We’re excited to welcome over 6,000 of our closest Microsoft Power Platform friends to the third annual Power Platform Community Conference (PPCC) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas this week. The Power Platform Community Conference is all about you, the community, and we’re looking forward to spending the week together.
We’ve got an action-packed schedule lined up, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to dive deep into Microsoft Power Platform technical readiness and best practices. You’ll also gain hands-on experience with the technology and learn how to apply it in real-world scenarios. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting your journey with Microsoft Power Platform, this conference is designed to provide you with the knowledge and tools you need to succeed. But it’s not just about the sessions and workshops; it’s about the connections we make and the community we continue to build.
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The latest innovations in Microsoft Power Platform
In case you missed it this morning, Charles Lamanna delivered an inspiring keynote, highlighting the latest innovations and future directions for Microsoft Power Platform. His keynote was followed by Jeff Teper and Kim Manis, who brought us the latest and greatest news on Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Fabric. Here’s a quick overview of the key takeaways:
- Microsoft Power Automate AI recording for desktop flows—public preview: AI Recorder simplifies the creation of desktop flows by reducing errors associated with recording clicks and keystrokes. It offers a “show and tell” experience, making it easy for users of all skill levels to record desktop flows.
- Power Automate generative actions with inline cloud flows—EAP: This feature enables users to create and manage cloud flows directly within their workspace in Power Automate, enhancing productivity and streamlining workflows.
- Desktop flows from natural language—public preview: The ability for users to generate desktop flows in Power Automate using natural language is now in public preview, simplifying the automation process and making it more accessible.
- Two-action panes in the Power Automate designer—generally available: Gain a more flexible and efficient design experience in Power Automate designer by allowing users to work with multiple action panes simultaneously.
- Coauthoring in Microsoft Power Apps—generally available: Coauthoring enables multiple makers to work on different parts of a canvas app simultaneously, speeding up development and making collaboration seamless and efficient.
- Generate a plan with Copilot in Power Apps—limited preview: This will now help users generate detailed plans for their Power Apps projects, facilitating better planning and execution.
- GitHub Copilot in Power Pages—public preview: Professional developers using GitHub Copilot chat in Microsoft Visual Studio can now leverage a Microsoft Power Pages agent for page-specific coding assistance, blending pro-code with low-code and moving website development into the AI future.
- Copilot agents in Microsoft Copilot Studio—public preview: Copilot agents boost productivity by automating tasks and retrieving information quickly. Integrated with Microsoft 365 Copilot, they enhance workflows by connecting to your organization’s knowledge and data sources. Read more about our announcement on Copilot Agents in this blog, published on September 16, 2024.
- Agent builder—public preview: Agent builder is a new, lightweight Copilot Studio experience that makes it simple for users of any skill level to build Copilot agents directly within BizChat and SharePoint and publish them as Copilot extensions. Read more about our announcement.
- Enhanced Copilot Studio capabilities: The core platform now features GPT-4o as the default model, offering more precise answers than GPT-3.5 Turbo. Copilot Studio can handle larger knowledge sources (up to 512MB) and interpret images, diagrams, and tables in PDFs, enhancing its accuracy, efficiency, and versatility for modern businesses.
As mentioned, there are so many opportunities to connect with fellow Microsoft Power Platform enthusiasts so hold on to your hats! Here’s what you can look forward to:
- Keynote presentations: Ryan Cunningham will be hosting a thrilling panel discussion on security, research, and intelligent applications with Thomas Dohmke, Vasu Jakkal, and Jamie Teevan. They’ll be talking about the future of technology in the era of AI on Friday, September 20, 2024.
- Breakout sessions: With more than 100 breakout sessions, you’ll have the chance to dive deep into Microsoft Power Platform technical readiness and best practices.
- Hands-on workshops: Don’t hesitate to participate in one of the 20 full-day workshops to get hands-on experience with new Microsoft Power Platform technology and learn how to apply it in real-world scenarios.
- Ancillary activities: Enjoy 15 additional activities, including meetups, community activation events, and even talent shows.
- Show floor: Explore more than 60 partner booths and visit the Microsoft Booth to engage one-on-one with Microsoft experts, see product demos, collect unique event stickers and pins, and attend additional theater content in our dedicated theater space.
Continuous product innovation with Microsoft Copilot and AI
Finally, we want to extend a huge thank you to you, the Power Platform community, for your continued support and enthusiasm. Your feedback and engagement drive our innovation and success. The Power Platform community is a vibrant and diverse group of individuals who are passionate about driving change and making a difference. The impact of the developments contributed by this group extends beyond just our immediate projects, influencing broader industry trends and setting the stage for future advancements.
This week is a celebration of that spirit, and we’re excited to see the amazing things that will come out of this conference as the insights shared during this event are invaluable. So, let’s dive in, learn, share, and make this the best PPCC yet!
Looking ahead, don’t forget to register for Microsoft Ignite, taking place in November 18–22, 2024, for even more exciting innovations on the horizon for Microsoft Power Platform. You can also always stay connected throughout this week and post-conference by joining the Power Platform LinkedIn Community. This is the home of all ongoing product updates and insights, but also a place to share your experiences and connect with each other.
With more than 20 years of experience in product management, product marketing, and all aspects of go-to-market strategy and execution, Richard is a thought leader in low-code technology and has been instrumental in bringing generative AI to Microsoft’s low-code platform. As the leader of the product marketing team for Microsoft Power Platform, Rich’s product portfolio includes Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Pages, Copilot Studio, Dataverse, Power Fx, and more.
