Microsoft goes after Salesforce and ERP users with AI-powered converter

Microsoft has found another use for AI: providing an off-ramp for Salesforce customers. The software giant on Wednesday gave the world Dynamics 365 Activate," software that executive veep for Apps and Agents Jeff Teper described as a comprehensive, AI-powered tool that can help partners and customers move to Dynamics 365 faster, with less manual effort and lower migration risk." Microsoft has made the tool available as a public preview that can convert Salesforce implementations to its own SaaS-y Dynamics 365 offering. The company promises it will launch additional CRM and ERP migration scenarios" starting later this year." The software behemoth's vision for this tool is to create one agentic implementation experience" that covers starting a new business or business process, migration from an existing tool like Salesforce, or to grow a business that already runs Dynamics. Microsoft's explanation for how AI can move a major business application says its AI-powered convert-o-tronic machine can profile data and entities, identify relationships and dependencies, and surface customizations that require attention." That process apparently gives implementation teams a clearer blueprint for what should move, what should change, and what should be redesigned before migration begins." For Salesforce, the tool will analyze an existing ... CRM environment and build a detailed understanding of its data, business processes, customizations, and dependencies." Microsoft's partners are a big target for the AI-powered converter, because Redmond thinks it will help them to more quickly understand users' existing applications. Partners can use these insights to assess Salesforce environments faster, determine what to preserve, simplify, or redesign around AI and agents, and identify migration risks and dependencies earlier. This approach empowers teams to focus more time on solution architecture, industry expertise, and change management," states an announcement for partners. Microsoft got serious about building a big business applications business with its 2001 acquisition of Great Plains Software. It's hard to quantify its success because Microsoft doesn't report a revenue line item for CRM and ERP, but the Productivity and Business Processes business unit that includes Dynamics won $140 billion of revenue in FY 26, up almost 15 percent year-over-year. It's thought that Microsoft has earned about 25 percent market share for ERP, but just four or five percent of the CRM market which Salesforce dominates with around 20 percent share. But Salesforce customers may be ripe for a chat with an alternative supplier, as its Agentforce platform hasn't excited users according to two recent reports - but AI spending at the CRM giant has dented its margins. Oh, the irony, that Microsoft might use AI to prise away Salesforce customers who aren't happy with its AI! (R)