By integrating D365 F&O with Microsoft Copilot Studio, businesses can enable conversational agents that retrieve and interact with F&O data using natural language.

In this article, we will explore two integration approaches, via Power Automate flows and Dataverse tables, and how they support the automation of key financial and operational processes.

Working with Dynamics 365 F&O data entities

At the core of Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations are data entities that store critical business data, such as customers, vendors, and financial transactions. These entities are exposed through OData endpoints, providing standardized web access to data that external tools, such as Microsoft Copilot Studio, can consume.

Example:

• Entity Name: CustomersV3
• Endpoint: https:// [your-instance].operations.dynamics.com/data/

Customization options for data entities

While default entities cover many scenarios, organizations often need to tailor data structures to their unique business processes. Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations supports:

• Extending existing entities by adding custom fields to capture additional information relevant to financial operations or human resources.
• Developing custom entities using X++ development enables deeper customization for specialized business-critical agents.

These customization capabilities ensure that your AI agents can access and operate on the precise data needed to execute complex workflows.

Read more: The integration of Dynamics 365 F&O and Copilot Studio: Low-code for AI

Methods to retrieve and integrate Dynamics 365 F&O Data into Copilot Studio

There are two main approaches to bring Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations data into Microsoft Copilot Studio for agent development:

1. Power Automate flows

This method is ideal for creating flexible, logic-based workflows that can dynamically retrieve, transform, and process data. Power Automate features extensive connectors and a low-code environment, making it accessible to both developers and business users for automating business processes.

2. Dataverse tables

For organizations replicating D365 F&O data into Microsoft Dataverse, Copilot Studio can directly access this data, simplifying integration and enabling faster agent flows.

In Copilot Studio, agent triggering allows agents to be activated by user messages or specific events, enabling them to automate business processes and execute actions across various channels and applications.

Both methods support the creation of powerful AI agents that can execute financial processes, automate business workflows, and interact across multiple channels such as Microsoft Teams or voice agents.

Using Power Automate for retrieving and processing data in Dynamics 365 F&O: An implementation guide

For Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, the “Fin & Ops Apps (Dynamics 365)” connector provides direct access to entities and operations, enabling you to create intelligent agents that automate financial operations and other mission-critical business processes.

Choosing the right flow action

Power Automate offers several actions tailored for D365 F&O data management:

For retrieving bulk data with specific criteria, the List Records action is particularly powerful, allowing you to filter, sort, and limit results efficiently.

Key parameters in the ‘List Records’ action

When configuring the List Records action, consider these parameters to optimize data retrieval:

• Instance name: Specifies the D365 F&O environment hosting your data.
• Entity name: The target entity, such as CustomersV3 or custom entities.
• Filter query: Retrieves only records that match the specified criteria.
• Order by: Sorts results by specified fields.
• Top count: Limits the number of records returned.
• Select query: Selects specific fields to reduce payload.
• Cross company: Enables fetching data across multiple legal entities.

Data transformation in Power Automate

After pulling data from D365 F&O, you can shape and format it for Microsoft Copilot Studio using built-in actions:

• Parse JSON: Converts raw responses into structured data for easier handling.
• Select: Maps and extracts the necessary fields to create a clean output.
• Append to string: Formats responses into user-friendly messages.
• Send to Microsoft Copilot Studio: Passes processed data back to the conversational AI for agent responses.

These transformations empower your AI agents to understand and respond with precise and actionable business information.

Connecting the flow with Microsoft Copilot Studio

Once your Power Automate flow is ready, integrate it within a Topic in Microsoft Copilot Studio. This connection enables your AI agents to trigger the flow, retrieve data, and interact in real time with users.

For testing, use tools like the Test Sidecar or the D365 F&O Sidecar environment to simulate conversations and validate agent behavior before publishing.

After thorough testing, publish your changes to make intelligent agents available to end users, enabling them to execute business processes conversationally across multiple channels, including Microsoft Teams and voice agents.

Conclusion

Successfully integrating Microsoft Copilot Studio with Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations empowers organizations to automate business processes with intelligent, AI-driven agents. By connecting through Power Automate flows and Dataverse tables, businesses can eliminate manual effort, enhance operational visibility, and accelerate decision-making across finance, HR, and supply chain functions.

Exploring how Copilot Studio can transform your ERP automation strategy? We’ll help you assess integration needs, design scalable solutions, and ensure a smooth deployment. For tailored guidance, connect with us at marketing@confiz.com.

