--- id: video/Hct_HE0KzEc type: video title: "Episode 516: Business Central Is Transforming Business Management: Insights from Mike Morton" summary: Interview with Mike Morton, recorded at Directions North America 2026, on Business Central's growth past 50,000 installations and its AI direction. It covers the expense agent, which was announced as available this year, and advice to start with enterprise AI tools such as 365 Copilot. It also covers a vision of fewer manual data-entry tasks, natural language and phone-capture workflows, more interactions from Teams, Outlook and M365, and continued commitment to the Business Central UI. tier: community language: en tags: - ai adoption - copilot integration - expense agent - natural language interfaces - user interface evolution - headless erp - data entry automation - business efficiency - market growth system: copilot review: state: reviewed by: opus at: "2026-10-07T23:20:54.604Z" flags: [] generated: at: "2026-10-07T23:20:54.653Z" pipeline: 0.2.0 prompts: extract-video: 1 summarize-video: 2 input_hash: 2459b1b5b507529b32a0ffeddb46a4389c09cde3a3e6949789f8e595373db6a0 evidence: - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=184s title: "Expense Agent: announced" date: "2026-04-29T19:58:27.000Z" commit: null t: 184 quote: And even at the conference it was announced that the expense agent will be available this year as well. - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=45s title: "Episode 516: Business Central Is Transforming Business Management: Insights from Mike Morton" date: "2026-04-29T19:58:27.000Z" commit: null t: 45 quote: Business Central has grown to over 50,000 installations - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=82s title: "Episode 516: Business Central Is Transforming Business Management: Insights from Mike Morton" date: "2026-04-29T19:58:27.000Z" commit: null t: 82 quote: we've just continued to see see sort of the opposite. Seen kind of acceleration in in growth - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=184s title: "Episode 516: Business Central Is Transforming Business Management: Insights from Mike Morton" date: "2026-04-29T19:58:27.000Z" commit: null t: 184 quote: the expense agent will be available this year - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=387s title: "Episode 516: Business Central Is Transforming Business Management: Insights from Mike Morton" date: "2026-04-29T19:58:27.000Z" commit: null t: 387 quote: the most fundamental tool for that is in 365 Copilot - kind: video url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=610s title: "Episode 516: Business Central Is Transforming Business Management: Insights from Mike Morton" date: "2026-04-29T19:58:27.000Z" commit: null t: 610 quote: there is going to be a decent amount of transition of people spending less time in the depths of the app where you're going links: learn: [] objects: [] features: [] topics: [] localizations: [] videos: [] posts: [] guidelines: [] video_id: Hct_HE0KzEc channel: yt-dynamicscorner source_name: Dynamics Corner podcast url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc published_at: "2026-04-29T19:58:27.000Z" duration_s: 938 captions: derived audience: - decision maker - partner - functional consultant chapters: - t: 0 title: Business Central Growth Milestone and Market Expansion - t: 106 title: Regional Growth Strategies and Market Opportunities - t: 184 title: AI Strategy and Messaging to Partners and Customers - t: 360 title: "Getting Started with AI: Practical Advice for Organizations" - t: 495 title: Starting Simple and Building Confidence with AI Tools - t: 599 title: Future UI Evolution and User Interaction Paradigm Shift - t: 738 title: Headless ERP and the Shift from Data Entry to Value Creation - t: 802 title: Closing Remarks and Contact Information features: - name: Expense Agent status: announced t: 184 verified: true status_source: video - name: Natural Language Invoice Processing status: unclear t: 610 verified: false status_source: video - name: AI-Enhanced Payables Processing status: unclear t: 336 verified: false status_source: video - name: UI Evolution with AI-Enabled Workflows status: unclear t: 610 verified: false status_source: video - name: Interactions from External Tools status: unclear t: 698 verified: false status_source: video objects_mentioned: [] quotes: - t: 45 text: Business Central has grown to over 50,000 installations check: exact - t: 82 text: we've just continued to see see sort of the opposite. Seen kind of acceleration in in growth check: exact - t: 184 text: the expense agent will be available this year check: exact - t: 387 text: the most fundamental tool for that is in 365 Copilot check: exact - t: 610 text: there is going to be a decent amount of transition of people spending less time in the depths of the app where you're going check: exact --- # Episode 516: Business Central Is Transforming Business Management: Insights from Mike Morton > Interview with Mike Morton, recorded at Directions North America 2026, on Business Central's growth past 50,000 installations and its AI direction. It covers the expense agent, which was announced as available this year, and advice to