Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot: Advantages, Disadvantages, Opportunities
With Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365, countless processes can be automated. This significantly increases efficiency and productivity in marketing, sales, and customer service. Find out more about the advantages and disadvantages of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot and the associated opportunities.
The name Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot may be a little confusing. This is because - strictly speaking - it is not a single AI assistant, but several Microsoft Copilots for Dynamics 365. In addition to the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot, there is also the Copilot for Microsoft 365. While the latter automates processes within the Office suite, the Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365 is located in Microsoft's CRM and ERP landscape. Reason enough to shed some light on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot.
Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365 at a Glance
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot for Sales and Viva Sales
It makes it easier for sales professionals to manage customer and prospect data because information, for example, from Office solutions, automatically flows into the CRM system. This gives sales staff access to data-based analyses and forecasts and enables them to improve customer interaction. This ultimately benefits their sales figures.
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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot for Customer Service
Automates time-consuming service tasks. Service employees can deal with customer concerns in real-time. For example, suppose they receive a customer inquiry via email. In that case, the copilot in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service copilot acts as a discussion partner with whom the service employee discusses the most appropriate response to the message. The AI then prepares the appropriate response email . This means that with the Copilot in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service, companies increase the speed, efficiency, and accuracy of their customer service enormously - which increases customer satisfaction - even in the event of a complaint.
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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot for Customer Insights
opens up simple and intuitive access to usable customer and transaction data. This enables marketers to segment customer groups and better understand their customers' wishes and needs . For example, they can prompt the AI to access the CRM system and create a list of all customers participating in three specific webinars. This then opens up the possibility of moving participants towards a purchase decision with tailored information. AI also supports the implementation of corresponding measures. Another use case is to segment those customers who are most likely to be receptive to the advertising message of a particular campaign. Ultimately, it is even possible to model complete customer journeys across different channels.
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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot for Marketing
supports marketing experts at , including , in generating ideas for practical measures, planning (email marketing)campaigns, and automating their implementation . For example, the Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365 not only generates templates for newsletters or other marketing-relevant content formats and creates tailor-made texts for the respective newsletter edition. Because the downstream implementation processes, such as sending newsletters to segmented target groups, are also supported by AI, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot increases the degree of personalization and customer centricity - in real time.
Advantages of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot
Proven technology
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot is based on OpenAI's Large Language Model (LLM), which is also the basis for the widely used AI chatbot ChatGPT. This means that users benefit from a powerful technology that has not only proven itself internationally in corporate use since its launch in fall 2022, but is also being dynamically developed further by OpenAI.
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Simple operation
Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365 is used in the same way as other chatbots: with prompts in natural language. Alternatively, it is possible to start with one of the prompts suggested by the tool. This gives employees who are not familiar with data science access to an innovative technology that supports them in carrying out everyday tasks.
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Multimodal output
Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365 enables users to generate outputs of all kinds: from texts and images to diagrams and tables to links to lists and other formats.
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Single source of truth
As all Microsoft Dynamics 365 copilots are based on the CRM system and other Microsoft business applications such as the Customer Data Platform ensure that customer and transaction data is stored centrally. This means that consistent and up-to-date data is available in the Microsoft Copilots for Dynamics 365 for use in the respective AI copilots. On the one hand, this increases the speed of the information flow. On the other hand, the increased data density ensures better quality AI outputs.
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Disadvantages of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot
If you change your perspective, two advantages - namely that all Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilots are linked to the CRM system and other Microsoft applications, and that all data is stored in a central data lake - turn out to be a disadvantage. This is because in order to exploit the full potential of Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365 , companies would have to book several Copilots for all users individually - only the Marketing Copilot is already included in all licenses. This means that companies need to think very carefully: Which key users for AI applications are there? And how many? After all, access to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot can - above a certain number of licenses - cost a lot of money. In many places, the cost threshold stands in the way of unconstrained experimentation. Because only small teams are even given the opportunity to test Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365 , AI projects often remain in the test stage. In addition, it is not possible to connect Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365 to third-party systems. And the silo-like architecture of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilots also leads to application discontinuities.
Opportunities of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot
It is precisely because companies are currently testing the opportunities and possibilities of AI- if at all - that they have not yet reached the point where they can benefit from it operationally. Surprisingly, many companies do not understand which processes can be automated and accelerated with AI. This is why they often stick to the classic use cases, such as formulating emails and segmenting customer groups. Yet, so much more would be possible - if companies were to collect ideas and develop creative approaches to how AI can enrich the work in individual specialist departments. Companies would be well advised to form an AI task force with interdisciplinary members who "just get on with it" - with an open mind and without bias.
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Anyone who has worked with tools such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Bing Chat, or others knows from experience: that bad input equals wrong output. Without a good prompt, the AI cannot produce the desired result. Of course, this also applies to the use of Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365, where another aspect comes into play: data quality. Without a solid database in the CRM system, the data must be up-to-date and free of duplicates or other inconsistencies, and, among other things, the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot accessing it cannot work satisfactorily. Poor data quality inevitably goes hand in hand with unsatisfactory results - just think of the webinar participants' example above. The fact that many companies have failed to bring order to their data chaos for years is now becoming their downfall. Therefore, first, ensure data quality first, and then use Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365.
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Provided that companies have access to all Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilots , this opens up new collaboration possibilities. Companies can then automate complex processes across many departments and significantly increase the quality of company-wide output, as the susceptibility to errors is considerably reduced. Once processes are clearly defined and standardized, humans no longer need to intervene - which means the risk of human error is close to zero. Email marketing is an example: marketing professionals have Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365 (Marketing Copilot) create a draft mailing in their corporate design. They check the result and adapt it if necessary. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot (Insights Copilot) then filters out the addressees for whom the content of the mailing is relevant and sends the emails to the mailing list created. Sales and customer service now take over with their respective Microsoft Copilots for Dynamics 365. Unlike before, they no longer have to follow up on the measure proactively. The AI does this for them, for example, by automatically enriching the customer profiles in the CRM system in real-time following an editorial process - which not only increases the amount of data but benefits data quality and timeliness.
2 important aspects that you should definitely consider
It is not only the prompts that determine the quality of the output, but also the specific training of the AI. For example, you can train Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot to check and correct customer data continuously, such as typing errors, the spelling of street names, or incorrectly completed fields. The AI must always report which errors it detects and what improvements it has made. It should be a mandatory for the automated data verification and correction process to have the AI output such reports .
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The best AI tool will be ineffective if your employees can't use it. They need a basic understanding of AI in general and how large language models work in particular. And, of course, they need to be able to write prompts that make Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365 actually do what they want it to do.
Microsoft Copilot for Dynamics 365: put your trust in our experience
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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot increases efficiency and productivity
A significant, if not the most crucial advantage of AI solutions such as Microsoft Copilots for Dynamics 365 is that they take on repetitive, hard work that very few employees enjoy doing with great accuracy and at a rapid pace - from lengthy research to the creation of specific content to the analysis of any topic or content. AI is also a helpful sparring partner supporting brainstorming, developing ideas, and implementing concepts. Although employees talk more to the AI and less to their colleagues in the hectic pace of everyday working life, their efficiency increases. The time freed up can then be used to deliberately sit down together as a team and discuss, for example, where the AI journey should go.
Written by Lea Horn | Senior Consultant | [email protected]