Authored by James Glover, CTO
What the latest Wave Release means for modern marketing teams
Microsoft’s latest Dynamics 365 Customer Insights wave release marks an important shift in how organisations design, deliver and adapt customer engagement, with AI playing a far more active role throughout the journey.
Rather than a single “big bang” update, this wave introduces a series of smaller but powerful enhancements, each designed to make journeys more adaptive, data‑driven and resilient over time.
Here are the key takeaways.
From big releases to continuous improvement
The way Microsoft delivers updates has changed. Instead of feature-heavy April and October drops, Customer Insights now evolves through a steady stream of “ripples” across the year.
For organisations, this means:
- Faster access to innovation
- Less disruption from large upgrades
- More opportunity to experiment with new functionality as it appears
Many of the features discussed in the webinar are arriving between April and September, with some already available in preview.
Smarter, more interactive messaging
Enhanced SMS journeys
SMS has been part of Customer Insights for some time, but this release makes it far more interactive.
Organisations can now:
- Trigger actions based on SMS interactions
- React to replies, reads and engagement
- Align SMS journeys more closely with email journeys
Instead of one‑way notifications, SMS becomes another measurable, decision‑driven engagement channel, particularly valuable for time‑sensitive communications like events, reminders or fundraising activity.
Updating journeys without starting again
One long‑standing pain point for marketers has been the inability to adjust segmentation once a journey goes live.
That’s changing.
A new capability (expected later this year) will allow teams to tweak segments and cohorts without unpublishing live journeys. The result:
- Less disruption
- Reduced rework
- Lower risk of campaigns becoming outdated
It’s not a flashy feature, but it’s one that saves significant time and effort in real-world marketing operations.
Content that adapts after it’s been sent
One of the most forward‑looking capabilities coming to Customer Insights is dynamic content updates after delivery.
In simple terms, this allows email content to change when it’s opened, not just when it’s sent.
That opens the door to scenarios such as:
- Event emails automatically updating after an event has passed
- Fundraising communications reflecting live progress
- Calls to action changing based on what a customer has already done
It’s a powerful way to avoid outdated, embarrassing or misleading content, and to ensure communications remain relevant no matter when they’re read.
Time‑aware journeys and expirable content
For longer‑running campaigns, content can quickly lose relevance. The latest wave introduces better control over time‑bound content, allowing you to:
- Enable or disable messages based on dates
- Suppress steps if an event has already happened
- Align journey logic to real‑world timelines
If a campaign runs for 12 months, new entrants won’t receive emails or messages that no longer apply. This is especially useful for:
- Webinar and event programmes
- Multi‑stage fundraising journeys
- Long‑term nurture campaigns
Creating records directly from journeys
Marketers no longer need to rely on complex Power Automate flows for simple data updates.
Customer Insights now allows journeys to create records directly inside Dynamics — such as:
- Tasks
- Phone calls
- Custom records (e.g. Gift Aid declarations, registrations, preferences)
This brings marketing actions closer to sales, service and operational teams, and makes journeys more interactive without adding technical complexity.
AI, agents and the future of orchestration
Looking slightly further ahead, Microsoft is introducing support for Model Context Protocol (MCP) within Customer Insights.
In practical terms, this enables AI agents to:
- Ask questions of Customer Insights data
- React to engagement, behaviour or value in real time
- Orchestrate next steps across systems automatically
For most organisations, this sits slightly ahead on the roadmap — but it represents a significant step towards autonomous, AI‑driven engagement at scale.
A major milestone for customer data platforms
Perhaps the most important change of all is happening behind the scenes.
With integration into Microsoft Fabric OneLake, Customer Insights Data can now consume almost any data already used for reporting — removing a major historical limitation around connectors.
This enables:
- A true single customer view
- Richer master data management
- Faster onboarding of new data sources
For organisations serious about insight‑led engagement, this is a foundational improvement.
At first glance, this wave release may appear incremental, but taken together, these changes significantly improve how organisations:
- Personalise engagement
- Respond to real‑time behaviour
- Keep journeys and content relevant over time
AI isn’t just enhancing Customer Insights, it’s quietly reshaping how marketing and engagement teams work day to day.
If you’d like to explore what this means for your organisation, or discuss how to apply these capabilities in practice, get in touch with mhance or explore our upcoming webinars and events.