced Toolboxes in MS Foundry - a managed, versioned bundle of curated tools that any MCP‑compatible agent can consume through a single endpoint, removing per‑agent wiring, centralizing auth, and enabling safer rollouts What is a Toolbox in MS Foundry Toolboxes in MS Foundry lets you define a reusable set of tools once (APIs, MCP servers, connectors, skills, flows), configure authentication centrally, and expose them through a single MCP‑compatible endpoint that agents discover and call at runtime. This removes duplicated integration code and secret sprawl across agents. Read more on toolboxes here . How do Toolboxes Work? Toolboxes are a named, versioned collection of tools you manage inside Microsoft Foundry and expose through a single MCP‑compatible endpoint. Each toolbox groups tools by namespace; tools can be APIs, MCP servers, connectors, skills, or flows. At runtime an agent points to the toolbox endpoint, discovers available tools, and invokes them. Fo...

GitHub Copilot can now review your code directly in VS Code, providing immediate feedback on uncommitted changes. It even adds comments similar to the feedback in a pull request! This local review capability allows developers to catch issues before they even reach version control, improving code quality from the start. And maybe catch those embarrassing typos! Prerequisites Before you can use GitHub Copilot for code reviews, you will need to have the following setup: A GitHub account. (sign up for free at github.com ) An active GitHub Copilot subscription (Individual, Business, or Enterprise). VS Code installed or Visual Studio 2022 17.6 or later installed. GitHub Copilot installed Refer to my previous blog Getting started with GitHub Copilot in VS Code  if you have not setup GitHub Copilot already. Code reviews with GitHub Copilot In VS Code, a fter you have made changes to files in a source controlled repository, o pen the source control panel and ensure there are uncommitted ch...

GitHub Copilot is an AI peer programming tool that helps you write code faster and smarter. It can suggest code completions,, generate code snippets, and even write entire functions for you. GitHub Copilot works with a variety of languages and frameworks, and it can learn from your own code and preferences. By installing GitHub Copilot in VS Code or Visual Studio, you can leverage the power of AI to enhance your coding experience and productivity. Prerequisites Before you can install GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio, you need to have the following: A GitHub account. (sign up for free at github.com ) An active GitHub Copilot subscription (Individual, Business, or Enterprise). VS Code installed or Visual Studio 2022 17.6 or later installed. Installation To install GitHub Copilot, open VS Code and go to the Extensions tab. Search for GitHub Copilot. When you install Copilot in Visual Studio Code, you get two extensions: GitHub Copilot - Provides inline coding suggestions as you type. ...

AI tools and agents are no longer optional. They’ve become embedded in how employees and developers work every day. The question is no longer if your teams will use them- it’s how safely they’ll do it. [Image reference: AI Tools: Navigating the New Professional Landscape by Vicki Reyzelman] The Risk of "Free" AI Tools Organizations must recognize the inherent dangers of allowing employees to rely on publicly available AI platforms such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini. Under the pressure of deadlines and workload, employees may inadvertently copy and paste confidential information into these tools. Proprietary strategies, source code, and intellectual property can be transmitted outside the organization’s secure environment. These disclosures occur silently, without alerts or oversight, leaving leadership unaware until the damage is irreversible. The risk of loss of control is Permanent. Once confidential information enters a public AI model, it cannot be retrieved or contained. C...

The MSSQL Extension for Visual Studio Code is designed to empower developers by providing a seamless and modern database development experience. The goal is to make SQL development more productive and intuitive by integrating essential features such as schema management, query execution, and AI-powered assistance. Agents Inside VS Code One of the most underrated strengths of the MSSQL Extension is how it leverages agents directly within Visual Studio Code. This isn’t just about running queries—it’s about having intelligent helpers embedded in your workflow. Write Queries Faster: Agents can scaffold queries from natural language, explain stored procedures, and even suggest optimizations. Instead of memorizing syntax, you focus on intent, and the agent translates it into SQL. Spot Performance Bottlenecks: Agents don’t just execute queries—they help you understand them. With execution plan insights and AI-driven recommendations, you can identify bottlenecks like slow joins or missing ind...

