Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technology have started a new era of transformation in the business world. The recently launched Microsoft 365 Copilot aims to provide organizations with a way to leverage AI in everyday business processes and workflows. Combining Microsoft Power Platform and Copilot capabilities allows your company to operate more efficiently. Company users save time by building applications capable of eliminating manual workflows, while customers benefit from enhanced customer experiences.
What is Microsoft Power Platform?
The Microsoft Power Platform helps companies harness the power of technology by providing a suite of low and no-code tools. Users can build custom applications, set up automated business processes, conduct data analysis, and create chatbots without extensive coding knowledge. Below is an overview of the main components of the Power Platform.
- Power Apps — Provides a drag-and-drop interface that simplifies building web and mobile applications. Users can access various templates and other tools, making it easier for business users to create applications designed to fit a specific need.
- Power Automate — Previously called Microsoft Flow, the Power Automate workflow tool lets users build automated workflows within different applications and systems. You can trigger specific actions based on certain conditions or events.
- Power BI — Microsoft’s business intelligence and data visualization tool lets you connect to multiple data sources. In addition to modeling and transforming data, you can set up interactive dashboards and reports to fit different use cases. Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and use the insights gained to make decisions backed by data.
- Power Virtual Agents — Virtual agents allow you to create and deploy chatbots without generating a single line of code. The no-code interface provides guidance on how to set up chatbot conversations, integrate with other systems, and offer users automated support and assistance.
Enhancing the above modules with Microsoft Copilot lets business users use the platform’s natural language processing (NLP) capabilities. Your applications adapt to new knowledge and learning the more they’re used.
How Can Microsoft 365 Copilot and Power Platform Work Together?
Power Platform has already helped reinvent the concept of software development. Business users with the most knowledge about core business processes can now create innovative solutions without a programming background.
Copilot accelerates the way users develop applications through the introduction of AI. You can describe your ideal Power Platform application in everyday language, then let Copilot assist in the setup, speeding up development. Copilot works seamlessly with every Power Platform module to build more innovative solutions. You can also use its assistance to improve current applications.
You can make data central to your applications with Microsoft Power Platform and Copilot. The accessibility of Power Platform also helps IT departments help their organizations innovate. Copilot also makes monitoring and managing data solutions easier through Power Platform’s built-in governance and administration tools.
Use Cases for Power Platform and Copilot
Below are examples of how your business can use Power Platform and Copilot to enhance business processes.
1. Build Professional Websites
You can generate the CSS and HTML needed for your web page using Copilot natural language prompts. Power Apps can also help you add contextual images and information to other website sections. In addition, users can generate relevant content like paragraphs or forms.
The addition of Copilot streamlines your ability to develop web pages with Power Apps. Its large language model can generate the code and text-based content needed to build professional-looking business websites.
2. Process Invoices
Invoice processing is something familiar to most companies. It usually involves a lot of manual data entry. From there, invoices typically must go through an approval workflow, often involving multiple Excel spreadsheets. Tracking all of this can quickly become tedious.
Copilot helps by generating a preview of the workflow you wish to build with Power Automate. You can set up the basic workflows using Copilot’s natural language prompts. After Copilot generates the preview flow, you can make any changes needed. You can also scope the flow of invoice attachments, set up approval steps, and automatically update Excel files.
3. Enhance Chat Experiences
Power Virtual Agents lets you develop chatbots dedicated to handling customer requests. Copilot makes your chatbots even more interactive by providing relevant answers based on the data sources it accesses. The bots can automatically search the web and give a summary from their knowledge base.
The addition of Copilot makes chatbots capable of handling conversations that go in multiple directions and still provide contextual responses. Future enhancements to Microsoft Power Platform and Copilot include uploading documents, automatically selecting an appropriate response tone, and content moderation controls.
4. Analyze Documents
The Power Platform already comes with a native AI tool called AI Builder. It provides form processing capabilities you can leverage to extract information from documents. The combination of AI Builder and Copilot expands the functionality by allowing you to pull approval justifications for invoice processing.
The information can be inserted into an email and sent through Outlook to obtain the necessary approval. That same AI flow can streamline approval workflows by entering data into Excel spreadsheets.
5. Develop Automated Workflows
You can speed up application development when you integrate Copilot with Power Apps. For example, users can upload Excel files into Power App Studio. From there, Copilot can process information before transferring it to a Dataverse environment.
Users can set up a centralized and scalable space for managing invoice data. Copilot reviews the information and determines the correct headers and data types. You end up with a fully functional application users can use for browsing, searching, and creating new records.
Enhance Business Processes Using the Power of AI
AI has moved from the realm of science fiction to business. You can take advantage of its benefits by integrating the technology into current Microsoft solutions like Power Platform and Dynamics 365. Internet eBusiness Solutions (IES) helps organizations figure out how to make AI and other cutting-edge technology work for their company. Learn more by contacting one of our specialists.
