Hi, Readers.
Dynamics 365 Business Central 2026 wave 1 (BC28.3) is generally available. More details: Cumulative Update Summary for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (July, 2026)
I will continue to test and share some new features that I hope will be helpful. In this post, I would like to share some information about Copilot and agent data movement across geographies.
Copilot and agent data movement across geographies
Starting July 1, 2026, Business Central environments on version 28.0 or later in some countries or regions might process Copilot and agent requests in a different Azure geography. You can manage data processing preferences on the Copilot & agent capabilities page.
Although Copilot in Business Central is available in all geographic areas where Business Central online is available, it requires Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, which is available only in specific regions.
Depending on where your environment is hosted, you might need to allow data to move outside of your primary data residency to an Azure OpenAI endpoint located in another geography. You provide consent in the Copilot & agent capabilities page. If you don’t provide consent, Copilot won’t be available to your organization.
When you use Copilot, your inputs (prompts) and outputs (results), including any personal data, might move outside of your geography to the location where the Azure OpenAI Service endpoint is hosted. Microsoft might store prompt and output data for up to 24 hours to monitor for abuse, but Microsoft doesn’t look at it unless its automated systems flag it for review. Microsoft doesn’t use your data to train, retrain, or improve Azure OpenAI Service foundation models.
The following table shows which Azure OpenAI geography is used for Copilot based on where your Business Central environment is hosted, and whether consent is required.
| Azure geography/regions where your Business Central environment is hosted | Azure geography where Azure OpenAI Service is hosted | Consent required for data movement across geographies? | What you need to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States (Central, East, North Central, South Central, West) | United States | No | No action required. Data doesn’t move across geographies in this scenario. |
| Europe (West, North)France (Central, South)Germany (North, West Central)Norway (East, West)Sweden (Central, South)Switzerland (North, West) | Within EU Data Boundary (covers multiple geographies) | Yes | Processing can occur across geographies within the EU boundary. By default, the Allow data movement toggle on the Copilot & agent capabilities page is on. If you don’t want to provide consent to data movement, turn off the toggle. In this case, Copilot features won’t be available to your organization. |
| United Kingdom (South, West) | Copilot features within the same geographic area as the Business Central environment. Agent features within EU Data Boundary (covers multiple geographies) | Yes | Agent processing can occur across geographies within the EU boundary. By default, the Allow data movement toggle on the Copilot & agent capabilities page is on. If you don’t want to provide consent to data movement for agents, turn off the toggle. In this case, neither Copilot or agent features will be available to your organization. Alternatively, turn on the toggle to allow using Copilot features, but turn off all agent features. |
| Australia (South East)India (Central, South) | Copilot features within the same geographic area as the Business Central environment. Agent features within United States | Yes | Agent processing can occur across geographies within the EU boundary. By default, the Allow data movement toggle on the Copilot & agent capabilities page is on. If you don’t want to provide consent to data movement for agents, turn off the toggle. In this case, neither Copilot or agent features will be available to your organization. Alternatively, turn on the toggle to allow using Copilot features, but deactivate all agent features. |
| Asia (East, South East)Brazil (South)Canada (Central, East)Japan (East, West)Korea (Central, South)South Africa (North, West)United Arab Emirates (North, West) | United States | Yes | By default, the Allow data movement toggle on the Copilot & agent capabilities page is on. If you don’t want to provide consent to data movement, turn off the toggle. In this case, Copilot features won’t be available to your organization. |
PS: To find the Azure region where a Business Central environment is hosted, sign in to the Business Central admin center, choose the environment to display details, and then find the Azure Region field.
PS:
1. Where is cloud(SaaS) data actually stored? (Using Azure geographies)
2. Where is cloud(SaaS) data actually stored (Get BC public IP address, City, Region, Country, Location etc.)
Therefore, BC currently operates with three distinct region concepts. The following content is partially excerpted from Understanding Azure OpenAI Service geography and data residency.
Business Central country/region version
What it is: The localized version of Business Central used on an environment specified by an admin when the environment was created.
Why it matters:
- Controls which regulatory features, tax calculations, and reporting formats are available
- Determines which localization-specific functionality you have access to
- Automatically determines the Azure region where Business Central data is stored
- Can’t be changed after environment creation
Key point: It’s about localization and regulatory compliance, not the physical data location or language.
Example: A Denmark (DK) environment includes Danish VAT rules, tax reporting, and regulatory requirements, regardless of where the environment is physically hosted.
Azure region for Business Central data residency
What it is: The Azure region where your Business Central environment database is physically hosted and stored, like Europe (West) or United States (East)
Why it matters:
- Determines physical location of your business data
- Automatically determined by environment’s country/region setting chosen by admin when environment created.
- Affects data residency compliance and regulations
- Can result in cross-geography data movement if Azure OpenAI Service operates in a different geography
Key point: It’s about where your business data lives.
Example: A Danish (DK) environment is hosted in Azure’s Europe North region, keeping your customer data, transactions, and business records.
Azure OpenAI Service geography
What it is: The physical Azure data center regions where the AI model processes your prompts and generates responses. An Azure geography can consist of one or more data center regions.
Why it matters:
- Determines where AI processing occurs for compliance and data sovereignty
- Affects latency and performance of AI responses
Key point: It’s about where the AI thinks, not where your business data lives.
Example: When you use analysis assist in Business Central, your prompt is sent to an Azure OpenAI endpoint in a specific geography (such as Europe, United States, or Asia Pacific) for processing.
These two geographic factors are independent but work together with environment configuration and language settings to determine Copilot availability:
Learn more in Copilot data movement across geographies.
To understand Copilot feature availability and support, you need to consider four independent but interconnected factors:
| Factor | What it determines | Set by | Can it be changed? | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Supported languages | User interaction language | You (user/admin settings) | Yes | Danish |
| 2. Business Central environment country/region | Localization and regulatory features | Admin (at environment creation) | No | Denmark (DK) |
| 3. Azure region for Business Central data residency | Where business data is stored | Automatically based on country/region (#2) | No | Europe (North) |
| 4. Azure OpenAI Services geography | Where AI processing occurs | Microsoft Azure OpenAI deployment | No (Microsoft controls) | Europe |
Learn more about all factors affecting Copilot availability in Copilot country/region availability and supported languages.
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Hope this will help.
Thanks for reading.
ZHU
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