The 2025 Release Wave 2 for Dynamics 365 Business Central brings a host of innovative features, AI-powered enhancements, sustainability tools, and usability improvements. These updates, scheduled to roll out between October 2025 and March 2026, are designed to help businesses of all sizes streamline operations, improve efficiency, and drive smarter decision-making.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover all the major updates, their practical applications, and how businesses can leverage them for maximum impact.
1. AI & Automation: Copilot and Autonomous Agents
Copilot Integration
Business Central now features Microsoft Copilot, an AI-powered assistant that helps users:
- Summarize complex reports and large datasets.
- Automate reconciliations and financial analysis.
- Provide contextual insights while working in the platform.
This feature allows users to focus on strategic tasks while routine processes are automated, significantly improving productivity.
Autonomous Agents
Autonomous agents extend the automation capabilities of Business Central by handling specific tasks automatically. Examples include:
- Sales Order Agent: Reads incoming emails, extracts order details, and creates sales documents.
- Finance Agent: Suggests account reconciliations or generates reports based on recurring patterns.
These agents can be configured, monitored, and approved by administrators, giving businesses confidence in AI-driven automation.
Custom AI and Extensibility
Developers can also build custom AI-driven solutions within Business Central, integrating Copilot with existing workflows or external Microsoft Cloud AI services, enabling businesses to tailor AI capabilities to their unique needs.
2. Developer Tools and Extensibility Improvements
Business Central’s extensibility and developer features have been strengthened to improve flexibility and reduce time-to-market:
- Profile Extension Objects: Modify user profiles without duplicating code, reducing maintenance efforts.
- Resource Integration in Extensions: Include resources accessible from AL code for smoother initialization.
- VS Code & GitHub Enhancements: Developers can now directly access, inspect, and fix code in GitHub repositories.
- Background Performance Profiling: Detect bottlenecks in live systems without interrupting operations.
- Full-Text Search: Search table fields more efficiently using metadata-based queries.
- AppSource Validation and NuGet Feeds: Simplifies app publishing and symbol management for partners and developers.
These updates empower developers to build more powerful, efficient, and maintainable solutions.
3. E-Commerce and Shopify Integration
With the rapid growth of online retail, Business Central expands its e-commerce capabilities:
- Deep Shopify Integration: Sync inventory, pricing, product variants, and discounts in real-time.
- Centralized Tax & Reporting: Manage taxes and generate accurate reports for e-commerce sales across multiple regions.
- Enhanced Order Management: Track online orders efficiently and ensure accurate fulfillment and accounting.
This makes Business Central a more comprehensive platform for retailers seeking seamless integration between back-office operations and online storefronts.
4. Financial Management and AI-Assisted Accounting
The wave 2 release emphasizes smarter finance operations:
- Agent-Driven Bookkeeping: Automates repetitive tasks by recognizing patterns in accounting data.
- Tax Management Enhancements: Stay compliant with global tax regulations and localize processes for different markets.
- Financial Insights with AI: Identify anomalies, detect trends, and make data-driven decisions faster.
Businesses can reduce errors, increase accuracy, and free finance teams to focus on strategy rather than manual processes.
5. Sustainability and ESG Reporting
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting is becoming essential for modern businesses. Business Central 2025 wave 2 includes:
- Environmental Data Capture: Track emissions, water usage, and waste efficiently.
- Import Emission Factors: Pull accurate external data to calculate carbon footprint.
- Sustainability Dashboards: Monitor KPIs, set targets, and track progress over time.
- Scope 3 Emissions Tracking: Record upstream and downstream value chain emissions.
- Invoice-Level Carbon Data: Include sustainability metrics in invoices for full visibility.
These tools help companies stay compliant, support sustainability goals, and demonstrate commitment to stakeholders.
6. Governance, Security, and Administration
Business Central 2025 wave 2 introduces robust governance and security improvements:
- Granular Partner Access: Control partner access to production and sandbox environments.
- Customer-Managed Encryption Keys: Enhance data protection and compliance.
- Flexible Update Scheduling: Minimize business disruptions during upgrades.
- Unified Extension Interface: Easier management of extensions and apps across environments.
- IPv6 Support: Future-proof connectivity and improve network compatibility.
These features make it easier for administrators to manage environments, enforce policies, and ensure data security.
7. Reporting, Analytics, and Data Insights
Data-driven decision-making is at the heart of Business Central 2025 wave 2:
- In-Context Analytics: Explore insights without leaving your workflow.
- Self-Service Reporting: Create custom reports combining system and sustainability data.
- Power BI and Excel Integration: Seamlessly embed dashboards and analytics into the user experience.
This enables business leaders to make faster, smarter decisions based on real-time insights.
8. Supply Chain and Quality Management
- Quality Management Enhancements: Monitor and maintain product quality across production and distribution.
- Subcontracting Improvements: Better traceability, costing, and workflow support for outsourced operations.
- Inventory Optimization: More accurate forecasting and real-time tracking improve efficiency.
These updates help manufacturers and distributors ensure operational excellence and minimize errors.
9. User Experience and Usability
Business Central 2025 wave 2 delivers a more intuitive and consistent user experience:
- Multi-Selection Actions: Apply changes to multiple records simultaneously.
- Error Detection and Correction: Identify mistakes and resolve them easily.
- Consistency Across Devices: Desktop, web, and mobile apps offer the same modern interface and usability.
- Summarized Data Views: Quick overviews of key metrics and insights.
A better user experience drives adoption, efficiency, and reduces training time.
Why Businesses Should Upgrade
- Boost Productivity: Automate repetitive tasks with AI agents and Copilot.
- Enhance Compliance: Built-in tax updates, ESG reporting, and encryption ensure regulatory readiness.
- Support Sustainability: Track, report, and reduce environmental impact.
- Enable Smarter Decisions: Embedded analytics and AI-driven insights empower leaders.
- Accelerate Innovation: Improved developer tools reduce time-to-market for new features.
- Seamless E-Commerce and Supply Chain: Shopify integration and subcontracting enhancements simplify operations.
Upgrading to wave 2 ensures businesses stay competitive, efficient, and future-ready.
