Steve Endow's Business Central Podcast

I Need Coffee - Episode 205 - BC Weekly Review! (March 27, 2026)

1. MVP Summit 2026 Recap (Seattle)  
   - Attended via Southwest flight (felt luxurious compared to Avianca)  
   - Highlighted how smart Microsoft product managers are; they operate months/years ahead and run circles around most people in technical depth  
   - Key insight: Microsoft is uniquely positioned for comprehensive AI across its ecosystem (Office, Teams, Excel, BC, GitHub, etc.)  
   - Strong impression that Microsoft is investing heavily in making AI actionable and integrated, not just chat-based  
   - Noted that even hardcore MVPs and PMs struggle to keep up with the pace of AI changes

2. AI Experimentation Highlights  
   - OpenClaw nightly self-improvement**: Prompt “scan yourself and suggest top two improvements” — running every night  
   - Claude still dominant** for professional Word documentation and large structured outputs  
   - Playwright automation project**: Built a system inside an AppSource app to automatically log into BC, navigate, prepare screens, and take named screenshots for user guides (21 screenshots generated with inline references)  
     - Created 35–40 page documentation of the entire setup, lessons learned, troubleshooting, and scripts so the team can replicate  
     - Next step: test Chrome MCP as alternative for BC UI automation  
   - AI Project Management**: Continuing to use OpenClaw + Teams Planner for task analysis, risk assessment, daily top-5 reports, etc.

3. AppSource & DevOps Migration  
   - Actively packaging multiple apps for AppSource (registration, licensing, pipelines, testing)  
   - Decision to migrate from Azure DevOps to GitHub (Microsoft’s clear direction; DevOps pipelines have become too painful with 32+ pages of procedures)  
   - Expect GitHub to have its own pains but better AI integration (Copilot CLI, agentic PRs, code review from mobile, etc.)

4. Microsoft Ecosystem Observations  
   - Hopeful for better model selection and harness control in M365 Copilot, Teams, and Office tools  
   - Wants true agentic behavior (e.g., meeting summary → auto-create & prioritize tasks in Planner, not just show to-dos)  
   - GitHub Copilot now model-agnostic in VS Code → should be competitive with Claude Code / Cursor

5. Team & Operational Notes  
   - 1099 procedures for BC v27 still causing pain (complex setup, poor usability)  
   - Franklin publishing first AppSource app  
   - Joselyn advancing MB-800 practice exams + financial reports  
   - Ronald on Continia + iSolutions  
   - Prospect discovery questionnaire (500+ pages) now under review by Fatima for project use

6. Upcoming Events  
   - Directions NA – Orlando, April 27–29 (preparing presentations with Brad)  
   - Dynamics Con – Las Vegas, May 12–15 (3 sessions)  
   - Directions Asia – Ho Chi Minh City, May 13–15  
   - DynamicsMinds – Slovenia, May 25–27  
  
  7. Fun / Personal Note
   - Weekend chores: washed garage door and daughter’s car, cleaned sunroom to resurrect home theater (shared with pottery wheel)  
   - Forgot laptop at home on flight day → wife delivered it to airport  
   - St. Patrick’s Day dinner: Korean soon tofu + galbi + ice cream (traditional Irish meal)  
   - Watched classic movies (Days of Thunder, What Women Want)

I Need Coffee - Episode 204 - Weekly BC Review! (March 20, 2026)

1. AI Mindset & Experimentation  
   - Strong bullish stance: AI makes previously impossible projects feasible; the real challenge is thinking big enough to use it effectively  
   - OpenClaw nightly self-improvement prompt: “Every night, scan yourself and suggest the top two improvements” (meta configuration suggestions)  
   - Using prospect discovery questionnaire (500+ pages) and new project risk assessment framework as test beds for large-context prompting

2. Claude Dominance in Documentation  
   - Claude (Opus 4.6 Extended via web/app) remains the undisputed champion for professional Word documents  
   - Created full **Prospect Discovery Questionnaire**: 500 pages, 35 documents, “choose-your-own-adventure” structure with gating questions + deep-dive sections (GL, AP/AR, inventory, manufacturing, warehouse, integrations, compliance, etc.)  
   - Value estimate: equivalent to $500k+ enterprise consulting work that no small team would normally attempt  
   - Fatima (PMP) now reviewing it for learning ERP features and project management

