By Laas NuryCompanies running SAP or Microsoft Dynamics 365 hear two messages at the same time. The vendor says: our ERP now has AI built in. Everyone else says: AI is changing everything, so your ERP must change too. Both lead to the same worry: do we need a big ERP project before we can use AI?
Almost never. This article explains what SAP and Microsoft now build in themselves, when that is enough, and how to put your own AI to work around SAP or Dynamics without touching the core.
What the vendors build in
SAP. Joule is SAP's AI assistant across its applications. In 2026 SAP extended it into a central AI workspace, introduced AI agents across core business functions that run complex workflows with human oversight, and launched a platform on which customers and partners can build, manage and govern their own agents. What you get depends on which SAP products you run and which licences you have.
Microsoft Dynamics 365. Copilot runs across the Dynamics applications, and Microsoft is adding agents for specific processes. A clear example: in Supply Chain Management, the Procurement Agent (at the time of writing a production-ready preview) can send suppliers reminders to confirm purchase orders and ask why a delivery is late, either sending the e-mails itself or saving them as drafts for a buyer to review.
Both vendors move fast. What is a preview today may be standard next year, so check the current state for your version and licence before you build something the vendor is about to ship.
When the vendor's AI is enough
- The process runs entirely inside the ERP.
- It matches the vendor's standard process closely.
- The AI feature is available in your version and licence.
- The data it needs is already correct in the ERP.
In that case, switch it on, test it on your own cases, put it in your AI register and train the people who use it. Building your own would be money spent on something you already have.
When you build around it
- The work starts outside the ERP. Orders in e-mails, supplier confirmations in PDFs, requests in a customer portal. The ERP's AI works on what is already in the ERP.
- Several systems are involved. SAP or Dynamics next to a warehouse system, a transport planner, a CRM from another vendor, a supplier portal.
- Your own rules apply. Customer agreements, approval routes, exceptions the vendor's standard process does not know.
- You need a specific set-up: a particular model, EU-only processing, or running in your own environment.
Keep the core clean
SAP calls it "clean core": do not modify the ERP itself, but build extensions beside it that talk to it through official interfaces. The same principle holds for Dynamics. For AI it is essential:
- An AI solution beside the ERP survives upgrades. One built into custom ERP code becomes a problem at the next release.
- The ERP stays the system of record. The AI reads from it and writes back through the same official routes any other application uses, with the ERP's own checks still in place.
- You can replace the AI part later, with a better model or another supplier, without an ERP project.
Three integration patterns
| Pattern | What the AI does | What the ERP sees | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Read and advise | Reads ERP data, combines it with other sources, advises a person | Nothing changes | Forecasts, exception lists, answers to questions about orders or stock |
| Suggest and draft | Prepares a document in the ERP as a draft | A draft order, booking or change, waiting for approval | Order intake, supplier changes, credit notes |
| Act within limits | Changes records itself below agreed limits, escalates the rest | Changes made by a dedicated technical user, fully logged | Delivery-date updates, matching, routine master-data updates |
Most companies start with the first two, and move processes to the third one at a time, when the numbers show it can be trusted. The guardrails for that step are described in AI agents for business.
An example: order intake around SAP or Dynamics
Take an illustrative distributor running SAP or Dynamics 365. Orders arrive by e-mail as PDFs and spreadsheets from hundreds of customers, each with their own format and agreements.
- An AI outside the ERP reads each order, recognises the customer, matches the lines to article numbers (including the customer's own codes), and checks prices and delivery dates against agreements and stock.
- It creates a draft sales order in the ERP through the official interface.
- Anything it cannot match, or that deviates from the agreement, goes to the order desk with the reason attached.
- The order desk approves drafts in bulk and spends its time on the exceptions.
Nothing in the ERP itself was modified. If the vendor later ships a feature that covers part of this, the AI solution can hand that part over.
Where to start
Check what your current SAP or Dynamics licence already includes, and test it on your own cases. Then look for the processes where information still reaches the ERP by hand: from e-mails, PDFs, portals or other systems. That is where AI around the ERP pays off fastest. If you run Exact Online or AFAS instead, read connecting AI to Exact Online and AFAS; the principles are the same.
