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Oliver Buchannon
Jukka Niiranen

The Original Power Platform Advisor.

I see dead features, part 2: Dataflows

Apr 16, 2026

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10 min read

I see dead features, part 2: Dataflows

Power Platform Dataflows were never deprecated, but they were never really finished either. As Fabric moves on, they are getting left behind.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

AI still can't figure out PowerPoint

Apr 9, 2026

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24 min read

AI still can't figure out PowerPoint

Copilot can generate some slides for you. Yet it cannot both A) make a pretty deck and B) use the PowerPoint application features us humans need for managing the slides.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

The Claw of unintended consequences

Apr 2, 2026

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11 min read

The Claw of unintended consequences

BYOC - "Bring Your OpenClaw". That is the approach Microsoft is now applauding with one hand, while trying to embrace security with the other.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen
Release plans, the way they should be

Mar 27, 2026

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10 min read

Release plans, the way they should be

Introducing Release Plans Browser - a modern web experience to search and view Dynamics 365 and Power Platform release plan items.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

The licensing spaghetti on Microsoft's wall

Mar 20, 2026

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15 min read

The licensing spaghetti on Microsoft's wall

Who says software licensing needs to be all serious business? What MS has been doing in 2026 so far certainly doesn't seem to be the work of serious people...

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

Power Platform: disconnecting workflows

Mar 12, 2026

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16 min read

Power Platform: disconnecting workflows

What Microsoft doesn't want you to know about common reasons behind broken connections in cloud flows, especially in the M365 Copilot Workflows agent.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen
A decade of Dynamics 365

Mar 6, 2026

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21 min read

A decade of Dynamics 365

What happened with Microsoft's CRM offering between 2016 and 2026? More than you probably remember. And some things you've forgotten for a good reason.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

Clawpilot: no UI for AI

Feb 27, 2026

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16 min read

Clawpilot: no UI for AI

What if we didn't have to open Copilot and just hope we prompted it the right way? The rise of OpenClaw has shifted expectations on what AI agents can do when given the (scary) permissions.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

The UX for automation still sux

Feb 20, 2026

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23 min read

The UX for automation still sux

Microsoft seems incapable of improving Power Automate maker productivity. As cloud flows are now divorced from Azure Logic Apps, all hope lies in community tools to provide a workable UI as well as AI development support.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

Microsoft AI numbers: the good, the bad & the ugly

Feb 13, 2026

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20 min read

Microsoft AI numbers: the good, the bad & the ugly

What Microsoft says & doesn't say about its Copilot and Foundry business metrics, combined with independent research results and AI competitor numbers.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen
The kill switch in Microsoft Planner

Feb 6, 2026

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16 min read

The kill switch in Microsoft Planner

How one small change in the Plan table settings in a product update messed up everything.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

Computers over clouds

Jan 30, 2026

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16 min read

Computers over clouds

The convenience of cloud services has isolated us from servers and software. One empowering way to leverage AI is learning how to get back in touch with the real computers.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

The new bottleneck is apps

Jan 23, 2026

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17 min read

The new bottleneck is apps

Instead of starting from a M365-like suite and adding AI, Anthropic pursued a "no apps" model and caught everyone's attention with Claude Code. Maybe all you need is text files?

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

Post-Ignite agentic hangover

Jan 16, 2026

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16 min read

Post-Ignite agentic hangover

After the big November 2025 launch at Ignite, Agent 365 has gone back undercover. Do the partner solutions exist in the real world at all? Is this a product or a "product"?

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen
The year of Microslop, 2026

Jan 9, 2026

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24 min read

The year of Microslop, 2026

Microsoft has a set of challenges ahead in 2026 to undo the damage to its brand and reputation that has accumulated in the past couple of years.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

Impostor without a syndrome

Dec 29, 2025

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14 min read

Impostor without a syndrome

Most of us have occasional concerns about being good enough at what we do. Here's how I've found joy in being a straight-up impostor in software built with custom code.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen
Can Plan Designer create real Power Platform solutions?

Dec 19, 2025

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24 min read

Can Plan Designer create real Power Platform solutions?

What you can expect to get from the AI tools inside Power Apps maker portal when asking them to support your business process with apps, automations and agents.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen
XrmToolBox Plugin Catalog is here!

Dec 11, 2025

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10 min read

XrmToolBox Plugin Catalog is here!

When's the last time you explored the new and updated community tools for Power Platform and Dynamics 365? Here's a website to make that easier.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

A year of Perspectives

Dec 5, 2025

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13 min read

A year of Perspectives

Writing a weekly newsletter for one year has been a journey indeed. One thousand hours later, what have I learned about the tech world that I cover — and myself?

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

Headless business apps and generative UI

Nov 28, 2025

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16 min read

Headless business apps and generative UI

Text-based chat won't be the only interface for AI. Combining the "GenUI" ability of LLMs with structured data from existing apps via MCP could become a winning formula.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen
Agent 365 makes sense & is not enough

Nov 21, 2025

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15 min read

Agent 365 makes sense & is not enough

Microsoft is doubling down on its key strengths in the enterprise with the "control plane for AI agents". This is a better commercial story than M365 Copilot, yet it alone won't make agentic AI secure.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

Trying to live with code

Nov 14, 2025

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17 min read

Trying to live with code

With helpful AI assistants everywhere, we are running out of excuses to not write code. Here are my experiences on what removing this boundary means and what we should think about before letting AI write code for us.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

App Builder: apps without the Power

Nov 7, 2025

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18 min read

App Builder: apps without the Power

Power Apps promised a "no cliffs" experience for business apps development. Copilot agents promise to generate code with AI and... then what? How do we take it further?

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen
You can always Export to Excel

Oct 30, 2025

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14 min read

You can always Export to Excel

Are you concerned that users could grab data from your business app into a spreadsheet? Here's why you can't just flip a switch and disable that in Dynamics 365 or Power Apps.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen

Plus

2035: The Year of AI Agents

Oct 23, 2025

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24 min read

2035: The Year of AI Agents

Remember how we were all supposed to have a team of agents working for us by now? "A decade of agents" is a more realistic take than 2025 claimed by Microsoft et al.

Jukka Niiranen
Jukka Niiranen
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Perspectives on Power Platform

Brutally honest and cheerfully sarcastic insights on Microsoft’s low-code and AI technology, business apps, and the business of software - written by Jukka Niiranen.

© 2026 Niiranen Advisory Oy..
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