At Directions ASIA, we spoke with partners across the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ecosystem to understand how AI is changing customer expectations, delivery models, and talent strategies.
The timing matters. Microsoft’s 2026 release wave 1 plan for Business Central includes Copilot, built-in autonomous agents, and the flexibility to add custom AI, showing how quickly AI is becoming embedded into the platform itself.
That platform shift is happening alongside a broader change in how people work. Microsoft’s 2024 Work Trend Index found that 75% of global knowledge workers are already using AI at work, while 66% of leaders said they would not hire someone without AI skills, and 71% said they would rather hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced candidate without them.
For Business Central partners, that combination of product change and workforce change is significant. Customers want more from Business Central, they want faster delivery, and they increasingly expect AI to be part of the solutions and services they use.
The conversations we conducted at Directions ASIA reflected different parts of the partner community, but the themes were consistent. AI is no longer a distant roadmap item. It is already influencing what customers ask for, how partners think about service delivery, and the skills teams need to stay competitive.
AI has moved from future roadmap to immediate expectation
For many Business Central customers, AI is no longer something they expect to adopt in the next 12 to 18 months. They now expect it to be part of the solutions they use.
Partners reported that customers are increasingly asking how AI, Copilot, and agents can be embedded into Business Central products, processes, and day-to-day workflows. However, there is still uncertainty around what those tools should actually do.
That creates both an opportunity and a challenge for Business Central partners. Customers want innovation, but they also need guidance. They need partners who can move the conversation beyond “we need AI” and toward clear use cases that improve finance, operations, reporting, service delivery, productivity, and decision-making.
The real challenge is not AI adoption, it is AI application
One theme came through strongly: adding AI for the sake of it will not create value.
Partners are being careful about where agents, automation, and AI-enabled functionality can genuinely improve the Business Central customer experience. If a process already works quickly and effectively, inserting an agent into the middle of it may not make it better.
The opportunity is in identifying where AI can remove friction, automate routine work, support smarter configuration, improve support, or help customers make better use of the Business Central capabilities they already own.
For partners, this means the strongest AI strategies will be outcome-led. The question is not just “Can we automate this?” It is “Will this make the customer’s business work better?”
Upskilling is taking priority over replacement
Despite wider concerns that AI could reduce headcount, the feedback from Directions ASIA was much more balanced.
Partners are largely focused on upskilling existing teams. The view was clear: AI does not replace Business Central subject matter expertise. It strengthens it.
A consultant, developer, finance specialist, or solution architect who understands Business Central, customer processes, and industry requirements can use AI to work faster and deliver more value. Without that underlying expertise, AI may still produce an answer, but not necessarily the right one.
That makes learning agility one of the most important capabilities in the Business Central ecosystem. Partners need people who are willing to experiment, stay current, and apply new tools in practical, customer-focused ways.
Business Central partners are building capability, not just capacity
AI is also changing how Business Central partners think about growth.
The conversation is shifting from simply adding more people to building more capable teams. Partners still expect to hire, but the skills mix is changing.
Future-ready Business Central teams will need a blend of functional knowledge, technical expertise, data understanding, commercial awareness, and customer-facing advisory skills. The most valuable professionals will be those who can connect Business Central functionality to business outcomes.
This is especially important as customers expect more from their partners. They want faster delivery, clearer guidance, stronger support, and solutions that can scale with their business. Meeting those expectations requires more than capacity. It requires capability.
Vibe coding creates opportunity, but also enterprise risk
Vibe coding was one of the biggest talking points at Directions ASIA. Partners were clear that AI is making it easier for customers to build their own apps, integrations, and automations. For smaller businesses, that can open up possibilities that previously felt out of reach.
But it also creates a serious risk.
The concern is not just that customers may build something themselves. It is that they may build something that works today but becomes difficult to support, upgrade, secure, or audit tomorrow.
In a Business Central environment, this matters. Custom apps and AI-built integrations still need governance, testing, documentation, version control, data protection, and long-term support. Without that discipline, businesses risk creating technical debt that becomes more expensive over time.
What looks like a fast, low-cost solution at the start can quickly become a hidden operational burden. Security gaps, data privacy issues, unsupported customizations, broken integrations, and upgrade challenges can all affect business continuity.
This is where partner expertise becomes even more important. AI may lower the barrier to building something, but it does not remove the need for experienced people who understand Business Central architecture, data, compliance, and delivery risk.
For customers, the real question is not “Can we build this ourselves?” It is “Can we safely maintain, govern, and scale it once it becomes part of the business?”
The best partners will be rapid experimenters
Another clear theme was the importance of experimentation.
The partners best positioned for the next three to five years are likely to be those already testing, learning, and iterating now. This mirrors previous shifts in the Business Central ecosystem, where early adopters of cloud were able to build experience and credibility before the rest of the market caught up.
AI is creating a similar moment. Partners do not need every answer today, but they do need to start building the skills, processes, and confidence to apply AI in real Business Central customer scenarios.
Those who wait for perfect certainty may find themselves behind.
Human expertise remains the differentiator
For all the conversation around AI, automation, and agents, one message was consistent: customer relationships still matter.
Business Central customers still need trusted advisors who understand their business, their industry, and the outcomes they are trying to achieve. AI can support that experience, but it cannot replace the human judgment, empathy, and accountability that strong partner relationships depend on.
In fact, as more routine work becomes automated, human expertise may become even more important. The value will shift toward interpretation, guidance, problem-solving, and customer experience.
What this means for Business Central partners
Directions ASIA made it clear that AI is not a future conversation for Business Central partners. It is already shaping customer expectations, delivery models, and talent strategies.
The partners that succeed will be those that can:
- Turn AI interest into practical Business Central outcomes
- Upskill existing teams while building new capability
- Balance automation with trusted human expertise
- Understand the risks as well as the opportunities of AI-led development
- Support customers moving from legacy systems into modern Business Central environments of AI-led development
- Build teams that are ready to learn, adapt, and deliver in a changing market
AI may change how Business Central work gets done, but people will still determine how well it gets done.
How #BCTalent can help
As Business Central partners adapt to AI, automation, and changing customer expectations, the need for skilled, future-ready talent is only growing.
#BCTalent helps partners build that capability through targeted initiatives designed specifically for the Business Central ecosystem.
UpSKILL helps partners connect with graduate and early-career talent who can be developed around the skills the market needs next.
ReSKILL supports experienced professionals as they move into Business Central roles, helping partners expand capacity while bringing in transferable business and technology experience.
CrossSKILL helps partners transition existing employees from legacy systems, including Dynamics GP, into Business Central. Rather than losing years of customer knowledge, industry expertise, and consulting experience, partners can retain and redeploy valuable talent into modern Business Central practices.
Through our #BCTalent community, learners can continue building knowledge around AI, Copilot, delivery, and emerging Business Central capabilities through regular sessions with Microsoft MVPs and industry and subject matter experts.
For partners, this means a more practical way to strengthen capability, build future talent pipelines, support legacy-to-cloud transitions, and prepare teams for the next phase of AI-enabled Business Central delivery.