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Despite growth in online channels, nearly 70% of total retail sales still happen in brick-and-mortar stores, according to the National Retail Federation. To stay relevant, Microsoft says retailers must upgrade physical stores with the same intelligence and personalization customers expect online. 

The revamped Dynamics 365 Commerce Point-of-Sale (POS) now runs on a modern React and Fluent 2 Design framework, making it faster and more intuitive, especially on mobile and touch devices.  

Copilot features surface real-time insights, helping store associates recommend products, upsell loyalty benefits, and handle payments with fewer clicks. 

Key updates include faster checkout workflows, smart payment suggestions, loyalty upsell prompts, and flexible toast notifications to keep staff informed in real time. Retailers like Vera Bradley and Memory Express are already seeing value, reporting quicker transactions and better customer conversations. 

Microsoft says these AI-driven tools not only enhance the shopper experience but also help retailers retain staff by making daily tasks easir and more engaging. With role-specific GenAI for store associates projected to be the norm by 2027, retailers that modernize early are better positioned to thrive. 

Retailers can explore these new capabilities in Dynamics 365 Commerce now—and keep up with what’s next through Microsoft’s release planner for ongoing updates. 

Read more about Dynamics 365 Commerce capabilities 

The new push highlights how sellers can use Microsoft Copilot to automate repetitive tasks, personalize customer interactions, and craft stronger content, all while sidestepping common pitfalls that derailed earlier tech rollouts. 

Security concerns, integration headaches, and poor change management plagued companies during the shift from on-premises systems to the cloud. With AI, similar hurdles exist businesses must secure data, plan smart integrations, and help teams adapt without friction. 

Lessons from the mobile revolution show that flexibility brings risks too. AI should boost productivity without burning people out. And just as LinkedIn forced sellers to rethink authentic outreach, Microsoft advises teams to use AI to enhance, not replace, real human connection. 

By learning from history, sales organizations can use Copilot and agents to deliver high-value work, focus on real conversion metrics, and build trust in digital channels. 

Microsoft has released a new Copilot for Sales Success Kit to help teams get started and encourages leaders to focus on responsible AI adoption from day one. For early adopters, the company says, the payoff will be stronger customer loyalty, higher efficiency, and a head start over slower competitors. 

The update, now available in the schedule assistant on the schedule board, normalizes working hours to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This means project managers can easily see when resources are available, without juggling time zone conversions manually. 

In traditional setups, teams in different time zones often appear scattered on a single schedule board, leading to errors and misaligned bookings. With the new feature, Dynamics 365 displays all resource availability on a unified timeline, ensuring that a 9am–5pm shift looks consistent whether a consultant is in Singapore, New York, or Seattle. 

When a manager books a resource, the schedule assistant automatically converts the appointment back to each person’s local time zone. Microsoft says this eliminates scheduling confusion, speeds up the booking process, and helps distributed teams work together more smoothly. 

Administrators can enable the feature for their teams starting today. Microsoft encourages users to share feedback in the Community Forum and submit ideas for further improvements through the Ideas portal. 

As more companies embrace global, remote-first operations, time zone barriers have become a common roadblock for service teams. With this update, Microsoft aims to make Dynamics 365 Field Service more practical for multinational organizations that rely on precise resource scheduling to deliver projects on time. 

The feature, powered by the CCaaS_CreateProactiveVoiceDelivery API, allows companies to embed callback options in websites, mobile apps, chatbots, and IVRs. Instead of waiting on hold, customers select a preferred time window—such as their lunch break or after work—and receive a callback when an agent is available. 

For businesses, this means fewer abandoned calls, smoother workloads for customer service teams, and higher first-contact resolution rates. For callers, it means an end to the dreaded wait music and repeated explanations to multiple agents. 

Microsoft’s proactive callback workflow uses real-time availability checks to balance customer preferences with agent capacity. Industries like banking, insurance, and healthcare can integrate the features in app “Call Me Now” buttons, live chat escalation, or automated voice menus when queues overflow. 

Sample use cases include a website widget offering same-day callbacks or a mobile app that deflects customers to schedule a call instead of joining a long queue. 

By putting customers in control of when they’re contacted, Microsoft aims to boost trust and loyalty, turning tedious hold queues into more predictable, stress-free interactions. 

Revealed during Microsoft Build 2025, the new features promise secure, scalable, and intelligent web portals designed to automate tasks, adapt to user behavior, and defend against evolving security threats. 

Key among the updates is the introduction of a security agent powered by Microsoft Sentinel. Now in public preview, this tool monitors for abnormal traffic patterns and potential Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, providing real-time alerts and actionable recommendations directly through Microsoft Outlook and Teams. 

Power Pages also integrates Microsoft Copilot and Copilot Studio, allowing businesses to embed conversational AI agents within portals. This enables users to perform tasks and interact with data naturally, while developers benefit from AI-assisted coding and inline previews in Visual Studio Code. 

Other significant updates include expanded multilingual support, Dataverse Git integration for easier version control, and new administrative tools like the Copilot hub and action center. These features help admins govern AI usage, manage security compliance, and streamline maintenance tasks. 

Global organizations, including the US Small Business Administration and Fortune Brands, are already leveraging Power Pages to cut costs and boost efficiency. Microsoft’s latest push positions Power Pages as a leading platform for enterprises seeking secure, AI-driven digital portals.