Generative AI is redefining how work gets done. The question isn’t if but where AI can amplify decision-making, automate repeatable tasks, and surface insights inside ERP ecosystems. Organizations delaying ERP investments risk being left behind, while future winners will enhance systems today to absorb intelligence and scale value.

AI isn’t the question — the real challenge is knowing where to begin.

AI is no longer optional. Boards and executive teams now expect tangible ROI from AI investments within 12–18 months. Microsoft has embedded Copilot across Dynamics 365, making AI a native part of ERP and Finance operations. But most leaders face the same challenge: Where do we begin, and how do we prove value quickly?

Forrester’s TEI study shows that Dynamics 365 ERP delivers a

106% ROI, generating $15.8M in quantified benefits with payback in just 17 months.

HSO builds on this foundation by connecting ERP discipline with AI innovation to reduce time-to value and scale responsibly.

In real-world enterprises, AI-infused business applications are already reshaping core functions — from fraud detection in financial services to automating compliance in regulated industries. HSO and Microsoft are helping industry leaders achieve tangible impacts: enabling smarter supply chains, automating service processes, and delivering contextual intelligence.

The urgency for enterprises to modernize ERP with AI is no longer theoretical — it is being driven by measurable pressures and opportunities across industries.

These numbers prove that ERP modernized with AI is not only a technology upgrade, but a financial growth driver. Organizations that delay adoption risk widening the performance gap with competitors already leveraging AI-enabled ERP.

HSO’s own research shows that sporadic AI pilots often stall, but enterprise-wide adoption — when coupled with governance, change management, and measurable outcomes — creates compounding benefits. The combination of Microsoft Dynamics 365’s cloud ERP foundation and HSO’s AI frameworks provides a scalable, trusted path to value realization across industries [2].

HSO ensures ERP and AI investments don’t stay on the drawing board — but deliver measurable results:

Plan → Prove → Scale → Govern.

ERP provides the structured backbone of financial and operational processes. AI creates new possibilities by turning ERP data into narratives, forecasts, and recommendations.

A large public sector organization faced growing challenges with fragmented systems and manual processes. Service requests arriving via email and shared inboxes required extensive manual handling, leading to inconsistent outcomes, slow response times, and higher processing costs. Leaders recognized the need for a smarter approach to improve efficiency and deliver faster, more consistent services.

Working with HSO, the organization launched an AI Trailblazer program to identify and prioritize use cases where AI could deliver the greatest impact. Three high-value opportunities were selected for the first phase:

This program demonstrated how a pragmatic, phased approach — Plan → Prove → Scale → Govern — can unlock measurable value from AI in a matter of weeks, while building the governance and confidence needed for broader adoption.

Enterprises today face a paradox: AI is everywhere in the headlines, but nowhere near enough in practice. Generic tools may improve productivity, but they rarely create lasting differentiation. The organizations that win are those that apply AI with context, discipline, and pragmatism — aligning it with their industry challenges, ERP backbone, and financial goals.

At HSO, we’ve distilled our experience across hundreds of client engagements into five guiding principles for ERP + AI success. These are not theories or abstract frameworks, but proven lessons from real-world deployments — advice from our experts who are helping clients every day to contextualize, prove, and scale AI responsibly.

The following insights reflect that philosophy: move beyond hype, ground AI in business reality, and prove value early and often.

For business leaders, the question isn’t “what can AI do in theory?” It’s “what can AI do for my business?” The answer only becomes clear when you see your own data driving agents and copilots in action. By running AI in the client’s context, HSO ensures that value is tangible from the start. Executives aren’t just told about possibilities — they can see automation, risk insights, and forecasting happen live with their own numbers and workflows. This approach not only builds trust but also accelerates buy-in across the leadership team. 

As Jerrold Stolk, AI Lead at HSO Netherlands, explains:

“The real breakthrough happens when AI is demonstrated with your data and processes — that’s when its potential becomes tangible. That’s when the magic happens.”

HSO’s method turns AI from theory into action, proving its relevance in weeks rather than years. This ability to show, not just tell is what helps HSO’s clients move past skepticism and gain confidence to scale.

Insight #3

ERP systems are built on structure: standardized processes, compliance, and scale that ensure accuracy and    reliability. But AI thrives in the unstructured — interpreting natural language, analyzing images, or processing voice inputs. When ERP and AI are combined, enterprises gain the best of both worlds: the discipline of ERP with the adaptability of AI. 

Imagine an ERP environment where a CFO can ask a natural language query such as, “Show me outstanding receivables by region for this quarter,” and receive instant results — no complex reporting setup required. Or where supply chain managers can upload invoices and shipping documents, and AI automatically extracts, validates, and reconciles the data inside ERP. These integrations turn ERP from a static system of record into a dynamic system of intelligence. 

As Alex Zweekhorst, Director of Data & AI at HSO, explains:

"Structured ERP processes are HSO’s strength. We use that foundation to help customers apply AI in practical ways — from natural language queries to image recognition — creating outcomes that are both reliable and transformative."

