Microsoft is now making available in public preview the ability to use Power Apps (for Model-driven apps) directly in a call with M365 Copilot. So, what does that mean? This means that you can access views and forms from your business application in a conversation with M365 Copilot in the M365 Copilot client, but also via Copilot in, for example, Word and PowerPoint. It also means that you can avoid having to navigate back and forth between a conversation and an application to either retrieve or update information in the application.
So how does it work?
The feature uses the Power App’s MCP server to make this happen, so the Microsoft 365 Admin or others with enough access will need to configure a bit to get this in place, more on this further down.
In an M365 Copilot call, I can only mention the application, in my case “Photographer CRM Model app” and for example ask to see the last 5 Leads. This brings up a pre-filtered view from the application.
The view has the full functionality of a model-driven Power App. So, I can sort, filter, etc. on all columns. It is also possible to navigate directly to the application should they be needed. But I can instead only ask for an update if I need more information, less often need to visit the application.
I also have access to forms from the application. For example, I can ask to create a new lead. «Create a new lead»
It provides access to form to create a new lead from within the application. Same as with views, forms also work here as we know it from model-driven apps. And there is a button to go directly to the application if necessary.
You can also have forms pre-filled with information in the conversation, either by linking to a document or other information in the conversation. The data entry agent will try, based on information in the conversation, to pre-populate the fields.
How to set it up?
- This only applies to model-driven apps
- M365 Copilot license required
- Access is required to upload an application in Teams. Or let the administrator do the work
- Open the model-driven app to edit, go to Settings > Upcoming
- Under “Enable your app in Microsoft 365 Copilot”, click the “Download app package” button to download a ZIP file with the agent
- You can either upload this file for just you in Teams (if your admin has allowed this), or your admin can upload and publish to more people in Microsoft 365 Agent in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center
Conclusion
Many people are becoming more and more used to working conversation-based with tools such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, and then it is very useful to be able to use applications directly from the conversation. Instead of switching between multiple tabs and applications, I can access them all from one place. With Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot Cowork, I can, together with AI, access my email, calendar, documents, Teams, SharePoint, etc. If I can then access business applications also from the conversational interface, it simplifies everyday life.
More info
Manage model-driven app settings in the Power Apps app designer – Power Apps | Microsoft Learn