Interview: Patrick Mouwen — Commerce, MCP and the API layer underneath

This special episode comes to you from a sunny morning on the floor at DynamicsMinds*, where Gustav Sundblad and Johan Persson are joined for the second time by Dynamics 365 Principal Architect Patrick Mouwen. A man much of the Commerce community would happily call a "commerce hero" for documenting the Dynamics 365 Commerce CSU APIs so they can be easily understood by everyone using them. Microsoft's Commerce MCP is intentionally scenario-focused today; Patrick showed how customers can extend it in their own tenant with a low-code metadata layer over existing Commerce/F&O APIs — curated, task-level tools, not a 1:1 mapping of APIs to MCP. 💡 The key insight: Metadata and architecture matter. By embedding metadata in MCP tools and splitting systems into domain-based servers (e.g., cart, payments), you reduce cost, latency, and hallucinations. He also emphasized using focused sub-agents rather than one large agent. The demos showed real value. From automating quote-to-order flows to fixing master data issues — all while keeping Commerce’s built-in guardrails intact. Problems like incorrect discounts come down to configuration, not AI. Looking ahead, Patrick pointed to Agent 365 for governance and a future of agentic commerce, in which APIs become critical as personal shopping agents act across brands. Thanks again to Patrick for joining us!   **Links** - Dynamics 365 Commerce MCP server (preview): https://learn.microsoft.com/dynamics365/commerce/commerce-mcp?WT.mc_id=DX-MVP-5004702 - Expose a REST API in API Management as an MCP server: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/api-management/export-rest-mcp-server?WT.mc_id=DX-MVP-5004702 - AI gateway in Azure API Management: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/api-management/genai-gateway-capabilities?WT.mc_id=DX-MVP-5004702 Patrick Mouwen | LinkedIn