Successful AI adoption requires organisations to do more than adding new tools to existing processes, according to Microsoft executives, partners and customers speaking during the opening keynote at Community Summit North America 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The event, which runs from 11-15 October 2026 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, brings together users of Microsoft’s business applications, technology partners and industry experts for education, training and networking. The keynote explored the practical implications of AI for organisations using Dynamics 365, Power Platform and related technologies. The central message was that organisations must rethink their workflows, establish appropriate governance and ensure their data and employees are ready for AI technology.
Georg Glantschnig, corporate vice president of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Agentic ERP Applications, said businesses need to look beyond using AI to complete individual tasks more quickly.
“You have to be managing your process, not just the task,” he said. “You have to rethink how basic work flows across finance, operations.”
This means reconsidering how work moves across departments and business functions, rather than simply automating existing activities. Glantschnig also highlighted the need for governance and business context, with organisations establishing the controls and foundations required to use AI responsibly.
The human side of this change was a recurring theme in a discussion featuring TMC Global’s CEO and founder Jennifer Harris, and chief AI officer Shane Young. Harris highlighted the importance of bringing people together to help customers make meaningful use of technology. “AI is here, been here, and it’s really here now, let’s make it expand our horizons,” she said.
Young discussed how organisations’ approach to AI is evolving as they move beyond initial experimentation. Rather than adopting the technology indiscriminately, businesses need to consider where it can make a difference and how to apply it with appropriate purpose and governance.
Dynamic Communities CEO John Siefert, who led the keynote discussions, brought these ideas together by highlighting the human and operational dimensions of the change. “It’s the human side of that shift, but it’s also the process side of that shift,” he said.
That shift is already evident in organisations undertaking major technology transformations. Everon, a fire and life safety company, replaced much of its existing technology following its separation from ADT in the fourth quarter of 2023. The business had 12 months to change its systems while continuing to operate in an industry where reliable execution is critical.
Ryan Fritts, Everon’s chief information officer, described how the company moved from Oracle E-Business Suite and Salesforce to Dynamics 365, alongside changes to other business systems.
Mike Gillis, owner and principal at RSM, which supported the transformation, said the conversation with customers had shifted over time. Whereas organisations had previously focused on identifying the problem and choosing a technology platform, change management had become an increasingly important consideration.
“You can’t really apply AI to bad data, so you got to get that data right with the business applications,” said Gillis.
The partnership between Everon and RSM is continuing beyond the initial implementation, with the two organisations exploring how AI could help Everon identify merger and acquisition opportunities. The example demonstrated how technology transformation can create opportunities beyond replacing legacy systems, provided organisations have the right foundations and a clear long-term vision.
Microsoft’s Power Platform presentation explored how organisations could bring AI agents into existing applications and workflows. It was led by Dona Sarkar, chief troublemaker of Microsoft’s Enterprise AI Advocacy programme, and Leon Welicki, vice president of Power Platform at Microsoft.
The aim is to allow people and agents to work together within applications built using Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Pages and Dataverse, building on existing investments rather than requiring organisations to start again.
Sarkar described how agents could join development teams to review applications, identify security issues and analyse performance. Organisations could bring agents into a project when needed and turn them off when their work was complete, retaining control over when they were used and the associated costs.
A live demonstration showed how an existing Power Apps application could support agent-based interactions without being rebuilt. Users could ask questions about information held in the application and request more complex analysis, with agents drawing on data from connected systems.
Sarkar said organisations should also look beyond coding agents when considering how AI can change software development. Building and maintaining a product involves multiple functions and processes, making the underlying systems, data quality and operational foundations important to achieving better results.
The keynote also explored Microsoft’s partnership with Lovable, represented by Olof Hedin, who works in go-to-market at the company. The discussion covered product development and marketing, as well as the potential to help customers move more quickly from an idea to a working system. Prototypes, the speakers suggested, can mark the beginning of product development and business process redesign rather than its conclusion.
Data quality was another recurring theme, particularly in the transformation of industrial machinery and automation company Barry-Wehmiller. The business, which has more than 12,000 team members, went live with Dynamics 365 at its US headquarters in August 2026, covering finance and shared services. Its next planned deployment is at a manufacturing site in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The implementation uses embedded software from providers including Truvio, Xfold Automation and SK Global Treasury. Bonnie Duddlesten, vice president of enterprise transformation at Barry-Wehmiller, explained that accurate and consistent data helps systems work together with less manual intervention and complexity. “Now with AI in the picture, this is no longer simply important. It is an absolute necessity,” she said.
The company is continuing to improve its data quality as it expands the transformation into other areas of the business. The example underlined how AI adoption depends not only on the technology itself, but also on the quality of the information and processes it relies on.
Sarkar returned to the human dimension of AI in the keynote’s closing remarks, arguing that as agents become more capable of producing applications, documents and other work products from relatively simple instructions, people need to focus on the capabilities that remain distinctly human. “The first one is, of course, imagination,” she said. “Agents can make stuff up. Only we know what is needed in this world right now.”
She also highlighted human judgement, using the example of deciding whether it is appropriate to share business data with a large audience. Empathy is important, too, such as recognising when an application is inaccessible to people with low vision and deciding to improve it. “The fourth one is curiosity,” she said, describing the willingness to ask what might happen if a different approach were tried. “Curiosity also means having the courage to recognise when a product is not working and decide to stop developing it.”
For Sarkar, however, one of the most important human capabilities is the ability to connect with other people. “And the last one, and the most important, is what you all are doing here today, just being here in real life, in the room connecting with each other,” she said, highlighting that human connection will remain essential as organisations adapt to the technology.
The keynote’s wider message was captured in a simple distinction: “Humans use the vision; agents do the work.”
For Microsoft customers and partners, this means treating AI as more than a way to speed up existing tasks. Its value will depend on whether organisations can rethink their processes, maintain trustworthy data, establish appropriate controls and help their employees adapt.
As agents take on more technical work, people will still need to define the problems worth solving, apply judgement, understand business context and build relationships. The challenge is not simply to introduce more AI, but to use it to change how organisations operate while ensuring people remain central to that transformation.