Towards the end of 2025, I like to pause and look back, not just at what I published on this blog, but at what I learned by writing, building, and engaging with the community.
This year covered a broad range of topics, including practical Business Central updates, Power BI integrations, hands on tooling, and a deeper exploration of GitHub Copilot and AI. While these posts were written at different moments and for different reasons, a few clear themes kept returning.
This post is not a list of articles. It is a reflection on what stood out to me while working on and writing about these topics.
Intent Became More Important Than Tools
One of the strongest themes this year was the importance of intent.
This became especially clear while writing the Copilot series. Rather than focusing on what Copilot can do, I found myself writing more about when to use a specific mode and why that choice matters. Exploring Chat, Ask, Edit, Agent, and Plan modes made it clear that productivity does not come from using more features, but from choosing the right interaction at the right moment.
That thinking is reflected in posts such as:
- Chat, Ask, or Edit? Using GitHub Copilot Effectively in AL Development
https://thinkaboutit.be/2025/12/chat-ask-or-edit-using-github-copilot-effectively-in-al-development/ - Copilot Agent in AL: Using It Well Without Losing Control
https://thinkaboutit.be/2025/12/copilot-agent-in-al-using-it-well-without-losing-control/ - Copilot Plan Mode in AL: Clarifying Intent Before Writing Code
https://thinkaboutit.be/2025/12/copilot-plan-mode-in-al-clarifying-intent-before-writing-code/ - A Practical Mental Model for Using GitHub Copilot in AL Development
A Practical Mental Model for Using GitHub Copilot in AL Development – think about IT
The more I worked with Copilot in real projects, the clearer it became that explicit intent leads to predictable results. Without that intent, even powerful tools quickly become frustrating.
Structure and Responsibility Still Matter
Another recurring theme was structure.
In AL and Business Central development, where logic lives and how responsibilities are separated still matters a great deal. Writing about release waves, quick tips, and deeper technical topics reinforced that good structure is not something AI replaces. It is something AI makes more visible when it is missing.
Posts around platform updates and practical guidance, such as coverage of new Business Central releases, highlighted how important it remains to understand the fundamentals behind the features.
Business Central 2025 Release Wave 2 Is Here v27
https://thinkaboutit.be/2025/10/business-central-2025-release-wave-2-is-here-v27/
Experimenting with Copilot Agent made this even more obvious. Without clear boundaries and design decisions, generated code drifts quickly. Writing about these experiences helped me articulate why certain patterns exist and why they remain relevant.
Practical Guidance Through Quick Tips and How To Posts
Alongside longer articles, both the Quick Tip and How To sections of this blog played an important role this year.
Quick Tips are intentionally short and focused, often addressing a single problem or question that comes up in day to day work. Writing these posts helped me stay close to real issues developers and consultants run into, from reporting and layouts to platform behavior and small but impactful details.
Some of these tips were inspired directly by conference sessions or situations I encountered in projects. Examples include the Quick Tip on Report Objects and Layouts, based on insights from BC TechDays, and practical guidance around recent Business Central platform changes shared shortly after new release waves.
Quick Tips on think about IT
https://thinkaboutit.be/category/quicktip/
The How To posts take a slightly different approach. They allow more space to walk through a problem step by step and focus on helping people complete a task with confidence. These posts often grow out of real questions I receive or recurring challenges I see in projects.
How To posts on think about IT
https://thinkaboutit.be/category/how-to/
Combining Quick Tips with How To articles created a balance I value. Some topics benefit from quick, focused answers, while others deserve more explanation and context. Together, they reflect how I try to support the community with both immediate help and deeper guidance.
Building and Sharing: Power BI Monitor
One of the highlights of this year was developing Power BI Monitor and writing about it on this blog.
I am genuinely proud that the app is open source and that it received a lot of positive feedback from the community. Seeing others use it, share feedback, or suggest improvements confirmed that there is real value in making observability and insight more accessible inside Business Central.