Licensing in Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management  (D365 FSCM) has evolved from a static, menu-item-based model to a dynamic, priority-driven framework. Refer to my previous blog  License Mapping on Menu Items  to understand the new multi-license mapping structure on menu items Each license type in D365 FSCM is now assigned a priority score, which determines how licensing is applied when users access multiple securable objects. The higher the priority score, the more comprehensive (and costly) the license. The system evaluates the highest-priority license required based on the user’s role and access level. This means licensing is no longer just about what a user touches—it’s about how their role is structured and which license tier their role access escalates to.  What happens if a user has multiple security roles? The highest license requirement applies. In case security roles span multiple workloads, this user requires more than one full user license....

Licensing in enterprise systems has long been a game of mapping menu items to license types, ticking boxes, and hoping your role design didn’t trigger unexpected costs. But with the 2025 updates to Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, Microsoft has flipped the script—ushering in a smarter, more flexible model that reflects how users actually work. Let’s break it down. In the legacy model, each menu item was tied to a single license type. For instance, if a user accessed MenuItemA that had a Finance license type on it, they needed a Finance license. If they accessed MenuItemB with SCM assigned on it, they needed SCM. Simple? Yes. But also rigid, prone to over-licensing, and blind to real-world role overlap. Example:  This model treated licensing like a static blueprint—ignoring the nuance of blended roles, attach licenses, and shared responsibilities across departments. Fast forward to 2025. Microsoft’s new licensing logic is object-level, dynamic, and context-aware. Now, a single m...

I recently came across the Electronic Signatures feature in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (D365FO) that enables secure authorization of critical changes or actions within the system. Traditionally, security roles are used to manage access and control edits, but electronic signatures provide an alternative layer of control—especially for regulated industries or audit-sensitive environments. What is an electronic signature? An electronic signature confirms the identity of a person who is about to start or approve a computing process. In some industries, an electronic signature is as legally binding as a handwritten signature. You can use electronic signatures for critical business processes. Some processes have built-in electronic signature capabilities. You can also create custom signature requirements for any database table and field. Electronic signatures have built-in digital signature functionality. Every user who signs documents must obtain a valid cryptographic cer...

Getting started with Microsoft 365 Copilot agents can transform how your organization leverages AI to streamline workflows, enhance productivity, and empower employees to build intelligent solutions. This blog outlines a phased approach—starting with forming a champion team, training employees, and scaling deployment—to help your organization confidently adopt Copilot Studio’s Agent Builder.  To start empowering employees to create and manage Microsoft 365 Copilot agents securely at scale, it is recommended that a three-phase approach is taken:  Form an "agent adoption champion" team within IT and try out Agent Builder. Train employees to build agents with Agent Builder. Provide selected employees with access to Agent Builder and set up pay-go meters.  Phase I – Form a team Step 1: Create an "agent adoption champion" team  Select a group of early adopters (your "champion team”) to explore building agents using Microsoft Copilot Studio Agent Builder in Microsoft...

Let's take a first look at User security governance . It is the latest set of features in the D365F&O 10.0.43 update which provides useful tools to System administrators for role management, licenses auditing, enhanced audit trails and versioning, supported with some useful very useful reports around license usage, separation of duties violations etc. Key aspects of this feature include: Role Management: Improved tools for creating, modifying, and managing user roles. Audit Trails: Enhanced tracking of changes made to security settings, helping administrators monitor and review security configurations. Compliance: Tools to ensure that security settings comply with organizational policies and regulatory requirements. Feature management A new feature called (Preview) User security governance has been added to Feature management to control the overall functionality. Navigate to System administration > Security > Security governance to explore all the features. Security analy...