AI for ERP

Current Landscape of AI For ERP Systems 

ERP systems have long been the central nervous system of modern businesses, centralising data for better business insight from core functions like finance, HR, procurement, resourcing, and supply chains. However, traditional ERP solutions (that are on premise) have struggled to keep pace with the dynamic nature of today’s global markets. Complex and rigid processes within ERP create more work for people, and repetitive manual data entry overwhelms departments.  

ERPs have the potential to uncover new insights and significantly impact business processes, as well as provide new avenues for business intelligence. Through the 2010s, ERP systems became more critical for the management and analysis of big data as modern organisations generated and collected more information than an individual can process.  

While AI has already automated some ERP tasks, generative AI is transforming the landscape dramatically, particularly in the cloud. Advanced machine learning and natural language processing are making these systems more user-friendly and powerful. AI is elevating performance and creating advantages in data quality, governance and integration for those who understand how to apply it to data-centric systems like ERP platforms. According to a Gartner Research report, by 2027, at least 50% of ERP systems with AI-enabled features will be enabled through generative AI capabilities.  

Generative AI is not only for the automation of routine tasks. It can be used in the process of decision-making when it is provided with complete data. This is demonstrated in a report from the market research firm IDC, finding that by mid-2024, 30% of global organisations will take advantages of human-like interfaces in their enterprise applications to gain more insights quickly, improving decision velocity.  

To bridge the gap between traditional ERP inefficiencies and AI-driven enhancements, solutions like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot are emerging. Copilot integrates AI to streamline processes and enhance productivity across ERP functions, including finance, procurement, and supply chain management. 

Key Applications  

ERP systems have been the central nervous system of modern businesses for a long time now, centralising data for better business insight from core functions like finance, HR, procurement, resourcing, and supply chains. However, traditional ERP solutions have struggled to keep pace with the dynamic nature of today’s global markets. Complex and rigid processes within ERP generate more work for people, and repetitive manual data entry overwhelms departments. Microsoft Copilot promises to help finance managers, collections agents, project managers, and procurement professionals complete time-consuming tasks and get insights faster.  

This can look like: 

• Using natural language to bring data to life. Copilot can create a Power BI dashboard or report, complete with visualisations and summaries, and help refine it. If you need more information on the data, just ask Copilot and it will find the right answer for you. 

• Collaboratively align plans, budgets, and forecasts with business strategy. 

• Streamline sales and operational planning. 

• Automate financial consolidation for seamless book closing. 

• Close talent gaps strategically for an empowered workforce, gain a comprehensive view of cash flow dynamics and access highly accurate predictions through advanced predictive analytics powered by machine learning and AI.  

• Help finance managers optimise their performance, allocate resources effectively, and drive better financial outcomes for their organisations. 

• Project managers can rapidly create new project plans for new engagements in minutes, instead of hours, by simply describing details of the project using natural language.  

• Copilot in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management enables users to efficiently handle changes to purchase orders at scale and assess the impact and risk to help optimise procurement decisions.  

Copilot can help you stay ahead in today’s complex business world. It does this by speeding up how quickly you gain insights, intelligently automating your processes, and boosting productivity. With Copilot, you’re always in control. It uses your business data and automatically applies your existing security, compliance, and privacy policies, regulations, and processes.  

Benefits Of Using The Microsoft Stack 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud-based business management solution for small to medium-sized businesses. A recent Forrester Research study interviewed IT leaders and professionals who had experience using Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP software to study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) enterprises may realise by migrating from an on-premises Microsoft ERP solution to Dynamics 365 Business Central.  

Forrester found eight quantified and unquantified benefits of the migration to Dynamics 365 Business Central. 

Quantified benefits:

• Productivity improvement of 12.5% for operations staff, 15% for sales staff, and 15.6% for finance staff. Deploying Business Central allows the composite organisation’s finance and operations staff to reduce the amount of time they spend on manual reporting and information reconciliation while also providing improved visibility and tools to accelerate and improve the quality of decision-making. Sales personnel have access to the records they need while in the field. 

• Avoided third-party fees of more than USD80,000 annually. The composite organisation previously engaged third-party IT consulting services to work on customisations and integrations amid the complexity inherent to an on-premises ERP deployment. Third-party external reporting was also required to supplement personnel efforts. After implementing Dynamics 365, the composite eliminates third-party consulting and report reporting costs because IT staff can internally manage integration and customisation work. 

• Avoided costs of legacy ERP solutions and support worth up to USD53,000 annually. With its previous on-premises Microsoft Dynamics deployment, the composite was incurring infrastructure costs, maintenance personnel costs, and upgrade fees. By migrating ERP functionality on Dynamics 365 Business Central to the cloud, the organisation avoids these costs traditionally associated with an on-premises deployment. 

