Microsoft gives you three tools for automating your work: Copilot, Power Automate and SharePoint. Here is what each one does, how they work together, and which one to start with.
In the video I said to comment ENGINE. This is that guide. You can automate a workflow with Copilot, with Power Automate, or with both, and both of them work with SharePoint.
Tell Copilot: when a new sales inquiry arrives, qualify it, draft a response and log it. Copilot reads the inquiry, works out what the person needs and drafts a personal reply. Power Automate runs the steps around it: it starts the process, moves the data between your apps and logs the inquiry in a SharePoint list.
Every weekday at 9am, check my Outlook folder called [Sales inquiries] for emails that arrived since yesterday. For each one: 1. Read it and decide whether it's a qualified lead. A qualified lead mentions [your qualifying details, such as budget, timeline or the service they want]. 2. Save a draft reply in Outlook. Thank them by name, answer what they asked, and suggest [your next step, such as a 20-minute call]. 3. Add an item to my SharePoint list [list name] on the [site name] site with their name, email, company, what they asked for, and Qualified or Not qualified. Save replies as drafts only. Don't send anything.
When a new email arrives in my Outlook folder [Sales inquiries], use AI to decide whether it is a qualified lead based on [your qualifying details], draft a reply and save it as a draft in Outlook, then add an item to the SharePoint list [list name] on the [site name] site with the sender's name, email, the request, and whether it is qualified. Post a message to me in Teams for every qualified lead.
You don't have to build every workflow by hand anymore. Copilot can help you create, start and manage them. If you're new to automation, my AUTOPILOT guide shows how to pick the first task to hand over.
Power Automate is the automation engine and Copilot is the AI layer. Power Automate connects your apps and runs flows from a trigger and a set of actions. Copilot understands plain English, works with your information and can build flows for you, including inside Power Automate with Create with Copilot.
Yes. Sign in at make.powerautomate.com, select Create with Copilot on the Home page and describe the flow. Copilot suggests a trigger and actions and sets up the connections. Microsoft says prompts work best in a When X happens, do Y format, naming the apps, such as Outlook or Teams.
It's a Copilot agent that builds automations from a plain-English description. It works with Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Planner and Approvals, and can run on a schedule. It needs a Microsoft Copilot license and is in Microsoft's Frontier early-access program. It can't use apps outside Microsoft 365, and you can't share its workflows.
Not for basic flows. Work and school accounts get the Power Automate Free license, which covers cloud flows with standard connectors that you don't share. Premium connectors, custom connectors and desktop automation need a paid license such as Power Automate Premium.
Use Power Automate when a workflow needs apps outside Microsoft 365, several conditions, approvals with more than one step, error handling, or has to run reliably without anyone prompting it. Start with Copilot for simple automations, then move the workflow to Power Automate when it outgrows it.
A prompt that looks at your workflow and tells you whether the Copilot Workflows agent can handle it or it needs Power Automate, plus a short test list to run before any flow runs on its own.
I want to automate this workflow: [describe it: what starts it, what happens step by step, which apps and files it touches, and who needs to approve anything] Help me decide whether to build it with the Workflows agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot or in Power Automate. Use these rules: - The Workflows agent works only with Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Planner, Approvals and Copilot. It can't use apps outside Microsoft 365, and its workflows can't be shared. - Power Automate is the better fit if the workflow needs apps outside Microsoft 365, several conditions or branches, approvals with more than one step, handling for errors, or has to be shared with my team. Tell me which tool to use and why in two sentences. Then rewrite my workflow as one plain-English instruction in the format "When [trigger], do [actions]", naming each app, folder, list or channel. Ask me about anything I left out, one question at a time, before you write it.
Run these checks on every new flow:
1. Run it once with a test email or test file, and read every output it made.
2. Check it picked the right SharePoint site, list and Teams channel. Copilot can pick the wrong one when names are similar.
3. Keep anything that goes to a client as a draft until it's been right three times in a row.
4. In Power Automate, open the flow's run history after the first week and look for failed runs. Copilot in the designer can help you troubleshoot a failed run.
If the flow lives in Power Automate, open it in the designer and ask Copilot What does my flow do? It's a fast way to check it does what you described.
Prompts, step-by-step guides and checklists you can put to work today.