start with enterprise AI tools such as 365 Copilot. It also covers a vision of fewer manual data-entry tasks, natural language and phone-capture workflows, more interactions from Teams, Outlook and M365, and continued commitment to the Business Central UI. [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc) · Dynamics Corner podcast · 2026-04-29 · 15:38 · tier community · reviewed (checked by Opus) ## Overview In this Dynamics Corner episode, Mike Morton discusses Business Central's growth to over 50,000 installations and says growth has accelerated. He also covers regional growth and how Microsoft talks about AI to partners and customers. The conversation then turns to practical AI adoption: start with simple tasks and build confidence. He describes a future where users interact with Business Central from Teams, Outlook and M365 and spend less time on data entry and navigation, while the Business Central UI continues to be maintained and improved. ## Key points - Business Central has grown to over 50,000 installations, and Morton says growth has accelerated rather than slowed. Europe is historically strongest, while the US, South America and Asia are named as growth opportunities. - The expense agent was announced at the conference as available this year. Morton describes snapping an expense with a phone and letting the system process it. - To get started with AI, Morton calls 365 Copilot the most fundamental tool, made powerful by its Microsoft Graph integration (mail, calendar, Teams). - Tools like ChatGPT can be used, but organizations should use enterprise versions, since consumer tools lack the best capabilities. - Advice for adopting AI: describe the problem you want to solve, don't overthink it, and start with simpler tasks to build confidence. - Invoice handling is described as a future vision: upload an invoice, let the system process it, then correct or answer specific questions instead of filling in fields one by one. - More interactions are expected to come from Teams, Outlook, M365 or ambient interfaces. The pace is uncertain because ERP has to be right and accurate. ## Chapters - [0:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=0s) Business Central Growth Milestone and Market Expansion - [1:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=106s) Regional Growth Strategies and Market Opportunities - [3:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=184s) AI Strategy and Messaging to Partners and Customers - [6:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=360s) Getting Started with AI: Practical Advice for Organizations - [8:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=495s) Starting Simple and Building Confidence with AI Tools - [9:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=599s) Future UI Evolution and User Interaction Paradigm Shift - [12:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=738s) Headless ERP and the Shift from Data Entry to Value Creation - [13:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=802s) Closing Remarks and Contact Information ## Features | Feature | Status | At | Evidence | |---|---|---|---| | Expense Agent | announced | [3:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=184s) | "And even at the conference it was announced that the expense agent will be available this year as well." ([3:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=184s)) | | Natural Language Invoice Processing | status not stated | [10:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=610s) | | | AI-Enhanced Payables Processing | status not stated | [5:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=336s) | | | UI Evolution with AI-Enabled Workflows | status not stated | [10:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=610s) | | | Interactions from External Tools | status not stated | [11:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=698s) | | ## Quotes - [0:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=45s) "Business Central has grown to over 50,000 installations" - [1:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=82s) "we've just continued to see see sort of the opposite. Seen kind of acceleration in in growth" - [3:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=184s) "the expense agent will be available this year" - [6:27](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=387s) "the most fundamental tool for that is in 365 Copilot" - [10:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=610s) "there is going to be a decent amount of transition of people spending less time in the depths of the app where you're going" ## Disclaimers in the video - [3:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=184s) other: the expense agent will be available this year - [10:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=610s) coming-later: there is going to be a decent amount of transition of people spending less time in the depths of the app - [11:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct_HE0KzEc&t=698s) coming-later: more and more of the interactions will be from the other tools people use whether that's Teams or Outlook or M365 Presenters (as heard): Mike Morton, Chris, Brad.