CRM Rocks

Episode 164: Markus Erlandsson and Malin Martnes chatted with Kristine Risberg from CRMK about Dynamics 365 Contact Center and the future of customer service. Kristine starts by sharing how her background in service operations led her into the world of customer experience technology and contact center solutions. She then explains the differences between Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Contact Center, how modern contact centers are evolving beyond traditional telephony, and how AI agents are transforming customer interactions. The conversation continues with practical examples of self-service, routing, digital channels, voice agents, and the growing role of generative AI in customer support. Kristine also discusses common mistakes organizations make when modernizing their contact centers, the importance of governance, data quality, and continuous improvement after go-live. Finally, the panel explores the future of customer service, the balance between human representatives and AI agents, and how customer interactions may look very different over the next few years.

Bio
I help service organizations and contact centers modernize their customer experience using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center, Power Platform and Copilot.

As a Microsoft MVP and Solution Architect at CRMK, I design scalable service architectures that unify CRM, automation, and AI into one connected platform; improving efficiency, insight and customer satisfaction.

With a background in service operations, I bridge business and technology to ensure solutions deliver measurable impact, not just go live.

Links
https://contactcenterchronicles.com/ (Kristines blog about contact center)

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/contact-center/

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/d365-contact-center-ai-engineer-associate/?practice-assessment-type=certification

https://www.powerpete.com

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Episode 162: Markus Erlandsson and Malin Magnus chatted with Steve Mordue from Rapid Start about AI, agents, and the future of business applications. Steve starts by sharing his views on the shift from traditional apps to agent-driven experiences and how Microsoft is navigating the AI space. He then digs into the challenges of adopting AI in enterprises, including governance, permissions, and organizational readiness. Steve also explores the evolution of CRM systems, why bloated applications struggle with adoption, and how AI could replace many traditional features. The conversation then moves to RapidClaw, how it leverages multi-agent collaboration, and practical use cases like automated outreach, anomaly detection, and data enrichment. Finally, Steve shares insights on AI tooling, development with modern models, and how businesses can think about data quality and automation in an AI-first world.

Bio
I post about things I find interesting and know something about. I am aware of the axiom “You can’t please all of the people, all of the time”. Fortunately, I am not trying to please anyone at any time. 🙂 I was a Microsoft MVP for 9 years, until I pushed a little too hard on what was broken. That didn’t change my view: Microsoft’s Power Platform is still the most important foundation for AI-powered business applications today, especially in an AI-first world. Today, my focus is simple: building and scaling RapidStart Apps together with RapidClaw AI. RapidStart Apps are simple, low-cost business applications built natively on Dataverse, designed for companies that want the power of Microsoft’s cloud without the weight and complexity of traditional Dynamics 365 deployments. CRM, Project, and Field Service. Reimagined for speed, adoption, and real work. More recently, that work has expanded into applying AI practically; not demos, not experiments, but real implementations that sit on top of structured data and actually change how work gets done. Check out RapidClaw 🙂 If you’re building on Power Platform, or thinking about how AI actually fits into your business, there’s a good chance we’ll have something to talk about. And if you run a podcast, I’m always open to a conversation.

Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevemordue

https://www.rapidstart.com/en/products/rapidclaw

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Episode 160: Markus Erlandsson is joined by Heidi Neuhauser and Kylie Kiser to talk about how to manage your Dataverse storage. They start by explaining what Dataverse storage actually consists of and where to see your capacity in the Power Platform Admin Center. Then they discuss what happens when you go over capacity and what you can and can’t do. The conversation continues with practical tips for cleaning up storage, including bulk delete jobs, common tables that grow quickly, auditing, attachments, and Copilot transcripts. They wrap up with recent storage-related changes, how to think about the default environment, and where to learn more about managing Dataverse storage effectively.

Bio

Heidi Neuhauser is the Vice President at Reenhanced. She is a Microsoft MVP in Customer Engagement and Power Automate. She is passionate about focusing on the users, not just the technology.  She is lucky to co-present the popular “60 tips in 60 minutes” the past several years with the amazing Kylie Kiser at community conference.

Kylie is an independent consultant, Microsoft Business Applications MVP, and Fast Track Recognized Solution Architect specializing in Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform. She’s known for her deep community involvement through blogging, presenting, and empowering organizations with practical, scalable solutions.

Links

Power Platform Admin Center (PPAC)
Microsoft Learn (Power Platform & Dataverse documentation)
XRM Toolbox
Power Platform Community Tools / Toolbox
MSCRM Addons – Attachment Extractor

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Episode 159: Markus Erlandsson and Malin Martnes chatted with freelancing Laura Graham-Brown about Power BI for CRM folks. Laura starts explaining how Power BI fits in everywhere, and nowhere. In Power Platform, Laura explains how we in CRM can help analytics by designing solutions to fit both worlds.

Bio
Data Platform and Business Applications Microsoft MVP
Business solutions should solve business problems, and the business should own the problem and the solution. I’ve spent my whole career empowering businesses to do that.

