The MSDW Podcast

This episode is sponsored by Plauti. The tech world's focus on AI and agents has helped illuminate a longstanding question for Dynamics 365 CE customers - how strong is the data underlying your CRM? As the pressure to embrace AI and agents grows, customers have a range of concerns about their data. In this conversation, we look at how CRM teams are meeting core goals around sales efficiency and the overall value of their D365 tools while also considering the implications of AI in the near term. Our guests on this episode are Plauti's Nico Miedema and Rob Griffin, as well as Microsoft MVP Heidi Neuhauser. They tell us how new AI readiness pressure is forcing leaders to ask new questions, especially in situations in which no one may have actually measured data health before. Heidi, Rob, and Nico tell us about some of the ways they help customers approach this challenge, whether the organization has been living with Dynamics 365 solutions long term or they are moving from another CRM. Customers can and should start by knowing the tools that D365 gives them to manage and control their data, the guests agreed, but that is often not enough when it comes to duplicates, inaccuracies, and old information that could reduce the value of reporting, automation, and of course, AI and agents.  More from Plauti: Meet the Plauti team at the Nashville Community Summit. We will have chocolate and more giveaways, and we're happy to continue the conversation on AI readiness.  📍 Booth #1934 We will also host a session that expands on the podcast topic, so don't miss it.  🎤 AI Doesn't Fix Dirty Data. It Multiplies It. An inside look at how to make Dynamics 365 CE data actually ready for Copilot and agents. → https://www.summitna.com/browse-sessions/?q=AI+doesn%27t+fix+dirty+data&sessionid=2371 And lastly, feel free to visit the Marketplace to explore the new Monitor features in our Data Management app.  🛠️ Plauti Data Management on Microsoft Marketplace → https://marketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/product/DynamicsCE/plautibv1633354680268.duplicatecheck If you can't make it to Nashville, feel free to connect with us by viewing our other content on the MSDW page or connecting with us on LinkedIn.  ·         Plauti on MSDW: https://msdynamicsworld.com/vendor/plauti ·         Rob Griffin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgriffinct/ ·         Nico Miedema: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nico-miedema-a6a976129/

This episode is sponsored by Mekorma.   ERP implementations and AP automation initiatives are well-known for introducing meaningful change into organizations. Veterans of ERP consulting learn quickly that change management is easy fto minimize during project planning but hard to ignore when deployments run into go-live challenges. Our guests on this episode are Don Anderson, a senior lecturer at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business and co-founder of SC&E Partners, and Brendan Coffey, director of revenue at Mekorma. Both Don and Brendan are students of organizational management and we begin the discussion by examining some of Don's research that relates specifically to modernizing technology on finance teams. Don shares some of the surprising findings of his own research in this field, including the balance that leaders must find when working to improve processes while keeping staff engaged. And we discuss how AP teams adapt to the introduction of modern AP automation capabilities. The reaction can vary widely depending on the legacy approach and factors like team size, industry, geography, and more. We also explore the concept of openness to change, what the research tells us about team success, and the advice that Don and Brendan would give to a team embarking on a new AP technology project today. More from Mekorma: Why does change feel different in Accounts Payable?   The conversation doesn't end here. In our whitepaper, AP Resistance Isn't Pushback. It's Pattern Recognition, we take a closer look at why AP teams may approach system changes with caution, and what their questions can reveal about risk, control, and readiness.   Read the whitepaper.

Long-running Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central environments are at risk for becoming complicated and causing pain for users. But don't rush to blame such issues on bad decisions or mistakes. A BC system can easily accumulate a mix of inefficiencies, workarounds, and issues as a result of many small and innocent-seeming decisions that accumulate over time, say our guests, Microsoft MVPs Cynthia Priebe and Cari Corozza. More often, the reasons for such user pain are related to a lack of clear ownership or a clear vision that considers the downstream impact of changes. When a system does reach a breaking point, experts like Cari and Cynthia are there to help, and they have both seen their share of BC customers dealing with systems that have gone from inconvenient or inefficient to problematic. In this episode they share stories of real world patterns they have observed in areas including permissions, reporting, month-end, and data ownership and how they lead to disruptions. They also offer suggestions on how to identify and avoid potential problems as part of the ongoing upkeep of a BC solution. Connect with Cari and Cynthia on LinkedIn: Cari on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cari-corozza-cpa/ Cynthia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-priebe-dcp/ Business Central Strength Training Network LinkedIn group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14822015/ The Righter Way LinkedIn group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14295297/  

EPPC 2026 begins soon, and MSDW is a media partner of the event with on-site coverage planned. To prepare, we talked to one speaker who will be presenting two sessions at the event, Microsoft MVP Sean Astrakhan. Sean tells us about his two session, one on building accurate AI with Azure tools, and another focused on building better integrations with Power Automate and more advanced tools. We discuss our expectations for the event, the experience of an attendee vs a presenter, and picking sessions that can fill in knowledge gaps. Sean's next free workshop: https://www.untethered365.com/freetraining Save €200 with the code MSDynamicsWorld. Book now! EPPC 2026 on MSDW: https://msdynamicsworld.com/eppc-2026

This episode is sponsored by Stratos Cloud Alliance. As Microsoft expands the capabilities of M365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, and surrounding tools, partners must work to understand the updates and translate them into meaningful guidance for their clients. That ability to mature AI skills in a rapidly evolving marketplace requires partners to bring a combination of skills to bear, according to our guests, David Buggy of Velosio and Scott May of Stratos Cloud Alliance. Customers expect partners to bring a practical but also forward-looking approach to Copilot and AI agent capabilities. But often, those partners are still working to help their teams understand the latest changes so they can provide the right guidance to clients. David and Scott break down some of those challenges for us and share some of the ways partners are adapting. We discuss what it means to be customer zero today, learning from other partners, and introducing new monetization options. They also share some of the go-to-market motions that are shoing promise, including messaging that they believe is resonating with customers as everyone races to stay current with the AI landscape. If you would like to continue the conversation on how you can use AI in your org, book time with Scott May: Meet with Scott May | Stratos Cloud Alliance