Two years ago at Community Summit, agent conversations started with a definition. What is an agent, and how is it different from Copilot? This year in Nashville, they started with a plan: which agent first, who approves it, and what has to be true before we turn it on.

I’ll explain why one agent got most of the airtime, and the one requirement that decides whether it works.

Agents moved from definition to deployment

The question changed from “what is an agent?” to “how do we deploy one?” I can’t quote the questions word for word, but the direction was clear. People arrived with a use case and wanted an approach.

The agent sessions were well attended, mine included. After “Five Supply Chain Agents You Can Deploy Today,” attendees messaged me through the conference app asking for the deck so they could show their teams back home. One person recorded the entire session. I’d credit the topic more than the speaker, because rooms fill when people have a decision to make.

The Procurement Agent, and its catch

The Dynamics 365 Procurement Agent got the most airtime, and it ships with Dynamics 365. It helps keep the dates in your system accurate, and Planning Optimization (MRP) depends on those dates to recommend the right action.

The catch is that vendor contact emails must be 100% accurate. Think of the agent as a new hire sending email under your name. You would check their address book before day one.

If the contacts are off, two things go wrong. You miss an inbound email that changes a date, or a follow-up goes to the wrong person, possibly a competing supplier.

If I were you, I’d start by turning on the automation for a specific vendor for whom you know the data is correct.  Become comfortable with the functionality while you are doing a larger audit of all relevant vendor contacts before turning the agent on more widely.

Thank you, Nashville

Thank you to the Community Summit organizers for putting this together!! Running a conference this size is a very significant undertaking. Thank you also to everyone who stopped by the Tech Medic Desks and attended my sessions.

I got to meet and see again many Business Application Microsoft MVPs! Time with them is the best part of the week for me. I also enjoyed Nashville, and the concert was a great way to end a long day. I resisted answering every question with a slide. Mostly.  Well, you know me!

AI should be judged by the outcomes it creates, not the number of agents deployed or tokens consumed.

Which agent would you deploy first? what has to be true before you turn it on?