AI-powered Proactive Engagement and Conversational Journeys in Dynamics 365

This update focuses on moving from “Reactive” service to “Proactive” outreach, using AI to trigger personalized conversations across digital channels before a customer even reaches out for help.

Real-time User Journey

This journey highlights how a company like an airline or retailer uses the feature to prevent service issues:

1. Event Trigger: A flight is delayed by two hours. This system event is captured in Dynamics 365.
2. AI Segment Identification: The AI analyzes the impacted passengers and identifies those with tight connecting flights.
3. Proactive Outreach: Instead of waiting for passengers to call the contact center, the system automatically sends a personalized WhatsApp or SMS message via a Conversational Journey.
4. Natural Language Interaction: The customer replies via WhatsApp. An Autonomous Agent handles the conversation, offering rebooking options or meal vouchers.
5. Seamless Handoff: If the customer has a complex request (e.g., special assistance), the AI agent summarizes the chat and transfers it to a human agent, who sees the full context immediately.

Step-by-Step: How to Enable This Feature

Since this feature is in Public Preview, it must be enabled within a sandbox or preview-enabled environment.

• Step 1: Access Power Platform Admin Center

Sign in to the Power Platform Admin Center.

• Step 2: Enable Preview Features

Select your environment > Settings > Product > Features. Under the “AI and Copilot” section, toggle On the “Proactive Engagement (Preview)” setting.

• Step 3: Configure Dataverse Triggers

Go to the Customer Service Admin Center. Under Engagement, select Proactive Triggers. Define which Dataverse events (like a field update or a new record) should initiate a journey.

• Step 4: Design the Conversational Journey

Open the Customer Insights – Journeys (formerly Marketing) or the Contact Center workspace. Use the “Journey Designer” to drag and drop “Proactive Message” blocks into your workflow.

• Step 5: Link Copilot Studio Agents

For the conversational part, link your Microsoft Copilot Studio bot to the journey so it can handle the natural language replies autonomously.

• Step 6: Test and Publish

Use the “Test Send” feature to verify the SMS/WhatsApp output before publishing the journey to live customers.

Infographic: Proactive vs. Reactive Service

Feature	Reactive Service (Old)	Proactive Engagement (New)
Initiation	Customer starts the contact.	System starts the contact based on data.
Channel	Customer chooses (often high-cost phone).	Contextual channel (SMS, WhatsApp, App).
AI Role	Helps agents answer questions.	Autonomous Agents solve problems before they escalate.
Volume Impact	High spike in inbound calls during crises.	Deflects inbound calls by resolving issues early.
Customer Sentiment	Frustrated/Stressed.	Delighted/Empowered by the early warning.

References

AI-powered proactive engagement and conversational journeys with Microsoft Dynamics 365 in public preview