Two Days of Business Central, AI, Community – and Plenty of Real-World Insights
Two days of technical sessions, valuable conversations and honest insights into the future of Business Central. Here’s why the trip to Darmstadt was well worth it for me.
When You Realize How Fast the Business Central Ecosystem Is Changing
Last week, I attended Days of Knowledge Central 2026 in Darmstadt, and it’s hard to remember another event that made the pace of change in the Business Central ecosystem feel quite so tangible.
AI, Copilot, AI Agents, modern DevOps practices, Microsoft Fabric, the Power Platform, MCP, automation – it seems that every new Business Central release introduces capabilities that would have sounded like distant future concepts just a few years ago.
What made the event stand out was not only the quality of the sessions, but also the combination of technical depth, open discussions and a shared question that kept coming up throughout the two days:
If you’d like to learn more about the event and explore the agenda, you can find additional information here:
Learn More About Days of Knowledge Central 2026
Between AI, the Cloud and Real-World Business Challenges
What I particularly appreciated about Days of Knowledge was that, while the topics were modern and often highly technical, they always remained firmly grounded in real-world business challenges.
Of course, much of the focus was on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, cloud technologies and artificial intelligence. Topics such as Copilot, modern API architectures, Microsoft Fabric, Dataverse, the Power Platform and AI-assisted development seemed to be everywhere throughout the event.
What stood out, however, was that these technologies were not presented as trends for the sake of trends. The discussions consistently focused on practical applications, real project experiences and the question of how these innovations can create tangible value in everyday business operations.
Many of the sessions were refreshingly honest. Where do these new technologies already deliver real value today? Where should companies still proceed with caution? And where are we seeing measurable business benefits rather than just exciting ideas? AI, in particular, was discussed in a very balanced and pragmatic way. The overall message was clear: AI is no longer an experiment. Several speakers demonstrated just how much AI can already support software development, documentation, testing and everyday business processes. At the same time, there were repeated warnings against deploying AI without proper oversight – especially in ERP environments, where data quality, process reliability and compliance are critical. One of the statements that stayed with me was:
„Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.“
And that was exactly what I found so compelling: the combination of genuine enthusiasm for new technologies and a healthy sense of pragmatism.
Why AI, Agents and MCP Are Everywhere Right Now
One topic seemed to run through almost the entire conference: Agentic Systems and MCP (Model Context Protocol). A few years ago, the discussion was still focused on what AI might be capable of. Today, the conversation has moved far beyond that. The question is no longer whether AI can generate content, write code or answer questions. The focus is increasingly on how AI can interact with systems, access business data, execute actions and become part of end-to-end business processes.
How do you integrate AI into real business processes in a way that is productive, secure and maintainable?
Several sessions demonstrated impressively how AI systems will soon be able to interact directly with Business Central, APIs and external platforms. One of the most interesting takeaways for me was the growing importance of well-designed APIs and clean data structures. These are the foundations that allow AI agents to work reliably and effectively with ERP systems in the first place. What became very clear throughout the conference is that Business Central is increasingly evolving from a traditional ERP system into a connected business platform. Together with AI, Copilot Studio, Microsoft Fabric, the Power Platform and external services, it is becoming part of a much broader ecosystem that extends far beyond classic ERP functionality.
The Most Important Takeaway: Data Quality
Another theme that surfaced repeatedly throughout the conference was that AI projects rarely fail because of the AI itself. More often, they fail because of the underlying data. Several sessions made this point very clearly. Poor master data, weak governance, unclear ownership and inconsistent processes do not improve when AI is introduced. If anything, AI tends to expose these issues even more quickly. The message was hard to miss: before organizations can fully benefit from AI, they need a solid foundation of reliable data, clearly defined processes and strong data governance.
And honestly, this is exactly what we are seeing in many ERP projects today.
Before you can talk about AI strategies, you need clean processes, clear data structures and defined responsibilities. Otherwise, AI will simply amplify existing problems more quickly.
Modern DevOps Practices Are Transforming ERP Development
Besides AI, another major topic for me was the ongoing transformation of the Business Central development landscape. GitHub, AL-Go, standardized DevOps pipelines and AI-assisted development were present in almost every conversation. What I found particularly interesting was the discussion around the growing complexity of traditional DevOps setups. Over the years, many development environments have become highly complex, especially when it comes to Docker, Azure DevOps and container management. The clear trend is toward greater standardization and more reproducible development environments. Another noteworthy announcement was that BcContainerHelper is expected to be deprecated in the long term – a development that will likely be highly relevant for many technically focused Business Central partners.
Exactly the Right Mix for Me
What I particularly like about Days of Knowledge is that it strikes exactly the right balance for me. I probably belong to the more experienced crowd by now, having started out with the classic text-based versions of Navision. While I am no longer involved in development work on a daily basis, I still follow technical topics with great interest.
And that is precisely why this event format works so well for me. The TechDays in Antwerp have become a little too deep and developer-focused for my personal taste, while Directions EMEA often feels somewhat too high-level. Days of Knowledge sits right in the middle. Technical enough to provide real insights and practical takeaways, yet grounded enough to put these topics into a broader business and strategic context.
My Personal Takeaways
After the two days, I put together a more detailed technical summary for myself, covering the key trends, sessions and insights around AI, MCP, Fabric, DevOps, Agentic ERP and modern Business Central architectures.
Days of Knowledge Central 2026 – Summary
I found the following topics particularly interesting:
- AI-Assisted Development vs. “Vibe Coding”
- MCP as a Potential Future Standard for AI Integrations
- Microsoft Fabric as a Strategic Data Platform
- Conversational ERP Interfaces
- Agentic Workflows
- AI Governance and Data Quality
Particularly in combination with Business Central, we are currently seeing some incredibly exciting developments in this area.
