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Hey Power Platform enthusiasts! We’re still buzzing from the electrifying Power Platform Community Conference (PPCC) in Vegas. It was a week overflowing with groundbreaking announcements, all centered around Power Platform and the transformative power of AI. Buckle up, because we’re about to dive into a treasure of updates that will supercharge your automation game! This blog will cover the Power Platform Conference 2024 highlights specific to Power Apps and Power Automate.

#PPCC24 – A Week of Mind-blowing AI Advancements!

The PPCC24 (previously MPPC!) is a conference dedicated specifically to Microsoft’s Power Platform and Dynamics 365 product suite. The Power Platform community is booming, attracting a record number of enthusiastic developers and automation champions! Let’s do some number crunching before diving into the updates, shall we?

DYK: There are 5.8M in the Power Platform Community currently? This is a community that’s definitely on the rise!

There’s more to it! In the last year, Power Platform has seen a 40% growth 😲 and has about 48M monthly users. (that’s equivalent to 6 Taylor Swift Eras Tour according to Microsoft!)😱 Over the last few years, Power Platform is growing fast and with the help of its users. It’s for everyone, from beginners to experts.

The event attracted over 6000+ footfall during its course from September 16-21.

AI-Powered Productivity: Microsoft Copilot Shines at Power Platform Conference 2024

So, what was the “highlight” of Power Platform Conference 2024? COPILOT!! Copilot is Microsoft’s groundbreaking AI assistant designed to enhance productivity and streamline workflows across various applications. And rightly so, it did take the center stage, right from the keynote session by Charles Lamanna.

Copilot Studio

Copilot Studio is now generally available! Prepare to unleash the full potential of AI with Copilot Studio. This empowers you to build sophisticated Copilot agents that can automate repetitive tasks, intelligently retrieve information, and seamlessly connect to your organization’s data sources. Still not getting the hang of it? Think of it as crafting custom AI assistants specifically tailored for your workflows. Say, you need an agent to automatically summarize key points from lengthy reports or pull data from specific websites? Copilot Studio can handle it!

Boost Productivity with Copilot Agents

The future of automation is collaborative, and Copilot Agents are leading the charge. Get ready to see a wave of pre-built and user-created agents readily available within the Microsoft 365 suite. These intelligent helpers will streamline your daily tasks and unlock a whole new level of productivity across all your Microsoft applications. Whether you’re a tech expert or just getting started, you can now build a Copilot agent directly in BizChat or SharePoint. Just tell Copilot Studio what you want your agent to do, and it will help you connect it to the information you need. Once it’s ready, you can use it yourself, share it with others, or even deploy it to your entire company. The Copilot Agents along with Agent Builder capability is now available in Public Preview.

Power Automate and Copilot

Power Automate gets a Copilot boost with powerful AI capabilities! Yay! Here’s some of the key announcements from the event –

Power Automate Desktop – Copilot and RPA – A match made in the Automation Heaven!

With Copilot, RPA can become smarter, more flexible, and easier to use. The multimodal recording capability for Power Automate is now in Public Preview. With the “Record with Copilot” capability, it is like having a personal assistant for your workflows. Just show/tell what you want to do on your screen, and it’ll magically turn your actions into a Power Automate flow; just like a “Show-and-Tell”! No more complicated setup or worrying about mistakes – it’s super easy and makes automating stuff a breeze! This functionality is now available in Public Preview.

Pin up to two action-panes in the Power Automate Designer

Yes! No more open-close action to copy and paste actions within the designer. What this means? You can work on different parts of your workflow simultaneously, making things way faster and easier. It’s like having a super-powered tool that helps you build your automations in a snap. This functionality is now Generally Available in the Power Automate Designer window.

Generative Actions with Inline Cloud Flows

Imagine you’re trying to build a complex workflow in Power Automate. Instead of struggling to remember all the steps and configurations/conditions, you can simply describe what you want to do in plain English. This new feature (generative action) will then automatically generate the necessary steps and connections at runtime. It’s like having a personal assistant who understands your workflow needs and can create the flow for you. This results in increased efficiency and productivity, reduced errors in your workflows. It also opens up a great way to learn more about Power Automate by seeing how it can be used to create different types of flows. This functionality is being offered as an Early Access Preview.