3. AI Project Management Breakthrough  
   - Hypothesis: most project management drudgery (task updates, risk assessment, follow-ups, documentation) can be handled by AI agents  
   - OpenClaw now fully connected to Teams Planner via custom MCP server (built by OpenClaw itself in minutes)  
   - Capabilities demonstrated: upload Excel → create plan, recategorize tasks, assess risk, apply labels, generate daily top-5 reports, analyze delays/high-risk items  
   - Can be used from phone during morning walk for instant project status

4. AppSource Preparation Realities  
   - Actively packaging multiple PTE prototypes into proper AppSource apps  
   - Emphasis: “It is a lot of work to do it properly” — registration, licensing, telemetry, pipelines, dependencies, testing, object ID management  
   - Created detailed procedures/checklists with AI assistance  
   - Object ID overlaps previously discovered; now systematically fixing

5. Mundane vs. Magical Contrast  
   - AI creates “impossible” things quickly, but everyday tasks remain painful (Western Digital RMA still delayed, WordPress website redesign frustration, Microsoft Defender spam rules that reject subdomains)  
   - Compared Claude vs. M365 Copilot for change request document: Claude produced professional, detailed output in 5 minutes; Copilot was basic GPT-4 level at best

6. Development & Team Updates  
   - Franklin working on first AppSource publish + PTE change request (AI-generated from email thread in minutes)  
   - Ronald handling 1099 procedures for BC v27 (new design is complex and user-unfriendly)  
   - Joselyn studying MB-800 practice exams + financial reports  
   - David on vacation during Berlin’s month-long fiesta patronales  
   - New Salvadoran furball update (the “runt” kitten living the good life)

7. Upcoming Events  
   - MVP Summit – next week in Seattle  
   - Directions NA – Orlando, April 27–29 (preparing presentations)  
   - Dynamics Con – Las Vegas, May 12–15 (3 sessions: 2 BC + 1 cybersecurity)  
   - Directions Asia – Ho Chi Minh City, May 13–15  
   - DynamicsMinds – Slovenia, May 25–27  
   - Partner Vibe 2.0 – Provo, Utah, September 21–23 (submissions due June 15)  
   - Summit NA – Nashville, October 11–15 (submissions due March 31)

I Need Coffee - Episode 203 - Weekly BC Review! (March 13, 2026)

1. AI Experimentation & Large Projects  
   - Finished the **Prospect Discovery Questionnaire** project: 500+ pages total across 35 documents (main 40-page questionnaire + topical sections + 24 detailed questionnaires)  
   - Designed as a “choose-your-own-adventure” style tool with yes/no gating questions to determine which deep-dive sections are relevant (company overview, GL, AP/AR, inventory, manufacturing, warehouse, integrations, compliance, etc.)  
   - Created using Claude.ai (web) over several days and many tokens — estimated value equivalent to $500k+ enterprise consulting work  
   - Now building a **Project Risk Assessment Framework** based on the same approach (using PMP/ISO 31000 principles)  
   - Using these massive documents as test beds to push context windows and prompting strategies

2. Claude Projects Feature  
   - Discovered and started using Claude.ai “Projects” — allows uploading dozens of files (35 docs used only 15% capacity) for persistent context  
   - Successfully used to deduplicate questions across all documents (found only 4 true duplicates via Jaccard index)  
   - Enables better multi-document analysis and consolidation than single long chats

3. AI Efficiency vs. Mundane Reality  
   - Coined theme: “Creating the Impossible yet Fighting the Mundane”  
   - AI enables building things previously unthinkable, but real life still involves slogging through broken RMA processes, website redesigns, spam filters, etc.  
   - Western Digital drive RMA saga: submitted Jan 8, still waiting after 2+ months due to repeated system failures  
   - Microsoft Defender anti-spam rules cannot whitelist subdomains (e.g., Anthropic magic-link emails from mail.anthropic.com) → ongoing login frustration

