Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI models and assistants connect to external tools, data sources and services in a consistent way, so a business's systems, such as its CRM, email or file storage, can be made available to an AI assistant without building a custom integration for every tool.
How Model Context Protocol works
MCP defines a common way for an "MCP server", representing a tool or data source such as a CRM, database or file system, to expose its capabilities to an "MCP client", the AI assistant itself. Rather than hard-coding a separate integration for every combination of assistant and tool, the assistant discovers what is available through the protocol. This matters as more AI agents and agentic AI systems are introduced across a business, since it reduces the duplicated integration work involved in connecting the same assistant to many systems, or the same system to many different assistants, and is increasingly relevant to platforms such as Copilot Studio and Semantic Kernel that orchestrate AI tool use.
How UK businesses use Model Context Protocol
- A business connects its CRM to an AI assistant using an MCP server, letting the assistant look up customer records and update deals without a custom integration being built specifically for that assistant.
- A software vendor builds a single MCP server for its product, making it usable by multiple different AI assistants and platforms rather than building a separate integration for each one.
- An IT team evaluates MCP as a way to reduce the number of bespoke integrations needed as more AI assistants and copilots are introduced across the business.
- A developer builds an internal MCP server exposing a company's document repository, so an AI assistant can search and retrieve relevant files as part of answering employee questions.
How Advantage supports AI integration
Advantage helps businesses connect their Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365 and other systems to AI assistants using standards such as Model Context Protocol, reducing the custom integration work involved as more AI tools are introduced across the organisation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Model Context Protocol specific to one AI provider?
No, it is an open standard designed to work across different AI assistants and platforms, rather than being tied to a single vendor's product.
How is MCP different from a normal API integration?
A normal API integration is typically built specifically for one system to talk to one other system, while MCP defines a consistent pattern so many different AI assistants can connect to many different tools without a separate bespoke integration for each pairing.
Do businesses need to build their own MCP servers?
Not always, since many software vendors are building MCP servers for their own products, though businesses with custom or internal systems may build their own to make that data available to AI assistants.
