AI is everywhere right now—budgets are shifting, roadmaps are getting torn up, and if you haven’t heard the question yet, you will: “What’s our AI plan?” Here’s the question people need to be asking instead: Is your data actually in any shape for AI to use? If you’re running Dynamics 365 Business Central (or moving from NAV or GP) and still relying on spreadsheets, custom add-ons, and patchwork data pulls, AI won’t save you. It’ll expose every weakness. AI Learns from Your History—Good or Bad There is a comforting myth that AI can “see through” messy data and somehow sort everything out. In reality, AI learns from whatever history you give it. If that history is inconsistent, fragmented, or poorly governed, AI will confidently double down on those problems. At Cosmos, we see the same patterns again and again with mid-market Business Central customers: Finance, sales, and operations each have their own version of core metrics. Critical data is scattered across ERP, CRM, Excel, and shadow systems IT barely knows exist. Key calculations live in personal workbooks and fragile Power BI models with no clear owner. Layer AI on top of that, and you do not suddenly get smart automation. You get: Forecasts built on conflicting data. KPIs pushed to the board that no one can trace. AI-generated insights that sound impressive but are still wrong. Analysts estimate that about 60 percent of AI projects will miss their targets in the next few years. Why? Because the data and governance underneath aren’t ready. AI isn’t a cleanup crew, it’s an amplifier. The Real Problem: Ungoverned Reporting, Not AI Tools If you’re on Business Central, you’re already in one of the strongest data ecosystems out there. But just being on Microsoft doesn’t mean your data is automatically trustworthy. We consistently find that even BC customers with a solid technical stack are still wrestling with: Siloed data across ERP, CRM, and spreadsheets. Conflicting definitions of margin, revenue, and “customer” between departments. Raw tables that are technically accessible but unusable for non-technical users. Business Central’s built-in reporting works for basic questions like “What did we sell yesterday?” or “Which invoices are overdue?” But when you need multi-entity consolidation, standardized metrics across regions, or board-ready reports that blend data from different systems, things break down. That’s when teams fall back to Excel and ad-hoc exports. If that is your reality, AI is not your biggest opportunity. Your biggest opportunity is fixing the reporting foundation that AI would depend on. Three Signs AI Will Make Your Data Problems Worse Before you launch another Copilot pilot or AI lab, check for these warning signs. They’re everywhere in mid-market BC environments that aren’t ready for AI. You argue about the numbers more than what to do about them.In real meetings, do you spend more time arguing about finance’s margin versus sales’ margin than actually improving it? That’s a governance problem, not a dashboard problem. Spreadsheets are still where reporting actually happens.Your team might pull data from Business Central, but the real work happens in Excel: manual joins, hidden tabs, and business logic only a few people understand. Those workbooks have become de facto systems, with no version control or audit trail. No one can quickly answer, “Where did this number come from?”When an executive questions a number, you have to reverse-engineer it across exports, queries, and formulas. Now imagine trying to explain an AI-generated recommendation when you can’t even trace the underlying data. With these issues in place, AI doesn’t deliver leverage. It just adds more complexity and risk. What Governed, AI-Ready Reporting Looks Like (In Plain English) Here’s the good news: getting AI-ready isn’t some mystical maturity model. It’s a handful of concrete steps Business Central users can actually achieve. At a minimum, AI-ready reporting looks like this: Shared definitions of core metrics.Everyone—finance, operations, sales—uses the same definitions for revenue, margin, on-time delivery, and backlog. Ask three teams for gross margin, and you get one answer. A single, normalized reporting layer.Instead of pointing reports and AI tools at raw BC tables and CSV exports, you use a curated data model that reflects how your business actually runs. That’s what Cosmos builds on top of Business Central and Dataverse and other various data sets. Governed access and clear lineage.You can answer “where did this number come from?” right away, and sensitive data is properly access-controlled. Repeating logic, not repeating work.Joins, rules, and calculations are defined once and reused across reports—not rebuilt in every workbook. When these basics are in place, AI finally has something solid to learn from. Until then, it’s just another user of ungoverned data. Learn how to AI-proof your data today with the AI Ready Reporting Playbook Download Your Copy How Cosmos Helps Business Central Users Govern Their Data (The Easy Way to Governed Data) Cosmos was built to solve this exact problem for Business Central Cloud. If you’re a nontechnical CEO or CFO, think of Cosmos as the AI-ready reporting layer for BC. Under the hood, that means three practical things: A normalized, business-friendly data warehouse for your entire data ecosystem. Cosmos reshapes raw data from Business Central, Dataverse, Azure SQL, Excel, historical systems, and more into a model that matches how your business actually operates: entities, dimensions, and relationships your teams recognize. Instead of asking AI or analysts to untangle raw tables from a dozen different sources, you point them at a single, curated, governed model. Excel-first reporting your finance team will actually use.Cosmos delivers fast, cloud reporting in Excel and simpler Power BI experiences. Your finance and operations teams can design and refresh reports in tools they already know, while IT focuses on governance and performance instead of building every report. True ownership of reporting by the business.Because Cosmos is cloud-native and built for Business Central, business users can own metric definitions and reporting logic. That means your reporting layer—and eventually your AI use cases—can evolve at the speed of your business, not the speed of an overworked report developer. Cosmos doesn’t promise that AI will do everything. It helps you build the one thing AI absolutely depends on: clean, consistent, governed data your team already trusts. Where to Go From Here If you see your own environment here—spreadsheet-heavy reporting, conflicting numbers, trouble tracing where figures come from—your next step isn’t another AI pilot. It’s fixing the reporting foundation every AI initiative will stand on. See how Cosmos sits on top of Business Central, normalizes your data, and turns AI from a risk into an advantage. A short demo is usually enough to identify where your current reporting is holding AI back—and what a governed alternative could look like. Book A Demo For a deeper dive, download The AI-Ready Reporting Playbook: How Business Central Users Can Catch Up Fast. It walks through a full readiness checklist, real customer stories, and a more detailed look at how Cosmos supports AI-ready reporting. Get Your Copy AI will not save your ungoverned data. But with the right reporting layer in place, it can finally start paying off. Anthony Bonaduce Chief Revenue Officer About the Author Latest Posts Anthony Bonaduce brings nearly a decade of sales leadership expertise to the Microsoft Channel, where he has built lasting partnerships and driven significant growth for data analytics solutions. As co-founder of Cosmos Data Technologies, Anthony combines his passion for relationship building with deep industry knowledge gained through executive roles at Jet Reports (now insightsoftware) and Rand Group. Anthony’s business philosophy centers on exceptional customer service and transparent communication—principles he credits as the foundation of his success. His proudest achievement includes expanding Jet’s partner channel to unprecedented levels, earning him the trust of countless Microsoft partners and clients. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Marketing from the University of Oregon. When he’s not helping clients unlock their data potential, Anthony enjoys cheering on the Oregon Ducks, playing golf, and spending time with family and friends. How to Get Custom Business Central Inventory Reports in Minutes August 17, 2026 What is Cloud Reporting? Benefits, Tools, and How it Works August 7, 2026 Best Business Central Reporting Tools (2026): Compare Top 5 Excel-Based Options July 27, 2026 Cloud Reporting for Business Central: The Missing Step Between Spreadsheets and AI June 4, 2026 AI Won’t Help Your Ungoverned Data May 11, 2026 Fact Checked & Editorial Guidelines Our Fact Checking Process We prioritize accuracy and integrity in our content. Here's how we maintain high standards: Expert Review: All articles are reviewed by subject matter experts. Source Validation: Information is backed by credible, up-to-date sources. Transparency: We clearly cite references and disclose potential conflicts. Your trust is important. Learn more about our Fact Checking process and editorial policy. Reviewed by: Subject Matter Experts Our Review Board Our content is carefully reviewed by experienced professionals to ensure accuracy and relevance. Qualified Experts: Each article is assessed by specialists with field-specific knowledge. Up-to-date Insights: We incorporate the latest research, trends, and standards. Commitment to Quality: Reviewers ensure clarity, correctness, and completeness. Look for the expert-reviewed label to read content you can trust.
