Power Platform New AI Features – Ignite 2024

Why it matters: Microsoft’s latest Power Platform updates streamline app development and enhance automation with AI-driven tools.

The big picture: Microsoft’s recent announcements at Ignite bring transformative features to Power Platform, focusing on AI integration to simplify and accelerate the development and management of business applications. Key updates include the AI-powered Plan Designer in Power Apps, enhanced capabilities in Power Automate, and new functionalities in the Power Platform Admin Center. These innovations aim to reduce manual effort, improve efficiency, and provide advanced governance and automation capabilities.

By the Numbers:

• 80%: Estimated reduction in development time with AI-powered Plan Designer.
• 50%: Increase in automation efficiency with Power Automate’s new features.

More details:

AI-Powered Plan Designer in Power Apps

The new Plan Designer in Power Apps leverages AI to transform business requirements into comprehensive Power Platform solutions. This tool allows users to input their business needs, and the AI engine identifies user roles, necessary data models, and automation workflows. For example, in an expense reporting solution, Plan Designer identifies roles such as employees and managers, outlines their activities, and generates the required data tables and user interfaces.

• User Roles: Automatically identifies and defines user roles based on business requirements.
• Data Models: Suggests tables and relationships, viewable in an ER diagram.
• User Experience: Combines Canvas apps, model-driven apps, and Power Automate flows to create a seamless user experience.

Enhanced Co-Pilot in Model-Driven Apps

Model-driven apps now feature an enhanced Co-Pilot, which is customizable with Microsoft Co-Pilot Studio. This AI assistant can answer questions, filter data, and perform searches using natural language. For instance, users can query the system for all employees hired in the last five years, and Co-Pilot will filter the data accordingly.

• Smart Search: Natural language processing for intuitive data queries.
• In-App Agents: Drag-and-drop functionality for document processing and data entry.

Power Automate Upgrades

Power Automate introduces several new features at Ignite 2024, including document processing with GPT-4, generative actions, and Co-Pilot for writing expressions. These enhancements allow users to automate complex workflows and extract data from unstructured documents using natural language.

• Document Processing: Uses GPT-4 to handle unstructured data like invoices and emails.
• Generative Actions: AI-powered steps for processing documents and other content.
• Expression Writing: Co-Pilot assists in writing complex Power Automate expressions.

Power Platform Admin Center

The Admin Center has been revamped to offer highly productive workspaces for managing environments, security, and licensing. It includes features like the Action Center, which recommends actions for maintaining tenant hygiene, and advanced governance capabilities for managing environments at scale.

• Action Center: Provides insights and actions for managing unused applications.
• Environment Management: Group environments and set rules across multiple managed environments.
• Security: Enhanced network security and access control options.

Licensing Updates

Managed environments now require only one premium license for standard assets, simplifying compliance and reducing costs. This change ensures that as long as one user has a premium license, managed environment features will work seamlessly.

• Premium License Requirement: One premium license suffices for standard assets in managed environments.

Overall, a great set of new features.

If you want to read more, I recommend Session BRK175 “Revolutionize the way you work with Power Automate and AI” with Joe Fernandez and Heather Orta-Olmo, Principal Product Managers in the Power Automate.