Microsoft Power Platform Gets Agentic: AI That Runs Your Business Processes Automatically

What happened

Microsoft released its March 2026 Power Platform update this week, and the headline feature is what it calls "agentic apps": AI-powered systems that do not just follow fixed workflows but can reason, make decisions, and adapt their behaviour based on what they encounter.

This is a meaningful step beyond basic automation. Traditional Power Automate flows run through a fixed sequence of steps. Agentic apps use AI to evaluate multiple factors and choose the best course of action, then carry it out without waiting for a human to approve each step. Early examples include dynamic pricing adjustments, intelligent resource scheduling, and predictive maintenance planning.

The update also ships with significantly stronger governance controls. IT administrators now get a unified dashboard showing every cloud flow, Copilot Studio agent, and workflow running across all company environments. New tenant-level policies can enforce compliance rules automatically and flag potential security risks before they become problems. This addresses a real issue: as more employees build their own automations, things can quickly get out of hand without oversight.

The March release forms part of Microsoft's wider 2026 Wave 1 update, which also covers Dynamics 365, Copilot Studio, and Business Central.

What this means for your business

Power Platform is Microsoft's toolkit for building business apps without needing a development team. If your company already uses Microsoft 365, you almost certainly have access to it.

Agentic apps represent the next wave of business automation. Rather than mapping out exactly every step a process must follow, you describe the outcome you want and let the AI figure out how to achieve it. For tasks like chasing invoices, scheduling staff, or routing customer enquiries, this could meaningfully reduce the admin load without requiring custom software.

The governance improvements matter just as much. One of the biggest risks of giving non-technical staff access to automation tools is the loss of visibility over what is actually running. The new centralised controls give IT and operations teams a clear picture of what exists and whether it is behaving as expected.

If you are using Microsoft 365 and not yet exploring Power Platform, this update is worth a look. The tools are becoming capable enough that even small businesses can benefit without needing a developer on retainer.