Microsoft Copilot Studio’s low-code approach enables customers to construct intelligent, conversational agents that can interact with Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations (D365 F&O), all without writing a single line of X++ code. Whether you’re automating data retrieval, initiating Power Automate flows, or improving customer interactions, Microsoft Copilot Studio enables you to do more with less work.

In this article, we explore Microsoft Copilot Studio and how integrating it with Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (F&O) can open up new possibilities.

What is Microsoft Copilot Studio? Let’s understand this platform

Microsoft Copilot Studio is Microsoft’s low-code development platform designed to create intelligent AI assistants (Copilots) tailored to business needs.

Some of its capabilities include:

• Graphical interface for building workflows and automation.
• Seamless integration with Power Automate and external APIs.
• Easy addition of custom topics that interact directly with Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations.
• Immediate publishing of topics for real-time user access.

Further readings: A new era in low-code and no-code evolution with Copilot Studio

Features and capabilities of Microsoft Copilot Studio

Below are some key features and capabilities of Microsoft Copilot Studio:

Adding Knowledge Sources in Microsoft Copilot Studio

In Microsoft Copilot Studio, knowledge sources collaborate with generative answers to enable agents to provide more relevant and helpful responses. When knowledge sources are added, agents can retrieve data from sources such as Power Platform, Dynamics 365, websites, and other external systems.

These sources can be added while creating an agent, after it has been created, or directly in a topic using a generative answers node.

Supported knowledge sources

You can connect the following types of knowledge sources:

• Public websites: Enables the agent to search the query using Bing and return results only from the specified URLs.
• SharePoint: Connects to a SharePoint URL and uses GraphSearch to return results.
• Dataverse: Uses data from your configured Dataverse environment with retrieval-augmented generation.
• Documents: Searches documents that are uploaded to Dataverse and returns content from them.
• Enterprise Data via Copilot Connectors: Connects to organization data indexed by Microsoft Search.

Generative answers using knowledge sources

By default, Microsoft Copilot Studio includes a “Conversational boosting” topic with a generative answers node. All knowledge sources added at the agent level are automatically utilized by this node.
Generative answers help reduce the need to create topics for every question, thereby speeding up manual deployment.

Authentication

When using sources such as SharePoint, Dataverse, or enterprise data, the agent will utilize Microsoft Entra ID authentication. This ensures that users only see content to which they have permission.

The role of actions in Microsoft Copilot Studio

In Microsoft Copilot Studio, actions are used to connect your Copilot to external systems and services. These actions power real-time data queries, process automation, and AI-driven responses.

Types of actions available in Copilot Studio

The way your Copilot communicates with other systems, such as D365 F&O, is determined by the actions you take. Here are a few actions that are supported:

• Prebuilt connector actions – Use Microsoft’s built-in connectors to seamlessly integrate with services such as Dataverse, SharePoint, and others.
• Custom connector actions – Connect to your APIs by establishing custom connectors tailored to your business requirements.
• Power Automate flows – Automate and orchestrate business logic using Power Automate. Useful for triggering multi-step workflows or approvals.
• AI Builder prompts – Generate dynamic responses using AI models. Ideal for summarizing content, extracting information, or providing intelligent suggestions.
• Bot framework skills – Extend Copilot’s capabilities using custom skills developed in the Bot Framework. Best suited for offloading complex conversations or modular logic.
• REST API calls – Make direct API calls to third-party or internal systems, including D365 F&O, giving you full control over request and response handling.

Dynamics 365 F&O and Copilot Studio: What does this integration enable?

Integrating Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations (F&O) with Microsoft Copilot Studio opens up powerful AI-driven experiences by combining enterprise data with natural language interaction. Here’s how it works and why it matters:

• Custom AI tools: You can build AI tools that tap into F&O business logic using X++ code, then expose them as Copilot tools via Dataverse APIs.
• Natural language interaction: Users can ask questions like “What’s the current balance for customer Contoso?” and Copilot will invoke backend logic to calculate and return the answer.
• Embedded and sidecar experiences: Copilot can appear as a side panel (sidecar) or be embedded directly into F&O apps, offering contextual help, summaries, and task automation.

Conclusion

Microsoft Copilot Studio bridges the gap between Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations and users by providing an intuitive, low-code platform for building conversational AI experiences. This approach streamlines data retrieval, reduces manual effort, and helps teams make faster decisions. Ready to transform how your organization works with Dynamics 365 F&O? Contact us at marketing@confiz.com.