Retail & Manufacturing Deep Dive: A Microsoft Business Central Briefing
On 10 February, Xpedition welcomed retail and manufacturing leaders to a Microsoft Business Central Immersion session in our office in Paddington for a deep dive into how AI‑enabled modern ERP is reshaping two of the UK’s most pressured sectors. We were delighted to welcome Nico Charritton, Director of AI Business Solutions at Microsoft to host a keynote segment, reflecting the close collaboration between Xpedition and Microsoft in shaping the future of AI-enabled ERP. The half‑day event brought together industry experts, Microsoft leaders, and technology specialists to explore real-world challenges and show how organisations are building resilience, intelligence, and agility through Business Central.
Understanding the pressures facing Retail & Manufacturing in 2026
The morning opened with an industry spotlight led by our Senior Business Manager, Laura Gilbank, highlighting the issues shaping operational performance today. For manufacturers, rising production costs, volatile supply chains, and a widening skills gap remain top priorities for the year ahead, with many organisations still relying on legacy systems and manual processes that limit visibility and slow innovation.
Meanwhile, retailers continue to face tightening margins, unpredictable customer demand, and growing expectations for seamless omnichannel experiences. Most critically, there is still a significant visibility gap across stock, supply chain, and financial data – with many brands running disconnected ecommerce, warehouse, and finance systems.
Across both sectors, the message was clear: a lack of unified, real‑time operational insight is holding businesses back, and AI-first ERP is becoming pivotal for operational excellence in 2026.
Keynote by Microsoft’s Nico Charritton: The Rise of the Frontier Firm
We were thrilled to host a keynote from Nico Charritton, Director of AI Business Solutions at Microsoft, who explored how AI and intelligent agents are transforming the way organisations operate. He outlined the shift taking place across the industry: the move from AI as a personal assistant to AI agents embedded within teams, taking on tasks, processes, and decision-making.
Nico also reinforced a critical foundation for any organisation adopting AI: there is no AI strategy without a security strategy and without a data strategy. This grounded the session in a practical truth – intelligent agents and AI‑enabled operations can only deliver value when the underlying data estate is trusted, secure, and unified.
The emergence of the Frontier Firm – a topic explored by Microsoft in their whitepaper last year, depicting 2025 as the year the Frontier Firm is born. As organisation emerge that are human-led and agent-operated, buying intelligence like electricity, putting it to work like an employee, and compounding value over time. The three phases of AI adoption, from personal productivity to agent-led operations that can unlock step-change growth.
His message emphasised a profound and practical truth: AI is no longer an innovation project – it is now a core operational capability. And businesses that act early will be the ones to outperform in the years ahead.
Business Central in action
Following the keynote, attendees saw Business Central’s capabilities brought to life through sector-specific demonstrations.
Our Solutions Director, Josh Anglesea, demonstrated how Business Central unifies production, supply chain, and financial data – enabling traceability, advanced planning, automated quality control, and AI-powered forecasting to reduce cost and build operational resilience.
Solutions Architect, Sarah Harrison-Gilbert, continued the journey, showcasing how retailers can gain real-time stock visibility, improve ecommerce fulfilment, deliver personalised customer experiences, and strengthen forecasting accuracy using native AI insights and the Shopify connector.
Both demos highlighted practical, scenario-based workflows that showed exactly how organisations can move away from fragmented processes and towards a unified, intelligent operating model.
Looking ahead
As the session closed, one theme was unmistakable: now is the moment for organisations to start turning AI-enabled ambition into practical transformation. Whether it’s exploring Business Central’s newest AI features, assessing the impact of intelligent agents on day‑to‑day operations, or understanding your eligibility for Microsoft’s Business Central Migration Voucher, get in touch with us to continue the conversation and take the next step towards a more connected, intelligent, and resilient future.