In this episode of the AI Agent & Copilot Podcast, John Siefert is joined by Eric Newell, CEO, Stoneridge Software, while on-site at Community Summit North America 2025, which took place October 19-23. Newell shares his takeaways from the conference, and what he expects the future of AI adoption to look like over the next 12-18 months.

Key Takeaways

• Summit NA buzz: Newell notes the prominence of AI and agents at Summit NA 2025. More specifically, the CRM Product Roadmap session highlighted the transformative potential of agents, though he explains that many clients are unsure how to implement them and bridge the gap. Summit is a unique place that enables attendees to address pain points by connecting them with vendors and peers who offer practical solutions.
• Stoneridge Software's presence: During the event, the Stoneridge Software team was focused on supporting clients’ objectives through sessions and networking. The organization also participated in the GP to BC preconference, where the team is seeing "more movement in them going from GP to BC... helping them get there has been fun," he adds.
• Looking ahead: As referenced during the CRM Product Roadmap session, Newell suggests that a demo which showcased the integrated agents for customer service, including automated knowledge base creation, will accelerate CRM cloud adoption and significantly boost Microsoft’s future growth.

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