Understanding Copilot in Dynamics 365 CRM
Copilot is Microsoft’s artificial intelligence functionality built into applications across the Microsoft ecosystem. Within Dynamics 365 CRM, Copilot can use information already stored in your system to synthesize and summarize records and assist with creating content. Because Copilot is appearing throughout Microsoft applications, you may already see Copilot buttons and side panels in CRM and other tools you use. The important question is what these features can actually do for your everyday work.
Where You May Encounter Copilot
Copilot isn't limited to Dynamics 365 CRM. Microsoft has incorporated Copilot capabilities into several applications that CRM users may already work with, including:
- Dynamics 365 CRM
- Business Central
- Power Automate
- Outlook
The functionality varies depending on the application.
Using Copilot in Power Automate
Power Automate can use Copilot to help you create or modify flows with natural-language instructions. For example, you might ask Copilot to create a flow that sends you a Teams message when you receive an email. You can also ask questions about an existing flow or request changes, such as deleting an action or adding an email action at the end of the flow. This gives users another way to work with automation without relying entirely on manually configuring every element of a flow.
Drafting Emails with Copilot in Outlook
Copilot can also assist when composing emails in Outlook. You can provide a prompt describing the type of message you want to create, such as requesting a meeting to check in with someone. Copilot can generate a draft that you can then review and refine. Options can help you adjust characteristics such as the message's length and formality or incorporate additional information into the draft.
Using Built-In Copilot Sales Features in CRM
Dynamics 365 Sales includes several Copilot features designed to help users work with CRM information more efficiently. One important capability is record summarization. Copilot can summarize information associated with records such as Leads and Opportunities, helping you understand the information stored in CRM without manually reviewing every detail. Copilot can also help answer questions about your sales records and recent CRM activity.
Find Out What's New with Your Sales Records
Copilot can help you identify recent changes within your sales data. For example, the "What's new with my sales records" functionality can surface recent information associated with Opportunities, Leads, or Accounts. The feature focuses on records owned by you and activity from the previous seven days, displaying up to five results. This can provide a quick way to catch up on recent CRM activity.
See What's Newly Assigned to You
Salespeople can also use Copilot to identify Leads or Opportunities that were recently assigned to them. The built-in functionality can surface Leads or Opportunities assigned to you within the previous 15 days. For users managing a busy sales pipeline, this can help bring attention to new records that may require follow-up.
Get the Latest News for Accounts
Copilot includes functionality for accessing news related to Accounts. This can help salespeople gather additional context about organizations they're working with and use that information as they prepare for conversations.
Prepare for Upcoming Sales Appointments
Copilot can also assist users as they prepare for upcoming sales appointments. Because CRM contains information about customers and previous interactions, AI-assisted preparation can help bring together relevant context before a conversation.
Draft Emails from CRM
Similar to Copilot's email-drafting functionality in Outlook, Dynamics 365 Sales includes AI-assisted features for creating email content. Rather than beginning every message with a blank page, users can start with Copilot-generated content and then review and adjust it before communicating with a customer.
Copilot for Cases
Copilot functionality isn't limited to sales records. Dynamics 365 can also provide summaries for Cases. This gives users another way to quickly understand relevant CRM information without manually reading through every piece of data associated with a record.
Keep Track of Upcoming Features
Copilot was still early in its development when this Fast Class was created, and Microsoft had additional capabilities planned through its Release Waves. Microsoft's Release Wave Planner provides a way to follow upcoming functionality. You can review planned features, see Preview and General Availability dates, read descriptions and supporting documentation, and save features you're interested in following. The Release Wave Planner isn't limited to Copilot. It can also be used to monitor planned Dynamics 365 CRM functionality more broadly.
Turning Copilot Off in CRM
Your organization may decide that it isn't ready to begin using Copilot immediately. For example, you may want more time to train users on AI, establish internal processes, or wait until additional functionality becomes available. If Copilot isn't currently part of your process, having its features displayed throughout CRM may take up unnecessary space. A system administrator can disable Copilot functionality in CRM. Copilot is activated or disabled for individual apps, so administrators can control its availability according to the organization's requirements. When your organization is ready to begin using Copilot, the functionality can be turned back on.
Using Copilot as Part of Your CRM Process
Copilot introduces another way to interact with the information your organization already maintains in Microsoft applications. Within Dynamics 365 CRM, built-in Copilot functionality can summarize records, surface recent sales information, assist with preparation, and help create content such as email drafts. Similar AI-assisted features are also appearing in tools such as Outlook and Power Automate. Organizations don't have to adopt every Copilot feature immediately. Administrators can choose whether CRM Copilot functionality should be available while teams determine how AI fits into their existing processes. As Microsoft continues to expand these capabilities through future release waves, organizations can evaluate the features that provide the most value for their users.
