Finance leaders are seeing the promise of AI, but without the right ERP foundation, that promise stays out of reach.
More than 80 per cent of CFOs believe AI will significantly change their role within three years, yet many are still running their finance operations on systems built before AI was even on the radar. The tools now available in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, especially with Copilot, can deliver instant insights, predictive forecasting, and automated reporting. But here’s the catch: these capabilities need the right ERP foundation to work.
Why AI is a CFO’s next competitive advantage
AI has moved beyond the hype stage. For finance leaders, it’s not simply about automating manual tasks, it’s about giving decision-makers the ability to act faster and with greater certainty.
With Copilot in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, CFOs can ask natural language questions and get instant answers pulled from live financial data. That means you can move from “I’ll get back to you next week” to “Here’s what the numbers are telling us right now” without switching between multiple systems or waiting on static reports.
Microsoft has built Copilot to do more than retrieve data. It can:
- Model different budget and forecast scenarios.
- Identify anomalies or variances before they become critical issues.
- Suggest actions based on historical and predictive patterns.
- Help prepare commentary for board reporting by pulling key trends directly from financial data.
According to Microsoft’s 2024 release notes, Copilot is also expanding into areas like vendor invoice processing and predictive cash flow analysis, bringing even more opportunities to free up finance teams for higher-value work.
The legacy ERP barrier
For CFOs still on older, siloed ERP systems, AI remains a frustrating “look but don’t touch” proposition. Legacy platforms often:
- Require manual consolidation of data from multiple entities.
- Provide reports that are days or weeks behind real-time.
- Lack integration with AI tools like Copilot.
- Limit forecasting to historical trend analysis instead of predictive modelling.
The reality is that Copilot isn’t an add-on you can simply plug into an outdated system. Its capabilities depend on unified, cloud-based data and modern ERP architecture. Without that foundation, AI’s value is heavily restricted.
In practical terms, if your ERP is still running on-premises or lacks the data unification that Dynamics 365 offers, you’ll find yourself spending more time managing systems than interpreting the insights they could be delivering.
What CFOs are achieving with Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations + Copilot
Picture a CFO who has been living in spreadsheets for years. Month-end feels like a marathon. Reports arrive days late. Forecasts are educated guesses, not data-backed predictions.
Then one quarter, they move their organisation to Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations with Copilot. Suddenly, instead of asking the finance team for a report and waiting a week, they can type, “Show me the top five cost drivers affecting our margin this quarter”, and get an answer in seconds.
They start closing the books faster, spotting risks earlier, and scenario-planning with more confidence. Decisions are made with real-time insights instead of stale data. The finance team isn’t buried in manual reconciliations, they’re actually analysing and advising.
This CFO isn’t a lone success story; they’re simply working with a platform built for how finance operates now, not how it worked a decade ago.
Key benefits they experience include:
- Real-time data consolidation across entities.
- Predictive insights for budgeting and forecasting.
- Automated variance analysis and anomaly detection.
- Natural language report generation through Copilot.
The window of opportunity
We are in the early stages of the AI adoption curve for finance, but the gap between early adopters and laggards will widen quickly. Those who act now will use AI to shape strategy, while others will be left reacting to competitors who move faster.
For CFOs, this is more than a technology decision. It’s a strategic opportunity to modernise the core system that powers your organisation’s financial intelligence. With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, you’re not just gaining AI capabilities, you’re creating a connected, agile finance function capable of adapting to whatever comes next.
AI isn’t the future. It’s here. The question isn’t whether Copilot can improve your finance function, it’s whether your ERP is ready to let it. Upgrading your ERP is no longer a back-office IT decision. It’s a board-level conversation about competitiveness, resilience, and the speed at which your business can make the right calls.
As a CFO, you’re the architect of financial strategy. The systems you put in place today will determine how well your organisation navigates the AI-driven market ahead.
Book a discovery call today.
In this 30-minute conversation with one of our specialists, you will:
- Discuss your current ERP challenges and goals.
- Explore how Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations with Copilot can support your finance strategy.
- Get practical next steps tailored to your organisation.
Book your call and start exploring what an AI-enabled finance function could look like for your business.
