By Dennis Cools, Senior Consultant, Dynamics4Business, December 11, 2025
From 81 sessions to concrete customer benefits
Directions EMEA continues to be an impressive event. This year, 231 sessions, 303 speakers and new knowledge squares for developers, consultants, sales and marketing were brought together in one location. Add to that a convention center where you quickly take 15,000 steps a day - and you can understand why our five colleagues Dennis, Hans, Ivo, Jim and Paul attended 81 sessions in four days and returned with a head full of new ideas.
But what impressed me most was not the number of sessions or kilometers walked. It was the amount of insights directly relevant to our customers.
From agentic AI to advanced Business Central functionalities: Directions 2025 wasn't just about what's coming, but more importantly how organizations can start using it tomorrow. Therefore, after our return, we organized an internal keynote for the entire team. In one hour we shared: what will change, what can our customers gain - and what should we be ready for? These are the key insights.
AI's role is changing from assistant to colleague
Microsoft is firmly committed to agentic AI. That means: AI that not only provides answers, but also executes parts of processes independently - with built-in safety checks and confirmation steps.
What users gain from this
- Faster processing of orders, invoices and document flows
- Fewer error-prone manual steps
- More focus for employees on exceptions rather than routine
Agents such as the Sales Order Agent and the Payables Agent will soon be available in the Netherlands as well. And starting in January, organizations can even build their own agents directly in Business Central.
Developers and consultants are growing closer together
A notable trend from Directions: AI is going to generate more and more code. But that doesn't mean developers are disappearing, on the contrary, their role is shifting to:
- Designing solutions
- Critically assessing AI-generated output
- Ensuring quality and maintainability
Instead, consultants are given more opportunities to take on small technical tasks themselves.
What customers gain from this
- Solutions more in line with practice, as knowledge becomes more closely aligned
- Faster iterations
- Reduced waiting times between functional and technical work
New functionality in Business Central that really makes a difference
Microsoft announced several improvements during Directions that customers will notice in 2025/2026:
- Quality module: finally a standard solution for quality controls within purchasing, production and inventory.
- E-document extensions: More countries, more types of documents and a more stable basis for automation.
- Autofill and suggestions: Smart fill-in help based on previous company data and external sources.
- Improved reporting: New Word add-in, better management of layouts and soon even full self-service for datasets. This also makes internal reporting much easier.
What customers gain from that:
- work faster with fewer chances for error
- more standard functionality without customization
- better compliance (localization, e-documents, sustainability)
MCP Server opens Business Central to AI AND to you
The new MCP Server opens the door to a future where Business Central can be driven via natural language by AI inside and outside Microsoft ecosystems.
What customers gain from this
- Easier integrations with AI services
- agents who understand specific business processes
- Better context for decisions, even in more complex scenarios
Our main conclusion: investing now means getting ahead later
What we take away from Directions is this: AI is moving faster than previous technology shifts - and organizations that experiment now will soon have a head start.
Therefore, we use this knowledge directly in:
- new customer projects
- assessments and roadmap sessions
- workshops on AI, agents and Business Central
- our proprietary solutions (such as the document agent and mechanic agent)
We not only want to know what is coming, but especially what it brings for our customers.
In conclusion
Directions 2025 confirmed what we have seen in practice for some time: Business Central, Power Platform and AI are converging in ways that make business processes smarter, faster and more secure. And we are ready to take our customers through this step by step, clear and with an eye for what really works. Do you recognize your organization in these topics and would you like to explore the possibilities?
Let us know via info@d4b.nl.
