Written by,
Guðrún Ólafsdóttir, Chief Product Officer at Annata
A365 is our cutting-edge, cloud-based ERP, CRM, and DMS platform designed for the automotive, trucks & buses, and equipment industries. Whether you’re looking for a comprehensive, all-in-one platform or specific modules to address key areas, A365 has you covered.
While I was packing my bags to go on vacation, thinking about warm weather and the beach, a welcome break from the Icelandic winter, I kept returning to a question that came up earlier that day during our Customer Advisory Council at Annata.
One of our customers asked: “Where will A365 be in five years?”
I don’t know if it will take five years. It might be fewer, it might be more. But as I folded clothes and tried to switch off, my mind quietly began putting the puzzle together, connecting what we’ve built, what we’re learning, and where it naturally leads.
From Apps to flow
In the coming future, the boundaries between systems will melt away. ERP will no longer be a separate destination where people “go to work.” Instead, work itself will become the interface. Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel, Finance & Operations, Dataverse, and solutions like A365 will merge into a single, intelligent fabric, where processes, data, and roles flow together naturally.
From Apps to actions
In this new era, people won’t think in terms of apps, they’ll think in outcomes. You won’t open a Finance module; you’ll approve a supplier payment. You won’t launch CRM; you’ll follow up on a customer opportunity. And you won’t “use AI”; you’ll simply work, and the system will know what to automate, predict, or assist, safely and responsibly.
A365 and DriveAI are built exactly for this shift. They translate complex industry processes, backed by clear process mapping, a robust data model, and strict data integrity, into governed, auditable AI actions that live inside everyday workflows. The result is not a flashy add-on, but a structured intelligence that makes ERP feel invisible, yet more powerful than ever.
An era of discipline
This era isn’t defined by speed or hype, it’s defined by discipline. To build an app today is to truly understand the process behind it:
- Who does what? When? Why?
- Which data drives the decision?
- What exceptions matter?
The effort we are putting into developing the Service, Sales, and Mechanic apps are part of that journey. These experiences are teaching us, right now, what each role truly brings in terms of effort, judgment, and value.
It’s also our customers’ responsibility to understand their own roles, processes, and decisions, because this next era of ERP can only be as intelligent as the clarity behind it. Together, we’re learning how people, processes, and AI can align to create true, responsible automation and support.
This shared understanding is what will shape everything that comes next: a world where roles and responsibilities are understood deeply enough that AI can safely and meaningfully augment them.
Systems of records to -> systems of actions -> systems of understanding
The past decades gave us systems of records and now systems of actions, but the coming era will give us systems of understanding.
ERP will not just store transactions; it will understand why they happen, who they impact, and what should happen next.
A365 is already moving in that direction, combining structured business logic, trusted data, and industry-specific expertise into a unified, intelligent layer that can power this next generation of ERP.
Where A365 is heading
A365 will no longer be “an app.” It will be an environment, a unified workspace where people, processes, and AI agents collaborate seamlessly. Actions will flow between systems without friction. Process intelligence will replace manual navigation and “using ERP” will feel as natural as having a conversation.
This is not a sudden shift. It’s a journey.
To be clear, this isn’t happening tomorrow. Our customers should not worry that what they’re doing today will become irrelevant. When our customers shared their progress at the Customer Advisory Council, one thing stood out, everything they are working on, strengthening processes, improving data quality, clarifying roles, and building operational discipline, is exactly what prepares them for this future and we will take it together, step by step.
DriveAI is just the beginning of what I believe is the right journey. Join us on this journey, it’s exciting, it’s fun, and it’s an opportunity to shape this future together, to lead the movement, not follow the trend.
I may be right, I may be wrong, but this is where the puzzle pieces point and my intuition is built on experience, years of pattern recognition, painful lessons from past complexity, a disciplined view of process, roles and data, and clear signals from where Microsoft is going.
Let’s keep the conversation going. Connect with me on LinkedIn, or reach out via our Annata Contact Us page. We’d love to hear from you.
About the writer
Guðrún Ólafsdóttir is the Chief Product Officer at Annata, bringing over two decades of global experience in product development. Her career has taken her from Iceland to Denmark and Malaysia, where she has worked as a developer, consultant, and trainer primarily with solutions from LS Retail, a Microsoft ISV. From her early days as a hands-on developer to leading cloud transformation efforts as Development Director, Guðrún has continuously shaped innovation and streamlined development processes to support partners through digital change.
Since joining Annata in 2023, she has been driving product strategy for A365, applying her deep knowledge and unique perspective from Business Central to the Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations space. Guðrún is passionate about building impactful solutions and helping teams and partners thrive in a cloud-first world.