Links
https://hatfullofdata.blog/

https://hatfullofdata.blog/my-speaking-sessions/

https://www.youtube.com/@HatFullOfData123

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauragb

https://www.sqlbi.com

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dax/ Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) Reference

https://www.youtube.com/guyinacube

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Episode 158: Markus Erlandsson and Malin Martnes chatted with Ulrikke Akerbæk from Itera about the Hackathon ACDC and how we can run our own hackathon. Ulrikke starts by explaining how she likes starting new projects and getting to learn new team members, then she continues that a hackathon like ACDC is the best way to start a project and get to know people. ACDC is a long-running hackathon that brings people together and helps them learn from each other.

Bio
Ulrikke Akerbæk, a healthy customer relation is everything to her. She works with people, not with computers. As a worker she is organized, effective, and structured, and she tends to take on team leader positions.

Links
https://www.arcticclouddeveloperchallenge.net/

https://acdc.blog/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ulrikke

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Episode 157: Markus Erlandsson and Malin Martnes chatted with Johan Persson from the Engage group, about what we who work with Power Platform need to know about Finance and Operations. We start by talking about what it’s called and how many ERP products there are in the Dynamics family today. Johan continues to discuss various types of integrations with Dataverse. Then we go into the differences of Normalisation and Addresses.

Bio
As a Senior Specialist at Engage Group, I have over 25 years of experience in technology consulting, specialising in Microsoft Business Applications, Azure, Network, Security, and Deployment. I am passionate about helping customers make the most of technology and achieve their business goals.

I am also a Microsoft MVP for Business Applications, a recognition that reflects my commitment to sharing my knowledge and insights with the community. I regularly write articles, deliver presentations, and host podcasts on topics related to Dynamics, Azure, and Security. I enjoy learning new skills and staying updated on the latest trends and innovations in my field.

Links
https://blog.johanpersson.nu/

https://dynamicsupdate.podbean.com/

https://crmrocks.com/2024/04/14/dual-write-with-yannick-reekmans/

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/guidance/implementation-portal/overview

https://crmrocks.com/2025/09/14/application-lifecycle-management-in-azure-devops-made-easy/

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Episode 156: Markus Erlandsson and Malin Martnes chatted with Nathan Sweeney from KPMG, about vibe coding. Nathan starts by describing what vibe coding is and some of the tools you can use to generate code. He then explains the vibe coding framework and how important it can be to help you be a better vibe coder.

Bio
Nathan Sweeney is the Microsoft AI lead for KPMG in the UK.  He advises some of the largest organisations in the world how to adopt AI at scale inside their businesses.  Nathan has been in IT for the last 20 years focusing on the Microsoft ecosystem.  Probably better known for being the other half of the conference South Coast Summit organizer which is based in the UK.

Links
https://github.com/github/spec-kit

https://github.com/features/spark

https://github.com/features/copilot/plans

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/get-started-with-microsoft-365-copilot-notebooks-0775e693-11c6-4d80-8aba-fcc81a737a06

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/blog/power-apps/introducing-the-new-power-apps-generative-power-meets-enterprise-grade-trust/

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/vibe/overview

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/blog/2025/11/18/inside-the-new-power-apps-the-future-of-app-development/

https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/generative-ai/spec-driven-development-with-ai-get-started-with-a-new-open-source-toolkit/

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/maker/plan-designer/plan-designer

Introduction to Vibe Coding – Training | Microsoft Learn

https://cloudtechtallinn.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathandsweeney

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Episode 155: Markus Erlandsson and Malin Martnes chatted with Joe Griffin from proMX UK, about Project Operations and what you can do with the application. Joe starts by giving us an introduction and then digs into the integrations with other Dynamics applications, such as Sales and Finance. Joe also describes the history from Project Service Automation to today’s “ProjOps”. Joe then continues to the common challenges and what a successful scenario looks like.

Bio

I’m a Microsoft-focused technologist and Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions architect with deep expertise in the Microsoft Power Platform, Copilot Studio, and Azure AI. As the CEO and practice lead for proMX UK Limited, I help global partners and enterprise customers harness generative AI to solve complex challenges.

I train Microsoft’s customers worldwide on extending and integrating Copilot for Microsoft 365 and Azure AI Foundry. I specialise in blending low-code/no-code with advanced AI capabilities, making cutting-edge tech accessible, scalable, and business-aligned.

With a strong background in enterprise architecture, I’m passionate about sharing knowledge, building intelligent solutions, and driving digital transformation. As a five-time holder of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award and with over 50+ technical certifications, I’ve amassed excellent end-to-end knowledge on the modern Microsoft cloud platform and the growing importance of agent extensibility.

Let’s work together to build what’s next with AI!

Links

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/plannerblog/microsoft-project-online-is-retiring-what-you-need-to-know/4450558

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/project/enterprise-project-server

https://www.microsoft.com/en/customers/story/1597771083042569034-deutsche-bahn-transportation-dynamics-365?msockid=1870e208913b67a50956f7f79003666a

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/paths/get-started-features-project-operations

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rupa-mantravadi-4975a4b

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