Category: Power Platform

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2.

The 3rd of the new functionality in the Desktop flows section is use Copilot to analyze cloud flow runs.

Copilot in automation center provides a multi-skill experience enabling users to ask questions about cloud flow and desktop flow activity, work queues, and even features of Power Automate. With Copilot, unlock a deeper understanding of cloud flow trends, statuses, and performance by simply asking questions in natural language.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview:  May 21, 2024
General Availability: Dec 2024

Feature Details

The automation center is available in the Power Automate portal and offers a comprehensive automation monitoring experience infused with the power of AI.

Copilot can answer cloud flow run history questions like:

• How many runs last month were triggered by another cloud flow?
• Who initiated flow runs during the last month?
• How many flows failed yesterday?

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2.

The 2nd of the new functionality in the Desktop flows section is monitor, manage your automations and related assets.

The automation center provides comprehensive automation monitoring experiences across Power Automate flows, infused with the power of AI and Copilot. It provides in-depth monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities for both experienced makers and citizen developers, as well as members of the Center of Excellence.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview:  May 21, 2024
General Availability: Dec 2024

Feature Details

With top-level automation monitoring, you can gain an end-to-end view of your automation status. The dedicated work queue monitoring area allows you to closely track SLA attainment, average processing time, and work queue throughput.

The automation center includes a multi-skilled copilot enabling users to ask questions about cloud flow and desktop flow activity, work queues, and features of Power Automate.

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2.

The 1st of the new functionality in the Desktop flows section is use CyberArk credentials in desktop flow connections.

You can now use credentials stored in CyberArk Central Credential Provider when connecting to Windows sessions on desktop flow machines.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: Jun 2024
General Availability: Oct 2024

Feature Details

Users can leverage credentials stored in Cyberark Central Credential Provider to connect to Windows sessions on desktop flow machines. Credentials are not stored in Power Automate but retrieved during runtime. This feature supports rotating passwords without the need to update the connection.

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2.

The 2nd of the new functionality in the Copilot for Power Automate section is generate flow description using AI.

You can now create a flow description by the press of a button without having to open the flow and read the actions inside it.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: –
General Availability: Dec 2024

Feature Details

To do so from Power Automate for desktop, open the console, navigate to the My flows tab, and locate the flow that you want to create a description. Then, go to flow properties and under the general flow properties tab, press the Let Copilot create description button. Copilot will then analyze your flow and generate the flow description.

You can also generate a flow description from the portal. To do so, locate the desktop flow that you want to create the description for and press on the details item from the flow menu. Then, press on the edit button in the details section of the flow and finally select the Let Copilot create description button.

Geographic areas

This feature will be released into the following Microsoft Azure geographic area:

• United States

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2.

The 1st of the new functionality in the Copilot for Power Automate section is use Copilot to analyze automation activity.

Improve your monitoring story by simply asking the copilot in natural language about past flow runs, machines and other related data. This feature will provide advanced operational visibility, without the need to build and deploy custom reports with a predefined set of queries and reports. The copilot may derive insights you wouldn’t have uncovered otherwise.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview:  Nov 6, 2023
General Availability: Dec 2024

Feature Details

Administrators, CoE teams, business users and makers with access to flow run histories can query past runs in natural language across their environment. They can ask, for example, how many flows ran yesterday, on which machines or groups, what did the success rate look like, and how do they compare to last month. Ask questions about recent runs, their durations, volumes, failures, failure frequency, machines, machine groups, parent flows and much more

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2.

The 3rd of the new functionality in the Cloud flows section is be more productive with Power Automate and Excel desktop.

The new Automate work button in Excel Online makes it easier than ever to automate tasks and run processes from Excel running on Windows desktop and Mac devices. This allows users to automate repetitive tasks, reduce errors, and boost productivity with just a few clicks, all without leaving Excel, which makes it easy to respond to customers’ needs and improves satisfaction.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: –
General Availability: Dec 2024

Feature Details

This feature provides access to prebuilt templates and allows users to build workflows quickly and easily using a native automation capability in Excel desktop on Windows and Mac. An example of the template includes “Monitor incoming emails to an alias in an Excel worksheet” that businesses can use to keep track of customer feedback in Excel.

This capability supersedes the Automate a Task capability by introducing an integrated experience in Excel. These capabilities are different from the flow add-in.

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2.

The 2nd of the new functionality in the Cloud flows section is run a cloud flow for more than 30 days per invocation.

This feature enables you to have longer running automations that execute longer than 30 days with simplified design time experience.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: Oct 2024
General Availability: –

Feature Details

Previously, you had to rely on dividing your automation business logic across multiple cloud flows (each of which would finish within 30 days) to span an end-to-end execution of more than 30 days. This feature simplifies the design and testing experience.

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2.

The 1st of the new functionality in the Cloud flows section is create Power Automate flows in Excel.

Makers can quickly create useful flows from the Automate tab in Excel. Excel is one of the most popular data tools in the world, with hundreds of millions of people using it for work and personal purposes across various industries. It has advanced features for teamwork, simplicity, flexibility, and automation. Power Automate simplifies the automation of tasks and processes from Excel.

Enabled for: Users, automatically
Public Preview: –
General Availability: Dec 2024

Feature Details

This feature improves the Automate work button by adding ready-made templates to the ribbon that give access to prebuilt templates and let users make workflows easily and quickly. This feature helps users start quickly in Excel. The prebuilt templates allow users to make workflows by entering information into the parameters. Makers can also view and manage their flows from Excel.

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2024 Wave 2.

The 1st of the new functionality in the AI flows section is use generative AI to achieve a process in AI flows.

Instead of building out complex rules-based processes from beginning to end, you work with AI to create an automation plan. When you execute the plan, the large language model (LLM) considers all the resources available to it and dynamically selects the most appropriate actions to achieve the desired outcome.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: Aug 2024
General Availability: Feb 2025

Feature Details

AI flows use generative AI reason over unstructured content and determine what steps and sequence are needed to achieve a process outcome based on instructions and parameters provided by you in natural language.

Building an AI flow is a fundamentally different user experience than building a rules-based cloud flow or desktop flow. It involves the following steps:

• Describe the objective of your process in natural language, and let AI develop an automation plan to achieve it.
• Refine the automation plan generated by the LLM and adjust inputs, outputs, and variables as needed. Add reference sources and guidelines in natural language that influence the LLM as it executes the flow.
• Validate the flow by reviewing how the AI flow is achieving the business objective prior to moving the flow into production.
• Review production run history, analytics, and individual flow run details to ensure your process is performing to expectations.

The ability of AI flows to easily incorporate both structured and unstructured data makes it flexible as information resources are updated. Its reasoning abilities make AI flows uniquely beneficial in the building and maintenance of complex process flows to handle conditions, exception management, and process loops.