4. Website Redesign Struggle
   - Tanya and Steve both hate working on the company website  
   - Using Perplexity to critique and guide WordPress + Elementor cleanup  
   - Frustration with WordPress base product, themes, and plugin ecosystem (constant upsells and vulnerabilities)

5. Business Central / Development Updates  
   - Object ID range overlaps discovered in AppSource apps (due to manual tracking instead of spreadsheet or AL Object ID Ninja) — only two actual duplicate IDs  
   - Preparing three prototype PTE apps for conversion to AppSource (created checklist via AI)  
   - AI (Perplexity) instantly found mapping errors in RDL/Word report layouts (e.g., Payment Terms wrongly bound to Shipping Terms; spelling error “Bacid” instead of “Batch ID”)  
   - Franklin becoming unintentional approval workflow expert after multiple AI-assisted refactors

6. Team & Nearshore Updates 
   - Joselyn & David continuing MB-800 study  
   - Ronald implementing Continia Document Capture  
   - Fatima reviewing prospect questionnaire and resuming PMP studies  
   - Franklin prepping apps for AppSource + handling approval workflow issues  
   - Two Salvadoran furballs (kittens) update — one looks like a Maine Coon, the other is the “runt” with big personality

7. Upcoming Events  
   - Directions NA – Orlando, April 27–29  
   - Dynamics Con – Las Vegas, May 12–15 (hotel prices insane; Steve flying in same-day for some nights)  
   - Directions Asia – Ho Chi Minh City, May 13–15  
   - DynamicsMinds – Slovenia, May 25–27

I Need Coffee - Episode 202 - double feature BC Review! (march 6, 2026)

1. OpenClaw & AI Tooling Updates  
   - Upgraded second iteration of OpenClaw (broke after Linux update); fixed with heavy AI assistance  
   - Created automated backup routine for OpenClaw configuration, scheduled jobs, etc.  
   - Connected OpenClaw to Discord (new server with topic-specific channels that preserve context)  
   - Created “momento.md” file so OpenClaw can refresh its own memory of skills, emails, Nextcloud access, etc.  
   - Installed OpenAI CodeEx (requires WSL on Windows) – found setup too cumbersome for daily use  

2. Claude Projects Feature  
   - Discovered Claude.ai “Projects” – allows uploading many files (used 15% capacity for 35 docs)  
   - Enables better context retention across sessions than single chats  
   - Successfully used to deduplicate questions across documents (found only 4 true duplicates using Jaccard index)  
   - Allows creating consolidated versions (50-page, 100-page summaries, etc.)

3. AI Efficiency & Mindset 
   - Reiterated “AI Efficiency Paradox” – more productive but busier than ever  
   - Personal philosophy: “If you don’t have a Plan B and Plan C, you don’t have a Plan” (heavily influenced by El Salvador experience)  
   - Applied to software: endless edge cases possible, but practical approach is to ship, test, and iterate rather than over-engineer upfront

4. Travel & El Salvador Trip (March 2026)  
   - Flew to El Salvador, met Ronald at airport, stayed overnight at hotel near airport  
   - Morning app review session with Ronald at hotel restaurant  
   - Picked up “hitchhiker” Brad (another BC MVP) who arrived with no hotel or plan  
   - 3-hour drive to Berlin with Brad riding in the back of the pickup truck (authentic Salvadoran experience)  
   - Hosted team dinner at the compound (boneless beef ribs, banana bodín, etc.)

