- Feature
- Show avatars for record creators and modifiers in list
- Availability
- Generally available (October 2026)
- Industry focus
- Third-party logistics (3PL) and warehousing
In third-party logistics, many hands touch every order. Customer service creates it, the warehouse picks and ships it, and finance invoices the client. Increasingly, an AI agent drafts part of the work too. When something goes wrong, the first question is always the same: who did this? Business Central 29.0 puts the answer right on the list page.
The industry challenge
A 3PL operator handles stock and orders on behalf of many clients. Its Business Central system holds a large volume of shared records:
- Sales and transfer orders for each client's customers
- Item cards and units of measure set up for client SKUs
- Warehouse documents and adjustments
- Customer and ship-to records that drive delivery
When a client complains about a wrong delivery address or an unexpected stock adjustment, the investigation starts with ownership. Until now, that meant opening the record, finding the Created By or Modified By fields (if they were visible) and working out who that user was. Multiply that by dozens of queries a week and it becomes real time lost.
AI agents add another layer. If an agent drafted an order from a client email, staff need to know that at a glance. That affects how they check it and who they follow up with.
What Microsoft delivered in Business Central 29.0
Business Central 29.0 adds visual avatars to list pages showing who created and who last modified each record. According to Microsoft:
- An avatar can represent a named Business Central user, a system user or an AI agent, using the existing identity model.
- Hovering over an avatar shows the person's full display name and, where available, when the record was updated.
- The feature surfaces the existing Created By and Modified By fields in a more intuitive way.
- It respects Business Central's privacy and permissions model.
Microsoft names accountants, order processors, warehouse staff, service teams and administrators as the main beneficiaries. It also points out that the feature helps organizations see when an agent has contributed to a record.
Where the value shows up
| Business area | Impact for a 3PL |
|---|---|
| Customer service | Faster answers when a client asks who changed an order |
| Warehouse operations | Supervisors can see who set up or edited items and documents |
| AI oversight | Agent-created records are visible at a glance |
| Accountability | Follow-ups go to the right person the first time |
| Training | Team leads can spot patterns in errors and coach the right people |
The value is in removing friction from everyday investigation. Each check might save only a minute or two. In a business that runs on volume and service levels, those minutes add up to faster resolution and happier clients.
A worked scenario
Consider a 3PL that runs fulfilment for 20 e-commerce brands (an illustrative example). One brand reports that several orders went to an old warehouse address.
The customer service lead opens the list of ship-to addresses for that brand's customers. Avatars show that most records were created months ago by the onboarding team. Three were changed yesterday by a newer colleague. Hovering shows the timestamps, which match the problem orders.
The lead talks to the colleague, corrects the addresses and adds a short training note. On the order list, an agent avatar shows which orders were drafted by the sales order agent from client emails. The lead confirms that none of those were affected. The whole investigation takes 15 minutes rather than an afternoon.
Adoption considerations
- Make sure user names are meaningful. Avatars are only useful if display names are clear. Tidy up generic or shared accounts.
- Name your agents clearly. If you run several agents, give each one a distinct name that describes its job.
- Avoid shared logins. Shared warehouse or terminal accounts hide accountability. This feature is a good prompt to retire them.
- Use it in coaching, not blame. Teams adopt traceability tools faster when they're used to fix processes, not to punish mistakes.
- Check privacy expectations. Make sure staff understand that the information was already recorded and is now easier to see.
The bottom line
Logistics providers compete on accuracy and response time. Creator and modifier avatars in Business Central 29.0 make accountability visible on every list. That speeds up investigations, sharpens training and gives a clear view of where AI agents have contributed. It's a small interface change with a direct link to service quality.
If you're looking to tighten operational control across a multi-client warehouse, it's worth reviewing your user and agent set-up with an experienced Business Central adviser.
Source: Microsoft roadmap 573364