By marrying ERP structure with AI creativity, organizations can improve efficiency, accuracy, and scalability while creating new opportunities to reimagine how core business processes work.

Insight #4

CFOs and finance leaders expect more than promises — they want hard metrics that prove AI investments deliver business value. Forrester’s TEI study of Dynamics 365 ERP showed compelling results:

$8.9M in productivity gains, $1.2M in profitability improvements, and a payback period of just 17 months.

These outcomes illustrate what’s possible, but CFOs need to see that impact in their own numbers.

The challenge isn’t adopting AI, it’s proving value from the very first step.

That’s why HSO focuses on rapid pilots and proof-of-value initiatives that demonstrate ROI within weeks, not years. Our approach centers on:

By proving ROI early and often, HSO helps finance leaders build the business case for broader ERP + AI adoption, ensuring that investments are not only justified but celebrated at the leadership level.

Insight #6

As AI continues to mature, intelligent agents are evolving beyond their initial purpose of surfacing insights or triggering automated workflows. They are becoming embedded participants within business processes — working seamlessly alongside users and other agents in a growing agentic ecosystem.

Instead of merely advising, these agents now act. They recommend next steps, initiate transactions, and execute decisions autonomously where appropriate. The result is a profound shift: ERP is no longer just a system of record. It becomes a living, intelligent platform where data doesn’t just reside, it thinks, learns, and acts.

By embedding agentic capabilities into ERP, organizations move from reactive reporting to proactive intelligence. These systems can anticipate needs, resolve issues in real time, and continuously optimize operations, fundamentally transforming how enterprises run.

The most effective agent strategies start with understanding where they create the most value. Organizations can identify these opportunities by mapping end-to-end business processes, pinpointing areas of friction, and aligning agent behavior with industry-specific priorities. In manufacturing, for instance, agents may monitor production quality and automatically adjust schedules. In finance, they might forecast anomalies or suggest corrective actions before risks materialize.

This is not about automation for its own sake, it’s about enabling collaboration between humans, systems, and
intelligence. Each interaction becomes a chance to learn and improve, driving a cycle of continuous innovation.

Successful AI adoption doesn’t happen all at once — it requires a clear path from idea to impact. Too often, organizations stall at the pilot stage or struggle to translate early wins into sustainable change. That’s why HSO provides a structured progression: Plan → Prove → Scale → Govern.

This approach isn’t a rigid methodology, but a practical guide that balances speed with governance. It helps leaders start in the right place, demonstrate value early, expand adoption with confidence, and ensure trust and compliance as AI scales across the enterprise.

HSO is not a newcomer to ERP or AI. For more than three decades, we have been guiding organizations through waves of change — from on-premise ERP to the cloud, from siloed systems to integrated platforms, and now from digital transformation to AI-enabled enterprise reinvention.

Our heritage in ERP is unmatched. We understand the structured backbone of Finance and Supply Chain, and we know how to overlay AI to deliver measurable outcomes. This is why HSO is consistently recognized by Microsoft with awards such as Partner of the Year, AI Business Solutions Inner Circle membership, and Azure Expert MSP accreditation.

But what sets HSO apart is not recognition alone — it is our ability to bridge technology and business impact. Our AI infused accelerators, including mfg360, fsi360, retail360, aec360, legal360, and nfp360, reduce time-to-value by embedding industry best practices directly into ERP workflows. These tools empower clients to realize benefits in weeks, not years, with less risk and greater adoption.

We also deliver enablement offerings like Fabric Jumpstart and AI Governance frameworks, ensuring organizations not only deploy AI but do so responsibly — with data quality, security, and change management at the core.

HSO is a global partner with local expertise, combining the heritage of ERP leadership with the vision of AI innovation. We help organizations modernize operations, accelerate decision-making, and achieve enterprise-wide impact — guiding them from ERP + AI plan to performance.

HSO’s Agentic AI Advisory Service empowers enterprise organizations to adopt and integrate intelligent agents with confidence. Built around Microsoft Copilot Studio and agentic AI, our service combines strategic guidance, technical enablement, and long-term innovation support.

As a trusted Microsoft Solutions Partner, HSO brings deep expertise in framework design, governance, and enterprise-readiness—helping you build and scale intelligent agents that deliver measurable business value.

HSO combines deep Copilot Studio and agentic AI expertise with decades of enterprise experience, helping organizations turn Microsoft innovation into measurable business impact. As a Microsoft Solutions Partner across Data & AI, Business Applications, and Security, HSO delivers secure, scalable, and industry-aligned frameworks built to accelerate transformation. More than a project vendor, HSO is your long-term innovation partner—committed to driving continuous improvement and lasting value across your digital journey.

[1] HSO – Global Autonomous Finance Benchmark 2025

[2] HSO – Future of Possibilities with AI (Introducing Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain with Copilot and AI capabilities)

[3] Forrester – The Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Dynamics 365 (commissioned study, cited by Microsoft and HSO)

[4] Forrester – The Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance (2022), as referenced in HSO Future of Possibilities with AI