Microsoft has launched AI-powered business assistants for retail, supply chain, small businesses, and centralised business operations. The new assistants employ generative AI and analytics to automate business processes and accelerate work processes, including for online commerce, logistics, and business operations.

The new Microsoft Copilot AI-based business assistants are part of the company’s Dynamics 365 range of business solutions.

Copilot in Dynamics 365 Business Central streamlines the creation of product listings for online commerce. Product attributes such as colour, material and size can be used to create product descriptions for online storefronts in seconds. The descriptions can be further tailored by choosing tone of voice, format and length. Business Central customers using Shopify can seamlessly publish the products with descriptions to their Shopify store in just a few clicks.

The Microsoft Supply Chain Center Copilot employs generative AI to flag external issues such as weather, financials and geography that can impact supply chain processes. Microsoft is also deploying generative AI to automate repetitive manual tasks across its ERP platforms, including manual data entry, content generation and note-taking.

Copilot in Microsoft Supply Chain Center, which Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management customers can access, will flag up issues utilising information pulled from external sources such as the Internet. Predictive insights can then surface impacted orders across materials, inventory, carrier, and distribution network. Supply chain planners can then automatically draft an email generated by Dynamics 365 Copilot to alert impacted partners and mitigate potential disruptions before they happen.

Emily He, Microsoft CVP, Business Applications and Platform, said: “In recent years, many businesses discovered that their current supply chain technologies are ill-equipped for an environment characterised by ongoing disruptions, constraints, and shortages. AI-enabled supply chain management can provide unprecedented visibility and insights, helping to solve disruptions before they happen.”

“Copilot brings the power of next-generation AI capabilities and natural language processing to Dynamics 365, working alongside business professionals to help them create ideas and content faster, complete time-consuming tasks, and get insights and next best actions—just by describing what’s needed.”

Copilot features for Microsoft Dynamics 365 are now in limited preview.