Key takeaways_

• AI in Business Central falls into three groups: Copilot, which assists people; agents, which carry out defined work such as processing supplier invoices and sales orders; and tailored AI, built for specific requirements.
• Most Copilot features are included in the Business Central licence, while selected agents are billed on consumption through Copilot Credits.
• Governance, permissions and a named owner matter as much as the technology itself.

AI in Business Central is moving quickly, but the real value comes from knowing which capabilities are useful now, which need more thought and where human control still matters.

For finance and operations teams, that means looking beyond the hype and understanding how Copilot, agents and tailored AI can support everyday work without adding unnecessary risk or complexity.

This guide explains the main options, where each can add value and what to consider before introducing them.

Three types of AI, with different roles_

When we talk to clients about AI in Business Central, we usually group it into three categories: what assists people, what performs work and what is bespoke.

• Copilot: what assists people. A user asks for help and Copilot suggests an answer, summary or draft for them to review, such as marketing text for items, a summary of a customer record or a quick analysis of list data. The result is less time on routine admin and faster answers to everyday questions.
• Agents: what performs work. Agents handle defined processes within agreed boundaries. They pick up a task, prepare the work and pass it to a person at the right control point. The Payables Agent and Sales Order Agent are generally available, and Expense Agent is currently available as a production-ready preview. The result is less manual processing, more consistent handling and quicker turnaround on high-volume transactions.
• Tailored AI: what is bespoke. Where Copilot and the standard agents do not cover a requirement, AI can be tailored to a specific process, such as one that is unique to your sector or relies on data held in other systems. It is most relevant where there is a clear business case and the standard options are not sufficient. We explain the technology behind this later in this guide.

Each category has a different purpose, level of control and implementation approach.

What is available now_

Copilot is built into Business Central and included with the licence at no extra cost. Microsoft is also bringing Copilot chat in Business Central into line with the wider Microsoft Copilot experience, so users will be able to work with business data, web results and general knowledge in one familiar chat. This update is in public preview and due for general availability with the October 2026 release.

Microsoft continues to expand the AI capabilities in Business Central. The Payables Agent reduces the time spent keying supplier invoices and the Sales Order Agent turns customer email requests into draft sales quotes and orders for review, helping sales teams respond to customers more quickly. The Expense Agent and tools for designing tailored agents are at preview stage. Infinity Group helps organisations understand which options suit their processes, confirm what is available for their Business Central environment and introduce new capabilities in a controlled, practical way.

Continuous investment_

Microsoft has also changed how it shares its plans. From September 2026, new Business Central capabilities are published on the AI at Work roadmap as soon as they are committed, replacing the twice-yearly release plan documents. Microsoft has confirmed this changes how the roadmap is communicated, not how updates are delivered, so the regular update schedule stays the same. For customers, it means earlier visibility of what is coming and a single place to track each feature through to launch.

That does not mean your team needs to follow every roadmap update, preview announcement or piece of product documentation.

If you’re one of our customers, Infinity Group keeps track of the changes, assesses which capabilities are relevant to your environment and advises you when there is something worth exploring. Where a feature is still in preview, we can explain the limitations, confirm its regional and licensing position, and help test it safely before any decision is made about wider adoption.

Behind tailored AI: Copilot Studio and MCP_

Two Microsoft tools sit behind most tailored AI.

Copilot Studio is Microsoft’s platform for building and managing custom AI agents and the Business Central MCP server connects those agents to your Business Central data. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI tools connect to business systems in a consistent, secure way.

By default, the server gives read-only access to Business Central API pages and administrators decide which records AI agents can create, change or post. Microsoft is also adding the ability to run custom data queries where no standard API exists and an agent design experience for prototyping agents in sandbox environments; both are currently in preview. Together, these allow AI to carry out work in Business Central within the permissions you set.

The governance questions you need answered_

Before any agent touches production data, these should have documented answers.

• What permissions does it hold? An agent operates under a defined set of permissions. If those permissions allow posting, it can post, so review them as carefully as you would a new integration account.
• Where does human approval sit? Identify the specific point at which a person reviews and confirms the agent’s work. If you cannot point to it, the design is not finished.
• What is audited? You need to be able to show an auditor what the agent did, when and on whose authority. Business Central records each agent task and its steps in the agent task log, while ledger entries and the change log cover the transactional side. Make sure your own process records the decisions reviewers take.
• What data leaves the environment? Check whether the Allow data movement across geographies setting is needed for your environment, and confirm it aligns with your own data policies and any client or regulatory commitments you have made.
• What does it cost? Most Copilot features are included in your Business Central licence, but selected agents, including Payables Agent, Sales Order Agent and Expense Agent, are billed on consumption through Copilot Credits. Model the consumption against realistic volumes rather than assuming it is free.
• Who owns it? Every agent needs a named owner who monitors its output, reviews exceptions and decides when its scope should change.

Where to be cautious_

There are two areas where we would advise caution.

The first is anything positioned as replacing your finance team. That is not what this technology does and presenting it that way makes adoption harder, because people who feel threatened by a tool are unlikely to help you implement it.

The second is treating AI as a selection criterion on its own. For organisations evaluating Business Central, AI is increasingly part of the conversation, but it is best assessed alongside fit, cost, delivery capability and platform. The AI capability in Business Central is a significant and growing advantage, and it sits on top of a system that first needs to run your finance, purchasing, sales and reporting correctly.

A practical starting point_

If you want to move from interest to value, the most credible route is to pick one high-volume, low-judgement process, and supplier invoice processing is usually the right first candidate. Run an agent against it in a sandbox or trial with real data for a few weeks. Measure the time it saves, document the control points, and take that evidence to your audit and finance leadership.

We took the same approach internally before recommending it to clients. Evidence from your own invoices and your own team carries more weight with auditors and finance leadership than any external case study.

Want a clear view of which AI capabilities could benefit your business? Speak to our Business Central experts about an AI readiness and governance review.