Power Automate and AI: Transforming Workflows

Nothing worse than wading through a pile of repetitive work at the speed of a slug. It’s a real efficiency killer, one that ties up valuable team time and distracts from strategy and growth. There are ways around it, though, and Microsoft Power Automate is one of the standout applications for automating repetitive tasks.

If you’re familiar with the Microsoft 365 stack you’ve no doubt heard of it, as it’s been helping businesses speed up their workflows for a few years now. What’s particularly impressive recently, and what we want to look at closely today, is how it integrates AI to make its automation capabilities even smarter.

Want to modernise the way your business works? Power Automate is a tool you don’t want to overlook. Let’s learn all about it.

What is Power Automate?

Power Automate is a program that automates and optimises business processes. It works across Microsoft 365 and countless other apps, websites and systems, allowing you to use AI and digital and robotic process automation to automate processes.

Power Automate is a low-code, drag-and-drop solution that’s relatively easy to implement. It can take care of simple workflows (like moving email attachments to OneDrive), right through to complex multi-stage approval processes.

There are two main modes:

• Cloud flows: automate online apps and services.
• Desktop flows: works on your local Windows machine, with repetitive tasks performed on your desktop.

With its built-in security, governance, and 360-degree monitoring, Power Automate is a flexible tool for businesses of any size. Want to know what really brings it to life though? Its AI capabilities.

AI in Power Automate

AI Builder

AI Builder is a turnkey solution directly integrated into Power Automate, allowing you to build AI models into your workflows by simply pointing and clicking.

AI brings machine learning into Power Automate without requiring you to be a data scientist. It provides pre-built models you can apply straight into workflows. Alternatively, you can create a custom model that does exactly what you need it to do.

Some examples of what AI Builder can do in Power Automate:

• Extract data: Pull key information from documents like invoices. This can then be added into accounting systems via automation.
• Analyse text: Text can be extracted from images or scanned documents, then converted into editable written content.
• Analyse sentiment: Analyse customer feedback or responses to determine if its positive or negative. The appropriate responses can then be automated.
• Inventory management: Analyse demand patterns to automatically trigger restock orders.

Copilot

Microsoft Copilot’s integration into Power Automate is the ultimate accelerator towards automation in your workflow. Instead of manually piecing together every part of your workflow, you simply explain to Copilot in natural language what you require. It will put forward possible solutions for you to create and integrate.

It stays with you throughout the entire process, guiding you and answering your questions until your automation flow is complete.

If you’re not technical but still need to build useful and sophisticated automations, using Copilot in Power Automate will help make it happen.

Generative Actions

This is a concept that’s in preview mode, but we’re excited to see how it goes. Microsoft explains it as:

“Generative actions are a new type of action that is authored, tested, and executed through an AI runtime. You specify only the intent of the action, and the AI chooses the right set of actions in the right order based on your input, context, and intent.”

Basically, they allow your workflow to adapt in real time, depending on the content it receives. It interprets intent (even within unstructured content formats like documents and PDFs) and then dynamically decides on the next steps to take. Incredible stuff!

How AI in Power Automate Transforms Workflows

Let’s look at some different ways Power Automate can positively affect your business workflows.

Smarter Data Handling

Think about how much time your business spends processing documents. With AI Builder, you can scan an invoice, extract key figures, check for accuracy, and upload the data into your finance system automatically. No more manual entry, no more risk of errors.

Emails too – AI can read the email, evaluate what it’s about and trigger a workflow based on its content. Customer complaints are dealt with faster; tickets go to the right department. Everything becomes consistent and efficient.

Productivity for Every Role

Power Automate can be used in businesses of all sizes and across all industries. Different roles within those businesses will benefit in different ways. For example:

• With Copilot, developers can generate expressions or entire flows, bringing speed to their own workflow.
• Analysts can use AI-driven insights to highlight patterns, see what’s working and what isn’t and identify bottlenecks.
• Managers get in-depth snapshots of workflow performance. This enhances their decision-making.
• Employees can set up simple flows themselves without having to wait for the IT pros to do it.

Power Automate puts deep technical abilities into the hands of every single employee. Thats what makes it so effective!

Real World Examples of AI in Action

Microsoft has some powerful customer statistics on their website that are worth highlighting here:

• Construction and mining equipment giant Komatsu Australia developed a solution in three weeks that allowed them to save 300 manual labour hours annually for a single supplier.
• Uber has reported that they save 3,400 hours per year with Power Automate, a cost saving of USD$30-million.
• Insurance brokers AON removed 20,000 redundant processes with Power Automate, amounting to an 8% cost savings.

Getting Started with AI in Power Automate

If you’re considering how AI might reshape your business processes, start by taking small steps with it. Experiment a bit – pick a workflow you know is driving your team nuts and sucking up a lot of time. Perhaps it’s customer feedback processing. Use AI builder in Power Automate to develop a workflow that automates how you handle the feedback.

If that works well, expand gradually into other systems. As more workflows get linked together and the intelligence and efficiency spread, the value compounds.

With AI on your side, adoption of automation isn’t the steep curve it once was. If you have any questions, you can always get in touch with the Smile IT team.

Get in Touch with Smile IT

If you’re looking to save time and work smarter within your business, you need to give Power Automate a look. This is a tool that can analyse, interpret and act with intelligence thanks to the power of AI.

For managers and business owners, the question isn’t whether Power Automate can fit into your operations. The question is how quickly you can start putting it to work. Get in touch with Smile IT and let’s get you started.