At this year’s European Power Platform Conference (EPPC25), the message from Microsoft was clear, Power Platform is evolving & the next phase is being shaped by intelligent agents & Copilot Studio. While the conference covered a broad range of use cases & updates, one theme underpinned nearly every session: Power Platform is no longer just a set of tools for building apps & workflows. It is becoming a foundation for intelligent, agent-led automation that goes beyond what most organisations have implemented so far, reflecting a shift in Microsoft’s platform strategy, from a focus on data-driven applications to one built around intelligence, orchestration & AI readiness.
Microsoft’s vision builds on the familiar foundations of Power Platform, expanding what’s possible with tools like Copilot Studio & agent-based intelligence.
Shift in Approach: From Low-Code to Agent-First
Microsoft forecasts more than a billion AI agents in use by 2028, signaling a broader trend that automation is becoming the default. For many organisations, this opens up opportunities to reduce friction in decision-making, streamline internal processes & respond more effectively to change.
But what does that look like in practice? At EPPC25, Microsoft presented a future where autonomous agents become core to how businesses interact with their data & systems, moving beyond user-driven workflows to AI-powered services that can reason, respond & act independently. These agents are embedded into familiar tools & environments, enabling tasks to be completed, insights surfaced & actions taken without constant human input. At the centre of this shift is Copilot Studio, the tool Microsoft is positioning to bring these agents to life.
Copilot Studio: Practical Tools for Building with AI
Copilot Studio emerged as one of the standout topics at EPPC25, positioned by Microsoft as the core environment for designing & managing intelligent agents within the Power Platform. It builds on existing capabilities & introduces new tools to help users create agents using natural language, prebuilt reusable components & integrations with Microsoft’s broader ecosystem, including Dataverse, Microsoft Graph & Azure AI.
Importantly, Copilot Studio supports a wide spectrum of users. From non-technical staff to professional developers, the tooling allows teams to work at different levels of complexity depending on their needs & skills. This is an extension of Microsoft’s ongoing effort to make AI more accessible, with immediate practical value for organisations exploring automation at scale.
Copilot Studio spans from no-code to pro-code, making agent creation accessible across all technical skill levels. For IT teams, the real advantage lies in how easily these agents can be connected to existing data sources & processes. Rather than building something from scratch, businesses can use Copilot Studio to enhance the systems they already rely on.
Agents range from basic retrieval tasks to fully autonomous orchestration, depending on the use case.
Copilot in Action: Early Gains in Power Automate
While Copilot Studio was a central focus at EPPC25, it was clear that Microsoft’s AI strategy is also reshaping how teams use familiar tools like Power Automate. One of the most immediate benefits for users is how Copilot can assist with building, understanding & optimising Power Automate flows.
In the updated Power Automate designer, a dedicated Copilot tab offers natural language assistance for common tasks, from generating expressions to suggesting actions & troubleshooting errors. These features don’t eliminate the need for hands-on experience, but they do help accelerate build time & lower the barrier for less technical users.
What stood out in the sessions, & in our own team’s experience was the value of Copilot in small, time-saving moments: explaining how a complex flow works, suggesting fixes when something breaks, or simply speeding up repetitive tasks like composing expressions. For teams managing large volumes of flows, these marginal gains can quickly add up.
Power Automate also now supports AI Builder actions, enabling flows to process content at runtime like summarising notes or extracting key details from a document. While still evolving, these features show how Microsoft is embedding AI across the platform, not just in flagship tools like Copilot Studio.
Preparing for What Comes Next
EPPC25 offered a valuable window into where Microsoft is heading with Power Platform. The move toward agent-led automation is enabling organisations to become more responsive, more efficient & more connected, without losing control or adding operational risk.
For organisations already using Microsoft 365, Power Platform or Dynamics 365, many of the building blocks for this shift are already in place. Copilot Studio doesn’t require a complete rethink of existing systems. Instead, it enables a more intelligent use of them, bringing AI into everyday interactions without adding unnecessary complexity.
This shift also makes Power Platform easier to align with enterprise architecture. Built on a connected Microsoft ecosystem, it supports more integrated solutions without the need for new infrastructure or complex workarounds. That means, fewer silos, better governance & faster delivery.
As these capabilities mature, now is a good time to start exploring where they could deliver the most value. If you’d like to explore what Copilot Studio & Power Platform agents could look like in your organisation, we’re here to help.
