Use Microsoft Copilot Studio to talk to your Workday Data via CData Connect AI
Microsoft Copilot Studio is a no-code/low-code platform for creating AI Agents that can automate tasks, answer questions, and assist with various business processes. When combined with CData Connect AI Remote MCP, you can leverage Copilot Studio to interact with your Workday data in real-time. This article outlines the process of connecting to Workday using Connect AI Remote MCP and creating a connection in Copilot Studio to interact with your Workday data.
CData Connect AI offers a dedicated cloud-to-cloud interface for connecting to Workday data. The CData Connect AI Remote MCP Server enables secure communication between Microsoft Copilot Studio and Workday. This allows you to ask questions and take actions on your Workday data using Microsoft Copilot Studio, all without the need for data replication to a natively supported database. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect AI efficiently channels all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to Workday. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly deliver the requested Workday data.
In this article, we show how to build a agent in Microsoft Copilot Studio to conversational explore (or Vibe Query) your data. The connectivity principals apply to any Copilot agent. With Connect AI you can build workflows and agents with access to live Workday data, plus hundreds of other sources.
About Workday Data Integration
CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Workday. Customers use CData connectivity to:
- Access the tables and datasets you create in Prism Analytics Data Catalog, working with the native Workday data hub without compromising the fidelity of your Workday system.
- Access Workday Reports-as-a-Service to surface data from departmental datasets not available from Prism and datasets larger than Prism allows.
- Access base data objects with WQL, REST, or SOAP, getting more granular, detailed access but with the potential need for Workday admins or IT to help craft queries.
Users frequently integrate Workday with analytics tools such as Tableau, Power BI, and Excel, and leverage our tools to replicate Workday data to databases or data warehouses. Access is secured at the user level, based on the authenticated user's identity and role.
For more information on configuring Workday to work with CData, refer to our Knowledge Base articles: Comprehensive Workday Connectivity through Workday WQL and Reports-as-a-Service & Workday + CData: Connection & Integration Best Practices.
Getting Started
Step 1: Configure Workday Connectivity for Microsoft Copilot Studio
Connectivity to Workday from Microsoft Copilot Studio is made possible through CData Connect AI Remote MCP. To interact with Workday data from Microsoft Copilot Studio, we start by creating and configuring a Workday connection in CData Connect AI.
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Log into Connect AI, click Connections and click Add Connection
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Select "Workday" from the Add Connection panel
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Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Workday.
To connect to Workday, users need to find the Tenant and BaseURL and then select their API type.
Obtaining the BaseURL and Tenant
To obtain the BaseURL and Tenant properties, log into Workday and search for "View API Clients." On this screen, you'll find the Workday REST API Endpoint, a URL that includes both the BaseURL and Tenant.
The format of the REST API Endpoint is: https://domain.com/subdirectories/mycompany, where:
- https://domain.com/subdirectories/ is the BaseURL.
- mycompany (the portion of the url after the very last slash) is the Tenant.
Using ConnectionType to Select the API
The value you use for the ConnectionType property determines which Workday API you use. See our Community Article for more information on Workday connectivity options and best practices.
API ConnectionType Value WQL WQL Reports as a Service Reports REST REST SOAP SOAP
Authentication
Your method of authentication depends on which API you are using.
- WQL, Reports as a Service, REST: Use OAuth authentication.
- SOAP: Use Basic or OAuth authentication.
See the Help documentation for more information on configuring OAuth with Workday.
Click Save & Test
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Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Workday Connection page and update the User-based permissions.
With the connection configured, we are ready to connect to Workday data from Microsoft Copilot Studio.
Step 2: Connect Microsoft Copilot Studio to CData Connect AI
Follow these steps to add a CData Connect AI MCP connection in Microsoft Copilot Studio:
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Under Tools, click Add tool, then click + New Tool.
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In the Add Tool window, search for and click CData Connect AI.
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In the Connect to CData Connect AI window, click Create to authenticate your connection CData Connect AI using OAuth authentication.
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Click Add and configure to add the CData Connect AI Tool to your agent.
Optional: Give the AI Agent context
This step establishes the AI Agent's role and provides context for the conversation through the Instructions property in the Agent. By providing instructions that explicitly informs the agent about its role as an MCP Server expert and lists the available tools, you can enhance the agent's understanding and response accuracy. For example, you can set the System Message to:
You are an expert at using the MCP Client tool connected which is the CData Connect AI MCP Server. Always search thoroughly and use the most relevant MCP Client tool for each query. Below are the available tools and a description of each: queryData: Execute SQL queries against connected data sources and retrieve results. When you use the queryData tool, ensure you use the following format for the table name: catalog.schema.tableName getCatalogs: Retrieve a list of available connections from CData Connect AI. The connection names should be used as catalog names in other tools and in any queries to CData Connect AI. Use the `getSchemas` tool to get a list of available schemas for a specific catalog. getSchemas: Retrieve a list of available database schemas from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog. Use the `getTables` tool to get a list of available tables for a specific catalog and schema. getTables: Retrieve a list of available database tables from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog and schema. Use the `getColumns` tool to get a list of available columns for a specific table. getColumns: Retrieve a list of available database columns from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog, schema, and table. getProcedures: Retrieve a list of stored procedures from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog and schema getProcedureParameters: Retrieve a list of stored procedure parameters from CData Connect AI for a specific catalog, schema, and procedure. executeProcedure: Execute stored procedures with parameters against connected data sources
Step 3: Explore Live Workday Data with Microsoft Copilot Studio
With the Agent created in Microsoft Copilot Studio and the MCP tool connected, you can now interact with your Workday data using Microsoft Copilot Studio. The MCP tool allows you to send queries and receive responses from the Workday data source in real-time.
Open the chat window in your Microsoft Copilot Studio Agent to begin interacting with your Workday data. You can ask questions, retrieve data, and perform actions on your Workday data using the MCP tool:
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