Introducing Power BI Monitor: Unified Power BI Management in Business Central
https://thinkaboutit.be/2025/11/introducing-power-bi-monitor-unified-power-bi-management-in-business-central/
This experience reinforced something important for me. Building tools is valuable, but sharing them openly and explaining the thinking behind them multiplies their impact.
AI Is Most Useful When Used Thoughtfully
AI featured prominently this year, but never as hype.
Whether writing about Copilot or broader AI assisted workflows, the same conclusion kept returning. AI works best when it is guided, constrained, and reviewed. It does not replace thinking. It amplifies it.
Writing about Plan mode and Agent mode helped clarify this for me. Slowing down to make intent explicit before acting often leads to better results than moving fast and correcting later. That insight now influences how I work, not just what I write.
Events, Community, and Speaking
This year also included writing about events and sessions, and for me personally, those moments mattered a lot.
Steven Renders’s Speaker Profile @ Sessionize
Being invited to speak at conferences and events is something I genuinely value, and it remains an honour every time it happens. I truly enjoy speaking, sharing experiences, and engaging directly with the Business Central community, not just presenting content, but learning from the conversations that follow.
In 2025, I had the opportunity to deliver deep dive sessions at both BC TechDays and Directions EMEA, each with a very different but equally valuable audience.
BC TechDays is a strongly developer focused conference with a highly technical and demanding audience. Being able to deliver a deep dive session there, and to challenge and be challenged by experienced developers, is something I value greatly. The discussions during and after the session often go beyond prepared content and lead to meaningful technical exchanges.
Quick Tip: Deep Dive into Report Objects and Layouts BC TechDays 2025
https://thinkaboutit.be/2025/10/quick-tip-deep-dive-into-report-objects-and-layouts-bc-techdays-2025/
At Directions EMEA, I also delivered a deep dive session aimed at a partner focused audience. Being trusted to go beyond surface level topics and explore real world scenarios and trade offs in depth is something I am genuinely proud of.
Directions EMEA 2025 Session
https://www.directionsforpartners.com/conferences-and-events/directions/emea2025/session-list?categories=360206%2C360167&speaker=48da26c9-83aa-41ed-87da-7ba323631f28&session=990035
Engaging with the community through deep technical sessions, writing, and follow up discussions continues to be one of the most motivating aspects of the work I do around Business Central.
A special thanks to Renato for being my co-presenter in crime at many conferences: Renato Fajdiga’s Speaker Profile @ Sessionize!
Training, Learning Journeys, and Sharing Knowledge
Alongside writing and speaking, a large part of this year was spent delivering trainings and expert sessions as part of our Plataan learning journeys.
Through these programs, I had the opportunity to work with hundreds of students, guiding them through Business Central, AL development, Power BI, and the thoughtful use of AI tools such as GitHub Copilot. These sessions were deeply practical, focused on real scenarios, and often sparked valuable discussions and questions.
I genuinely enjoyed this part of the work. Seeing people grow in confidence, connect concepts, and start applying ideas in their own projects is one of the most rewarding aspects of sharing knowledge. It also reinforced many of the themes that appear throughout this blog, especially the importance of intent, structure, and learning step by step.
Writing Changed How I Work
One unexpected but welcome outcome of writing this year was how much it influenced my own work.
Explaining ideas forced me to clarify them. Writing about trade offs made me more conscious of them. Community feedback often highlighted assumptions I had not questioned before.
As a result, I now spend more time clarifying intent up front, use tools like Copilot more deliberately, and think more consciously about structure and responsibility.
Writing did not just document my work. It improved it.
Looking Ahead
Looking forward, I want to continue using this blog to explore real world workflows instead of isolated features, the intersection of Business Central, Power BI, and AI, and mental models that remain useful even as tools evolve.
Less about speed. More about clarity.
Closing Thought
Looking back, this year reinforced something I already suspected.
Tools change quickly, but clear thinking does not.
That is what I want this blog to continue reflecting. Thoughtful, experience driven exploration of how we build, decide, and engage with the tools and community around us.
One post at a time.
One last thing: Thank you for being a part of this amazing community!
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