Enterprise AI Digest #29 - PODCAST on Spotify and Apple
Topics:
D365 Customer Service Workbench
Power Apps: Entra Environment Variables
AI: Copilot Studio + D365 Customer Service Handoff
Data: SQL Server 2025: AI-Ready Database
D365 Customer Service Workbench
Microsoft announced plans to deprecate the Unified Service Desk (USD) with CRM Online app, urging customers to shift to Customer Service workspace for AI-driven features:
Key Dates
Deprecation (Apr 1, 2026): End of investment in USD; older versions lose Dataverse security access.
End of Service (Apr 30, 2027): No further quality or security updates.
End of Support (Jun 30, 2028): Full retirement of USD.
Why It Matters: Customer Service workspace offers new AI innovations, multi-session, Copilot, and more—far beyond what USD can provide. If you can’t fully migrate by April 2026, at least update USD to the newest version. You’ll need to switch fully by 2028 when USD is taken out of service.
Power Apps: Entra Environment Variables
Microsoft is introducing SQL Server environment variables (Entra) for Power Apps, rolling out in Preview regions by January 22 and all regions (including sovereign) by February 3.
Why This Matters
Faster Migrations: Easily move solutions from dev or test to production without manually setting server/database combos each time.
Auto-Creation Option: Either create environment variables manually or let Power Apps do it for you when you add a data source in your solution.
Streamlined Deployment: Two environment variables—one for server and one for database—work together to unify your app’s data source references.
For a step-by-step guide on environment variable setup, check out Microsoft Learn.
Copilot Studio Agents to D365 Customer Service
Copilot Studio agents can seamlessly escalate chats to Dynamics 365 Customer Service, handing over full conversation history and collected variables—so live agents pick up precisely where the bot left off.
Why Integrate with Dynamics 365 Customer Service
Smooth Escalations: When a conversation is handed off, chat history and user details flow directly into a queue for the right human agent.
SSO Convenience: Single sign-on features reduce friction by recognizing logged-in users, ensuring a faster handoff for live support.
Inactivity Timeout: Dynamics 365 Customer Service expects sessions to close after inactivity. Including a “Session Timeout” topic in your agent ensures conversation metrics stay accurate.
SQL Server 2025: AI-Ready Database
With AI on the rise, SQL Server 2025 is built for on-prem or hybrid AI workloads. It introduces vector search, AI model management, and Microsoft Fabric integration.
Why SQL Server 2025 Matters
AI + Data Together: Store, query, and secure data and vectors in one place—ideal for chat apps or retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).
Ground-to-Cloud Flexibility: Deploy on-prem, in edge scenarios, or connected to Azure via Azure Arc.
AI-Centric Features
Vector & DiskANN: Enables semantic search and AI-powered lookups inside the database.
Model Management: Host or call AI models from SQL itself—no separate service required.
Fabric & Azure Arc Integration
Fabric Mirroring: Replicate SQL data into Microsoft Fabric for advanced analytics—no complex ETL required.
Azure Arc: Monitor, patch, and secure SQL servers (including 2025) across on-prem and cloud, with pay-as-you-go licensing options.