5. Berlin Activities & Team 
   - Presented at Kenya DUG meetup (via Teams) on “Leverage AI to be the best Dynamics consultants in the world”  
   - Private tour of government animal sanctuary (monkeys, wild cats, owls, etc.)  
   - Visited geothermal power plant (“volcano energy”)  
   - Hiked volcano La Cruz with Brad and team (pickup truck adventure + sulfur smells)  
   - Visited active coffee farm (raised beds for natural-processed coffee) – met twin girls starting English scholarship  
   - Team cooked breakfast (frijoles, fried plantains, fresh pan francés)  
   - Birthday surprise sabero at Tacos Hermanos

6. Team Excellence Updates  
   - Continued MB-800 prep (Joselyn & David)  
   - App development and testing ongoing  
   - English scholarship program expanded (twins at coffee farm now enrolled)  
   - Berlin English Academy students/graduates joined team dinner

7. Upcoming Events  
   - Directions NA – Orlando, April 27–29 (Steve presenting with Brad)  
   - Dynamics Con – Las Vegas, May 12–15  
   - Directions Asia – Ho Chi Minh City, May 13–15  
   - DynamicsMinds – Slovenia, May 25–27  

8. Random / Fun Notes
   - Watched classic movies on YouTube (Rudy, Good Will Hunting)  
   - Gas station dinner near airport (typical Salvadoran experience)  
   - Formula 1 weekend upon return – planning to relax

I Need Coffee - Episode 201 - Weekly BC Review! (february 20, 2026)

1. OpenClaw Update 
   - Reinstalled with its own domain, email, and Nextcloud server  
   - Connected to Telegram (main interface), WhatsApp (flaky), and a dedicated M365 Business Basic tenant  
  
   - Peter Steinberger / OpenClaw now sponsored by OpenAI; project heading toward open-source foundation (Anthropic relationship described as unpleasant)

2. Claude Opus 4.6 Dominance  
   - Generated 700+ pages of professional Word documents this week  
   - Clear winner for complex, consistent, beautifully formatted business documents (templates, checklists, prospect discovery questionnaires, etc.)  
   - Native real-time SVG diagram generation with instant editing (e.g., change arrow colors on the fly)  
   - Context window issues: hit hard limit after ~300 pages → had to restart chats and re-upload documents to maintain formatting

3. AI Efficiency Paradox (Steve-coined) 
   - Massive time savings (weeks → hours) → marginal cost of new code/features approaches zero  
   - Result: accepting more work, building apps for free or low cost, converting one-offs into potential AppSource products  
   - Paradox: to-do list longer than ever, working 14-hour days, but having more fun than ever (risk of burnout acknowledged)

4. Advanced Vibe-Coding & Debugging Techniques  
   - **Agentic diagnostics**: AI generates its own 10-page diagnostic queries on GL accounts, enums, and database values when stuck  
   - Detailed activity logging with FactBox showing every API payload and response  
   - Auto-added “Enable Detailed Diagnostics” toggle on setup page (unprompted by Steve)  
   - Built full preview pane page for GL extraction → JSON assembly → API submission → logging

5. **Brilliant BC UI Workaround (JSON Viewer)  
   - Needed tall, searchable, scrollable JSON display  
   - Standard multi-line text box in BC has severe line limits  
   - AI solution: parse JSON → store each line as record in temporary table → expose as standard List Page  
   - Bonus: built-in BC search box instantly searches the entire JSON payload

6. Diagramming Experiments
   - Draw.io MCP server tested – useful for validation but weak for initial creation; requires manual fixes for arrows/spacing  
   - Lesson: complex diagrams must be broken into smaller ones or they become unreadable spaghetti  
   - Claude web/app SVG output currently best – generates and redraws in real time

7. Tool Landscape  
   - Using mix: Perplexity (Q&A), Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code (terminal), Claude.ai web/desktop (documents + SVG)  
   - Cursor now has marketplace for plugins/MCP/skills  
   - Warning: red “context window of doom” dot in VS Code with Opus 4.6 – stop immediately

8. Team & Nearshore Updates  
   - First **Dynamics User Group (DUG) meetup in El Salvador** held yesterday – conducted in Spanish, first in all of Latin America (Argentina & Costa Rica followed)  
   - Fatima organized and ran the meeting; team presented their work  
   - Joselyn & David advancing in MB-800 (now on sample questions)  
   - Ronald: iSolutions collections training + ongoing implementations  
   - Franklin: new app + custom check report (moving toward AppSource)  
   - Fatima: using AI for project plans, ISO 31000 risk assessment, task allocation