Developing
The tool starts with Salesforce-to-Dynamics moves. ERP and other scenarios are promised later.
In 60 seconds
- On September 9, 2026 Microsoft announced Dynamics 365 Activate, an AI-assisted migration and planning tool, in limited public preview.
- It starts with Salesforce-to-Dynamics 365 migrations and uses AI to analyse data, processes, customizations and dependencies.
- Microsoft says partners can use the output to decide what to preserve, simplify or redesign around AI and agents.
- Further scenarios, including ERP, are described as coming later.
Impact Layer
- What changed
- Microsoft introduced a tool aimed at the biggest barrier to switching CRMs: understanding what is in the old system.
- Why it matters
- It is a direct move on Salesforce customers, and it frames a migration as a redesign around agents rather than a copy of old customizations.
- Who is affected
- Salesforce and Dynamics customers considering a move, and the systems integrators who run CRM migrations.
- Martech stack area
- CRM, AI
- Stack impact
- Treat any assessment as a starting inventory. Check which customizations the tool can read and what it leaves for people to decide.
- Business impact
- Moderate A limited preview described in a partner announcement. We saw no results or customer examples.
- Related vendors
- What to watch
- Whether the preview widens, which Salesforce objects and customizations it covers, and how it prices against partner-led assessments.
On September 9, 2026, Microsoft announced Microsoft Dynamics 365 Activate in its Partner Center announcements. It describes the tool as a unified, AI-assisted way for customers and partners to move from legacy business applications to agentic solutions with more speed and confidence.
What Microsoft says it does
- It begins as a limited public preview focused on Salesforce-to-Dynamics 365 migrations.
- It uses AI to analyse data, processes, customizations and dependencies, giving implementation teams a blueprint.
- Partners can use the insights to assess Salesforce environments faster, decide what to preserve, simplify or redesign around AI and agents, and find migration risks and dependencies earlier.
- More Dynamics 365 implementation scenarios, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), will follow.
The announcement is addressed to partners, including global systems integrators, systems integrators and implementation teams. Microsoft links a sign-up page for the preview.
Our read
CRM migrations stall on discovery: nobody is sure what the old system does. A tool that inventories data, workflows and customizations goes after that problem, and it comes from the main rival of the system being left. The framing matters too. Microsoft pitches the work as redesigning around agents, not as lifting existing customizations across.
Because the preview is limited and the announcement gives no results, treat it as a direction. Buyers should ask which parts of a Salesforce org the tool can read, what it leaves for consultants to judge, and who owns the output.
Sources
- Microsoft Learn: Partner Center announcements, September 2026 (Dynamics 365 Activate) (opens in a new tab)
Source of the preview, scope and the stated purpose of the tool.