• Profitability from improved sales pipeline generation. By migrating to Dynamics 365 Business Central, the composite’s sales and support staff are better equipped to service the organisation’s customer base directly from the field, which yields improved sales pipeline generation revenue, retention, and profit. 

Unquantified benefits: 

• Improved business outcomes from more informed decision-making. Day-to-day decision-making at the composite organisation’s finance and operations functions improve with Business Central due to visibility into real-time information rather than making decisions based on static information related to a single point in time. 

• Improved employee experience. With Business Central, the composite’s finance and operations personnel are less burdened by manual effort and reconciliation tasks mandated by a disparate set of ERP solutions, which improves employees’ quality of life improvement. Staff also find the user interface to be intuitive and easy to navigate, and it’s easier for them to find the information for which they’re looking. 

• Compatibility with Microsoft solutions. Because Business Central works natively with other Microsoft solutions, this drives additional value from these solutions while reducing the need to train users on the integrations. 

• Increased customer satisfaction. Having real-time access to information translates to faster servicing of end customers and ultimately may yield additional long-term customer satisfaction for the composite organisation. 

AI-enabled ERP platforms allow you to protect, connect, and get more from your business data while gaining security. With the right ERP solution, you can scale globally to drive business expansion and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) while ensuring regulatory compliance, supercharging productivity, and realising the business impacts of generative AI even faster.  

Security, Compliance and AI Governance in ERP 

As more organisations across different industries leverage AI and Copilot services and capabilities to drive growth, increase productivity, and create value-added experiences, security, compliance and AI governance continues to be pivotal.  

With Copilot, you can be confident that your valuable data is safeguarded by industry-leading data governance and privacy practices in the most trusted cloud on the market today. These security and compliance commitments look like: 

• Keeping your organisation’s data private. Your data remains private when using Azure OpenAI Service and Copilots and is governed by our applicable privacy and contractual commitments, including the commitments we make in the Microsoft’s Data Protection Addendum, Microsoft’s Product Terms, and the Microsoft Privacy Statement.   

• You are in control of your organisation’s data. Your data is not used in undisclosed ways or without your permission. You may choose to customise your use of Azure OpenAI Service by opting to use your data to fine tune models for your organisation’s own use. If you do use your organisation’s data to fine tune, any fine-tuned AI solutions created with your data will be available only to you.  

• Your access control and enterprise policies are maintained. To protect privacy within your organisation when using enterprise products with generative AI capabilities, your existing permissions and access controls will continue to apply to ensure that your organisation’s data is displayed only to those users to whom you have given appropriate permissions.    

• Your organisation’s data is not shared. Microsoft does not share your data with third parties without your permission. Your data, including the data generated through your organisation’s use of Azure OpenAI Service or Copilots – such as prompts and responses – are kept private and are not disclosed to third parties.  

• Your organisation’s data privacy and security are protected by design. Security and privacy are incorporated through all phases of design and implementation of Azure OpenAI Service and Copilots. As with all our products, we provide a strong privacy and security baseline and make available additional protections that you can choose to enable. As external threats evolve, we will continue to advance our solutions and offerings to ensure world-class privacy and security in Azure OpenAI Service and Copilots, and we will continue to be transparent about our approach.  

• Your organisation’s data is not used to train foundation models. Microsoft’s generative AI solutions, including Azure OpenAI Service and Copilot services and capabilities, do not use your organisation’s data to train foundation models without your permission. Your data is not available to OpenAI or used to train OpenAI models. 

Our products and solutions continue to comply with global data protection regulations. The Microsoft AI products and solutions you deploy continue to be compliant with today’s global data protection and privacy regulations. You can be assured that the use of AI in ERP will always be safe, secure and compliant.  

How We Can Help 

Our deep expertise across the Microsoft ecosystem, as a Microsoft Partner, means we can help businesses fully benefit from Copilot, positioning them for growth and success in this increasingly AI-driven world. We provide comprehensive support, guiding businesses like yours to fully harness AI’s potential.  

We’ll provide end-to-end support, from the preparation phase to ensuring correct data structuring and robust security protocols. This is essential for a seamless and effective AI integration. Our expertise guarantees smooth Copilot deployment within your organisation, and we can extend its capabilities using the ecosystem and Power Platform, creating a bespoke solution tailored to your specific business needs.  

Importantly, your business needs will evolve, and we’ll adapt our AI solutions to meet the unique challenges of your industry. This ensures you maximise the benefits of Copilot and other Microsoft AI resources. Like any new technology, best practices, strong security, and excellent governance and cultural change management are vital for success. We’re here to help your organisation navigate the exciting world of AI integration and achieve real, measurable ROI. 

Our Copilot Readiness Assessment  

With a team of over 400 staff and more than 1,600 clients, we have the knowledge and experience to guide your business through every stage of the AI adoption process.  

Get started today by taking advantage of our Copilot Readiness Assessment to ensure your business is fully prepared for the AI revolution. Let us help you harness the power of Copilot and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.