What happens between the moment we write a prompt and the moment the request appears loaded in Dynamics 365 FnO?
In this post we take a look inside Copilot Cowork: how it accesses our applications, how it understands what it finds with WorkIQ, how it contrasts it with external information, and how it takes action in the system.
🌱 Step 1: Everything starts with a plan
When we delegate a task, Cowork turns our request into a plan that moves forward in the background, with checkpoints where we can confirm progress, make changes, or pause. It also asks for our approval before taking actions that affect real communications, files, or schedules.
That’s why it’s so useful for the prompt to describe the steps and the approval moments: this way Cowork can incorporate them into its plan.
🌱 Step 2: How Cowork reaches SharePoint, emails, and Teams
The key is two pieces working together:
🌿 Microsoft Graph, the index of our tenant. Everything Microsoft 365 knows about files, email, chats, meetings, and calendars is in Graph or behind it.
🌿 WorkIQ, the intelligence layer on top of Graph. It orchestrates context: it gathers information, grounds responses, selects skills, and invokes tools. It can reason over emails, OneDrive and SharePoint documents, Teams messages, and the rest of the Microsoft 365 applications.
In our case, the expense policy could be in a SharePoint document, in an email announcement, or in a Teams conversation. WorkIQ selects the most relevant content for the task and Cowork uses it as its working criteria, so the proposal is based on our organization’s real rules.
💡 A tip: the clearer, more accessible, and more up to date the policy is in SharePoint, the better the analysis will be. Naming the document in the prompt helps Cowork go straight to it, and we reduce the number of interactions.
🌱 Step 3: We also have an outward view: web search
Internal rules are one part of the analysis. The other part is the outside world: suppliers, customers, prices, conditions, availability, and everything around us. For that, Cowork can combine work information with web search.
At this point, I like to ask it to include sources and links in the response so we can verify every data point.
🌱 Step 4: From querying to executing: the FnO connector
With the FnO connector, the same assistant that researched and analyzed can take action. With Cowork we can not only query information from the system, it can also interact as if it were us: with the connector it can create the record in FnO. In other words, the information it gathered and we validated becomes a real record inside the system.
At this point it’s also important to define the instructions clearly. For example, telling it to do so only after our explicit approval, in the legal entity we specify, and, once finished, to send us the details of what it has loaded.
🌱 And all of this is available in the plan it built for us in the example 😉
An example to see it in action:
🚗 Off to Seattle: A Business Trip That Practically Organizes Itself
We’re traveling to Seattle for work during the week of November 23. Between meetings, flights, and hotels, we already have plenty to take care of. The last thing we need is to spend hours comparing rental cars, only to discover that the option we chose doesn’t comply with the company’s travel policy or comes with unexpected additional costs.
With Cowork and the Dynamics 365 FnO connector, we can delegate all that research and let it do the heavy lifting.
Cowork can search for car rental options for our travel dates, compare prices and terms, consult the company’s travel policy, and check which alternatives meet its requirements. It can then prepare a proposal featuring the best options, their estimated costs, key terms, and any exceptions that require approval.
Once we’ve reviewed the alternatives and given our approval, we can take the next step: preparing my travel request in Dynamics 365 FnO.
This way, we can focus on what’s important about the trip instead of becoming experts in comparing rental cars. And who knows? Maybe we’ll even have time to enjoy Seattle before the first meeting!
Prompt:
I’m traveling to Seattle for business from November 23 to 28. Help me find the best car rental options, verify that they comply with the company’s travel policy, and prepare the travel request in Dynamics 365 FnO under the USMF legal entity.
- Search for car rental options in Seattle for the specified dates. Compare providers, estimated total price, vehicle category, included insurance, fuel policy, mileage, cancellation terms, and any additional charges.
- Review the company’s travel and expense policy and verify which options comply with its requirements, including budget limits, permitted vehicle categories, and booking conditions.
- Present a proposal with the three best options, prioritizing compliance with corporate policy, total cost, and rental terms. Include the available sources and links so that each offer can be verified.
- Identify any unconfirmed details, excluded costs, or policy exceptions that require approval. Do not assume an option is compliant if there is insufficient information to verify it.
- Stop and show me the proposal so I can review and approve it. Do not book the vehicle or create the travel request yet.
- Once I give you my explicit approval, enter the travel request in Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations under USMF.
- Send me the details of the request you created in the system.
Do not invent prices, availability, rental terms, or corporate policy rules. If you cannot access the internal policy, current offers, or Dynamics 365 FnO, state this clearly and explain what information or access you need.
Everything in English.
See you in the next one!