Microsoft AI: Copilot and agents

There are already lots of ways AI can help manufacturers and distributors, and its capabilities are only going to grow from here.

AI-driven insights can predict demand more accurately, help you optimise inventory levels and reduce costly stockouts or overstock situations. And this isn’t just number crunching – it’s supporting a smarter supply chain that responds dynamically to market changes, customer behaviour and seasonal trends.

On the shop floor, AI enables predictive maintenance and process optimisation. Instead of waiting for machinery to fail, AI analyses performance data to anticipate issues before they happen, minimising downtime and extending equipment life. For manufacturers, this means improved efficiency and reduced waste, while distributors benefit from consistent product availability and fewer delays in fulfilment.

AI is making waves in customer experience, too. Intelligent algorithms can personalise pricing, recommend products and streamline order processing, ensuring customers can quickly get what they need.

Yes, to use Microsoft Copilot at work you’ll need to have an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription set up (like the Microsoft 365 E3 or E5, or Microsoft 365 Business Standard/Premium), as well as a Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on.

Copilot helps manufacturers and distributors reduce manual effort – particularly where teams spend too much time rekeying data, checking information or producing routine outputs.

Used inside Dynamics 365 Business Central and Microsoft 365, Copilot helps teams complete tasks faster and more accurately, without changing core processes. Think quicker sales order processing, automated invoice matching and instant visibility into trends, irregularities and bottlenecks in inventory, supply chain and order fulfilment data. That’s all on top of everyday productivity boosters, like instant meeting summaries, action points and inbox highlights.

For most businesses, the biggest gains come from freeing skilled people from repetitive work, improving accuracy and enabling faster decision making across sales, operations and finance.

Yes, Copilot is designed to work with your existing business data and processes inside Microsoft systems, rather than relying on generic information.

In Dynamics 365 Business Central, Copilot can understand your structured data (items, customers, suppliers, inventory, etc.), as well as your permissions, roles and workflows.

Copilot runs inside your Microsoft tenant, so it uses your organisation’s data context securely (more on that below!). To get the most out of Copilot, data should already be accurate and well looked-after, business rules and approvals should stay in place, and any output should be checked – not blindly trusted.

For manufacturers and distributors, this ultimately means using Copilot to support operational processes, while people remain in control of final decisions, especially in areas such as pricing, planning and fulfilment.

No, Microsoft Copilot won’t use your data to train its underlying large language models.

Copilot only uses your Microsoft 365 data (emails, documents, calendar, chats) to generate the responses it gives to you there and then. Data is processed securely within your organisation’s Microsoft 365 environment and is not sent to train or improve the base AI model.

Instead, Copilot’s foundation models are trained on publicly available data, licensed data and Microsoft-owned data, rather than your private content.

Cowork is Microsoft’s next step in AI, where Copilot works to complete multi-step tasks in the background while your people focus on decision-making, customer relationships and higher-value tasks.

With Cowork, you describe the outcome you want, and the AI agent plans and carries out the steps across your Microsoft environment – from drafting emails and preparing documents to organising meetings and pulling together information – always checking in for approval where needed, of course.

This new way of working is called human–agent collaboration. People remain in control – reviewing actions, setting direction and stepping in where judgement is needed – while agents take care of the execution. That way you get the best of both worlds: the speed of automation and the expert knowledge and skills your team have to offer.

If your business hasn’t already started embracing AI, it’s time to consider what its adoption might look like for you.

Microsoft predicts that in the next two to five years, every organisation will be on its way to becoming a ‘Frontier Firm’ – an organisation with human-agent teams and intelligence on tap.

If you want to stay competitive in a crowded market, it’s important not to get left behind. Experimenting with AI tools like Microsoft Copilot sooner rather than later will help you get a feel for how it could work for your business (and what benefits it might deliver).

Take a look at our 8-step guide for information and advice on the things you need to do to ensure your business’s AI adoption ethical and efficient.

Something lots of people are worried about – but the way we see it, AI is there to support human roles, rather than replace them.

Research from Microsoft found that 80% of workers are at capacity, while 53% of leaders are looking for a boost in productivity. And that’s a problem Microsoft Copilot and agents can help address.

Copilot and agents take away the burden of administrative tasks (think pulling numbers for monthly reports or creating a list of actions off the back of an hour-long meeting), so humans can focus on strategy, planning and other role responsibilities that add genuine value to the business.

Things are changing fast and, if we’re honest, we’re learning as we go – just like everyone else! AI is already playing a part in development and it’s fast becoming a great support when it comes to coding, giving software engineers more time to plan, architect and build and test systems.

We can confidently say that AI is going to help our customers either reduce their costs (by a reduction in development time) or get more for their money (for example, more in-depth documentation).

If you’ve had to delay or write-off development-driven projects in the past because the return didn’t outweigh the cost, now is the perfect time to revisit. The Tecman team are always on hand to talk through your vision – and to help you understand whether AI might make it easier and more cost-effective to achieve.