Desktop Flows from Natural Language

You can now describe your automation needs in plain English, and Power Automate will intelligently translate that into a working desktop flow. This groundbreaking feature makes automation creation more accessible than ever before, empowering anyone to leverage its power. Need a flow to automatically rename downloaded files based on specific criteria? Just tell Power Automate what you want, and it will build the flow for you!  This functionality is now available in Public Preview.

As Power Automate continues to evolve with the integration of Copilot, it’s clear that the future of automation is brighter than ever. Developers can look forward to a more intuitive, efficient, and accessible platform that empowers them to create complex workflows with ease. With Copilot’s intelligent capabilities, Power Automate is poised to become the go-to tool for automating tasks across various industries.

Power Apps and Copilot

Just as Power Automate, Copilot is also set to transform the way developers build and interact with Power Apps. Let’s explore the new Power Apps capabilities  discussed during the Power Platform Conference 2024 event –

Co-authoring in Power Apps Canvas App

Imagine building a complex Power App with a team of developers. Traditionally, this would involve passing files back and forth, coordinating changes, and potentially running into conflicts. Now, with the Coauthoring capability, those headaches are a thing of the past. Multiple developers can work on the same app simultaneously, just like you would with a shared document in Microsoft Word. Changes made by developers are instantly visible to everyone. This helps minimize conflicting changes and enables real-time collaboration. Whether you’re part of a small team or a large enterprise, Co-authoring can significantly improve your app development workflow. By fostering collaboration and eliminating bottlenecks, it empowers teams to build better apps faster. So, why wait? This functionality is now Generally Available in Power Apps Canvas App.

Power Apps Plan Designer

The Plan Designer is one of the coolest features within Power Apps that helps you plan out your Power Apps projects from start to finish. Think of Plan Designer as a roadmap for your app with which you can now generate detailed plans for your Power Apps projects. With Plan Designer, you can create a clearer plan, avoid getting lost, and build a better app.

Say, you have a description/document with all the information in a document on how your solution will work, process diagrams, how people will interact with the apps, what’s your database model going to look like etc., All you need to do now is upload these descriptions to the plan designer and wait for Power Apps to create the different parts of your solution. From there, you can start customizing the solution based on your needs, of course with the assistance of Copilot! This functionality has been announced in a Limited Preview. You can read more about this feature in the Microsoft Documentation.

Microsoft is clearly committed to fostering a community-driven ecosystem, and that’s what makes the Power Platform so special. It’s more than just a toolset; it’s a thriving, dynamic community that’s constantly pushing the envelope of what’s possible. Some of the amazing new features in Power Apps and Power Automate are expected to help businesses automate their workflows, save time and money, and improve their overall efficiency. It’s clear that they’re dedicated to making automation easier and more powerful than ever before.

The Power Platform Community Conference just wrapped up, but the energy and excitement is still buzzing. We can’t wait to reconnect with the amazing community in Las Vegas next year on October 28-30, 2025. Mark your calendars! 📆

VNB Consulting at PPCC24

We had a fantastic time at Power Platform Conference 2024! It was our third year attending, and we were thrilled to connect with the Power Platform community once again.

How VNB Consulting Can Help with Your Power Apps and Power Automate Needs?

In today’s digital landscape, streamlining workflows and automating manual tasks is crucial for business success. VNB Consulting can be your one-stop shop for unlocking the potential of Microsoft Power Apps and Power Automate. Our team of certified consultants has extensive experience in crafting custom Power Apps that perfectly align with your unique needs. Whether you require a data collection app for field teams, a streamlined approval process, or a user-friendly interface for complex data visualization, VNB Consulting can deliver. We’ll go beyond app development by leveraging Power Automate to automate repetitive tasks, eliminate human error, and integrate seamlessly with your existing environment. To complement our Power Apps and Power Automate expertise, VNB Consulting also offers comprehensive Power BI services. Our consultants can help you transform raw data into actionable insights through visually appealing and interactive dashboards.

The result? Increased productivity, improved data accuracy, and empowered employees who can focus on higher-value activities. Let VNB Consulting transform the way you work with Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI!