Cloud Wars Live with Bob Evans

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explain how ServiceNow is enabling secure, scalable adoption of AI agents across the enterprise.

Highlights

00:03 — ServiceNow is joining forces with Zenity, the first security and governance platform that's been purpose-built for AI agents. Zenity is becoming a ServiceNow build partner, bringing with it a range of capabilities to ServiceNow Security Operations, including agent security, posture management, and vulnerability assessment.

00:25 — Deepak Kolingivadi, VP of Product Management and Head of Security Products at ServiceNow, said the following about this new partnership: “AI agents are transforming how work gets done across the enterprise, including Security Operations. Our partnership with Zenity strengthens the ServiceNow AI control tower and Security Operations solutions.”

01:01 — Now, collectively, these new capabilities bring to ServiceNow customers a greater ability to scale the use of AI agents safely and with full confidence as part of their existing SecOps processes. And what we're seeing here is ultimately a new category, AI Security Operations, or AI SecOps.

01:26 — It's also important to note that by embedding this governance layer through its build partnership, ServiceNow is demonstrating that it's truly ahead of the curve here. All new products delivered by software vendors need integrated security and governance, and agentic AI is no exception.

01:58 — The key word here is scale. ServiceNow has the tools to drive AI across the breadth of a business, and now through Zenity, it's delivering the ability to do this at scale.

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In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore how Microsoft’s latest Windows changes reveal a strategic shift toward more intentional AI integration and focused Copilot experiences.

Highlights

00:09 — It was only a short paragraph in a blog post by Microsoft’s Pavan Davuluri, Executive Vice President of Windows and Devices, discussing the changes the company is making to Windows in response to community feedback. However, it has significant implications and, if you pick it apart, could provide a better understanding of where Microsoft is directing its AI ambitions.

00:36 — Here’s the paragraph in full: “With craft and focus, you will see us be more intentional about how and where Copilot integrates across Windows, focusing on experiences that are genuinely useful and well crafted,” says Davuluri. “As part of this, we are reducing unnecessary Copilot entry points, starting with apps like Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets, and Notepad.”

01:05 — When Microsoft went all out on the Copilot rollout across its massive ecosystem of products, platforms, and services, some commentators argued that this push could overwhelm consumers. Instead, a more targeted approach would perhaps make it easier for customers to see the benefits and, critically, the use cases that Copilot can amplify.

01:28 — It seems that Microsoft has taken these concerns into consideration and is now scaling back the areas where Copilot is utilized. This is a smart move from a Windows perspective, as it prioritizes value over volume, and this approach aligns well with the evolving direction of Copilot Studio, which focuses on creating agentic experiences.

01:53 — Now Microsoft is consolidating its AI offerings by moving away from the idea of having Copilot everywhere. Instead, agents developed through Copilot Studio will be able to plug into specific execution environments, just like Windows.

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In today’s Cloud Wars Minute, I explore how Salesforce is betting big on Slackbot to power the AI agentic enterprise.

Highlights

00:02 — We are seeing enormous changes take place among the leading enterprise applications vendors, with the rise of AI. Business customers are expecting a different way of working here in the emergence of the AI Economy. So at Salesforce, I believe Marc Benioff has decided to go all in on Slackbot to drive what Salesforce is calling the AI agentic enterprise.

00:29 — Now this is critical, because Salesforce is the largest enterprise applications vendor in the world. It also has an $800 million Agentforce business that it has built up, and it's taking both of those key components from agentic AI and also their enterprise apps business, and sort of putting those under the control of the orchestration of Slackbot, a brand new product.

01:15 — Benioff said that we are seeing in the business world the very beginnings of an AI agentic divide, where he said, on the one hand, there are customers that have understood the way they need to get into this, how to use agentic AI to do things better. And then, on the other hand, coming in there, saying, "Ah, you know, I'm not sure. I'm going to sit back and wait for this."

02:08 — He said Slackbot is already the fastest-growing feature ever in the history of Salesforce. He said it might be the fastest-growing feature in all of enterprise technology. And secondly — this is pretty wild — he said Slackbot and Slack are already disintermediating Salesforce.

04:36 — And he said, it’s our job not to just sit back and scratch our heads about this, but to help companies be able to address these changes, get out in front of them, get on top of them. And Salesforce believes that Slack and Slackbot, in particular, are going to be the ways that that happens.

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In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I examine how Business Central is transforming ERP with strong financial returns and AI-driven capabilities.

Highlights

00:10 — A new Forrester report commissioned by Microsoft, entitled "The Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central," has revealed some remarkable findings regarding the financial impact this standout cloud ERP is having on customers.

00:36 — And here's what it found: 209% ROI over three years, an estimated $464,000 net present value, and potential payback in just six months. The researchers aggregated the findings from interviewees and created a fictitious composite organization to develop this model.

00:58 — In their modeling, the researchers found that by year three, the composite company was experiencing a 30% reduction in monthly close time and up to 50% time savings for accounts payable, accounts receivable, and billing. It reduced audit preparation time by up to 30%.

01:19 — Consolidating outdated ERP products and systems led to more than a 10% reduction in total cost of ownership and over $170,000 in present value savings from withdrawn systems and decreased maintenance.

01:37 — Microsoft links these impressive results to how Business Central represents an AI-ready ERP foundation, enabling organizations to leverage Copilot, Power BI, and intelligent agents while emphasizing clean data, integrated systems, and standardized processes.

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In this AI Agent & Copilot Minute, Mason Siefert explores how Dynamics 365 is evolving into the agentic era — transforming financial reconciliation and accounts payable into continuous, intelligent processes, and previews what’s ahead at Summit North America 2026.

Key Takeaways

Agent Evolution: The journey from manual processes to copilots and now fully autonomous agents marks a fundamental shift in enterprise finance. While early tools accelerated workflows, today’s agents proactively execute tasks end-to-end, reducing human intervention and enabling finance professionals to focus on higher-value strategic work rather than repetitive operations.

Continuous Finance: Financial reconciliation has transformed from a stressful, multi-day effort into an always-on background process. Autonomous agents continuously match and verify records across systems, eliminating bottlenecks and dramatically improving efficiency, accuracy, and consistency across financial operations without requiring manual initiation.

Fraud Reduction: Accounts payable agents not only automate invoice matching but actively reduce fraud risk by cross-referencing invoices against purchase orders and learning from human corrections. With organizations facing high rates of fraud attempts, these adaptive systems provide a critical layer of intelligence and protection while minimizing costly manual errors.

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