Copilot in Power Platform- Moving to an AI-enriched No Code Development Model

Microsoft Power Platform is one of the most preferred suites for process automation, App and web page building, and designing intuitive chatbots. With a user base of around 33 million, as per the Microsoft Build 2023 event, Power Platform scores high on ease of usage, with a low code/no code development model. The recent integration of Copilot into Power Platform has democratized the platform’s use, allowing even citizen developers to generate the required output from a natural language prompt.

The actual utility of a technology platform lies in its ability to simplify things for end-users. Recent years have seen a tremendous shift in how software applications are used, slowly displacing the need for extensive coding and an in-depth necessity of technical skills.

Across various software technology platforms, the low code/no code model is becoming increasingly significant, focusing on enhanced end-user accessibility.

Copilot in Power Platform works on Large Language Models (LLM), Artificial Intelligence, and Natural Language Processing (NLP), enabling users to build solutions with just a prompt in their natural language.

Let’s look at how Copilot simplifies the usage of Power Platform across various constituent applications in the suite- PowerApps, Power Automate, Power BI, Power Pages, and Power Virtual Agents.

Copilot with Power Automate

Power Automate is one of the most preferred process automation platforms, with its low code/no code development model. Copilot in Power Automate enhances its capabilities with users just giving a prompt in their natural language and getting the desired output.

The automation process includes:

• Understanding the intent
• Setting up the necessary connections
• Applying flow parameters
• Generating a desired output

The AI Builder in Power Automate now includes Azure OpenAI services, enabling easy cloud flow creation with a low code/no code development model using a vast set of built-in templates. You also have the option to “Create Text with GPT,” which can be used for content creation in social media handles and in Microsoft Teams.

The Copilot in Power Automate enables the easy creation of flows that respond to customer queries, execute pre-defined actions, extract data, and respond to customer feedback. Such a technology dramatically simplifies the automation of business tasks, specifically with back-office processes done manually.

Copilot with PowerApps

PowerApps has had low code development models and Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities since 2021 by using Power Fx. Copilot in PowerApps takes it a step forward by using a user-defined sequence in a natural language to create custom Apps and the required back-end logic, apart from associated tables.

Users can:

• Query the App functionality.
• Generate visualizations with sample data.
• Get automatic recommendations to enhance the App functionality.
• Import data directly from Excel in App Studio and Copilot processes and store them in Dataverse.
• Embed ChatBot functionality in Apps using Power Virtual Agents, leveraging conversation boosters and easy Bot building capabilities.

Copilot with Power BI

Copilot in Power BI expands the scope of analytics by accessing Large Language Models (LLMs). Users can give prompts in their natural language and generate rich data visualizations. Copilot in Power BI can respond to user queries, create data narrations, and develop Data Analysis Expressions (DAX). It helps novice users and citizen developers quickly gather data insights from a wide range of data sources.

Copilot with Power Pages

Using Copilot in Power Pages empowers users to generate web pages rapidly with data integration capabilities. Copilot automatically generates the required CSS, web forms, and associated images, leveraging built-in templates. Users get the option to change the necessary web elements as per their specific requirements.

Copilot with Power Virtual Agents

Copilot in Power Virtual Agents simplifies the ChatBot development by working on user-defined prompts and generating the required output. Bots have capabilities of data interpretation and processing and the addition of conversational elements. Copilot for Power Virtual Agents will soon include extended capabilities such as document uploading, content moderation, and selection of appropriate tone by sentiment analysis.

Copilot for Power Platform is a game changer for organizations looking towards digital transformation, with significant savings in development costs and time, resource allocations, and end-user training.

The above features of Copilot in Power Platform enhance productivity, bring innovation, and democratize the platform’s use. To know more about how you can leverage Copilot’s capabilities in your business operations, do contact us, and we will be glad to help.