Updated: Microsoft ending Dynamics 365 CRM's Cortana assistant preview but planning "long term intelligent solution experience"

Editor's Note: This article has been updated based on changes Microsoft has made to its explanation of its product plans.

The current integration preview between Microsoft's Cortana personal assistant and Dynamics 365 CRM will not be moving forward, Microsoft revealed today in a short blog post. Instead, it will be pursuing a new approach that will still include Cortana.

The team wrote in a blog post that was revised:

We are working to deliver a robust and scalable digital assistant experience across all of our Dynamics 365 offerings. This includes natural language integration for customers and partners across multiple channels including Cortana. To that end, we are discontinuing the current Cortana integration preview feature that was made available for Dynamics 365 and we are focusing on building a new long term intelligent solution experience, which will include Cortana digital assistant integration.

The hype around using Cortana as an AI assistant for Dynamics 365 both on the desktop and in mobile scenarios may have peaked around the time of Ignite 2016, when Microsoft touted the technology's overall uptake, suggesting it would drive Cortana to become a factor in all of its mainstream products. As MSDW reported at the time, "Nadella promises that Microsoft is turning the idea of CRM ‘upside down' from a siloed management tool to truly boosting sales productivity."

Asking Cortana to surface relevant opportunities, accounts, or meetings certainly had a wow factor at conference keynote presentations. It demonstrated disparate Microsoft technology teams building connections and aligning product strategies. And while it might have made for a good demo, Cortana assistant integration to CRM never appeared to get serious consideration ...