From “I need a mouse” to an approved purchase order
Original demonstration by Mamdouh Ibrahim · 3 min 29 sec. The article below explains the process shown in the video.
Discuss the demonstration on LinkedIn ↗Daily procurement processes are often more complicated than they need to be.
Even a small request can require the user to move across several screens, check inventory, create a requisition, submit it for approval, identify the approvers, follow up with them, monitor the workflow, and confirm whether a purchase order has been created.
None of these activities is especially difficult. The problem is the time and coordination required to move the request from one step to the next.
In this practical demonstration, I used Copilot Cowork with D365 F&O and Microsoft Teams to support a complete procurement scenario, starting from a simple user request and following it through to the final purchase order.
It starts with a simple request
The user begins with one clear instruction:
“I need a Microsoft mouse.”
The user does not need to know which D365 page to open, which inventory inquiry to run, or which procurement form to use. Copilot Cowork takes the business request and begins coordinating the required steps.
The first action is to check whether the item already exists in inventory. In this demonstration, Cowork searches the D365 F&O environment, identifies the relevant product, and checks the available on-hand quantity.
The product exists, but there is no stock available to fulfil the requirement. Cowork explains the result and moves to the next step: preparing the purchase requisition.
Creating the purchase requisition
Cowork creates the requisition in D365 F&O with the relevant information, including:
- Product
- Quantity
- Unit price
- Vendor
- Procurement category
- Requester
- Requested delivery date
The user can then review the prepared request before anything is submitted.
Cowork accelerates the task, but the user remains in control. Instead of manually entering and checking every field, the requester reviews a prepared business transaction and confirms whether it should move forward.
Submitting into the approval workflow
After the requisition is reviewed, Cowork submits it into the existing D365 F&O workflow.
In the demonstrated scenario, the workflow remains unchanged. The same approval rules, routing logic, security, and audit history continue to apply.
The status changes from Draft to In review, and D365 F&O determines who must approve the request.
This is a critical design principle: Copilot Cowork makes the existing procurement process easier to interact with.
Communicating with approvers faster
One of the most time-consuming parts of daily procurement is the follow-up.
Procurement users frequently need to check who the request is assigned to, copy the requisition details, contact the approver, explain what needs attention, send reminders, and check the status again.
In this scenario, Cowork checks the D365 workflow history, identifies the assigned approvers, and prepares Teams messages containing the relevant context:
- Purchase requisition number
- Requested item
- Vendor
- Amount
- Current workflow status
- Approval due date
- Direct link to the D365 record
Cowork shows the messages before sending them and waits for the user’s confirmation.
The approver receives the information directly in Microsoft Teams, while the procurement team avoids manually copying data between systems.
Tracking the approval and purchase order
Once the approval process is complete, Cowork checks the purchase requisition status again. It confirms that the requisition has been approved and closed, then searches for the purchase order created from the approved request.
Cowork verifies the resulting order details, including vendor, product, quantity, price, approval status, and order status.
Finally, it posts the procurement update in the relevant Teams channel, including direct links to the purchase requisition and the purchase order.
The process began with “I need a Microsoft mouse.” It ended with:
- Inventory checked
- Purchase requisition created
- Approval workflow completed
- Approvers informed
- Purchase order confirmed
- Finance team updated
What changes for the end user?
For the requester, the experience becomes simpler. Instead of navigating through multiple D365 pages, the user can explain the requirement in plain English, review the prepared transaction, confirm the next action, and follow the status through one conversational experience.
The user remains responsible for reviewing and approving the work. The technical navigation becomes less important.
What changes for the procurement team?
For the procurement team, the main benefit is speed and visibility.
The experience can help reduce manual data entry, repeated system navigation, approval chasing, copying information into Teams messages, status checking, and manual communication with stakeholders.
This allows the team to spend more time on exceptions, supplier performance, commercial decisions, and procurement control.
What remains in D365 F&O?
D365 F&O remains the system of record. The following controls remain within the procurement solution:
- Procurement policies
- Vendor and product master data
- Purchase requisition workflow
- Approval hierarchy
- Security roles
- Segregation of duties
- Audit history
- Purchase order creation
- Transaction status
Copilot Cowork provides the coordination layer around those controls. It connects the user’s intent with the D365 process and Microsoft Teams communication.
The real value
The value is removing friction around the daily work of procurement professionals.
Easier to start. The requester explains what is needed in plain English.
Faster to process. Cowork prepares and moves the transaction through the required steps.
Quicker to communicate. Approvers receive the relevant information directly in Teams.
Simpler to follow. The requester and procurement team can track the outcome without repeatedly searching across systems.
Where would you draw the boundary?
Where do you see the biggest value: making it easier for the requester, accelerating requisition creation, improving approval follow-up, giving procurement better visibility, or communicating the final outcome faster?
And where would you allow Cowork to stop: at the recommendation, at the draft requisition, or at submission for approval? Would you allow it to follow the process through to the final purchase order?
Standard workflow reference
Microsoft documents the standard purchase requisition review and approval process, including the ability to generate a purchase order after approval. See Purchase requisition workflow on Microsoft Learn.
That documentation describes the D365 workflow foundation. The Cowork coordination described in this article comes from my demonstration.
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