Next generation of Microsoft Power Apps development will embrace AI-generated code, de-emphasize traditional tools

Microsoft has made its new Agent-driven coding capabilities for Power Apps available in public preview in North America, with other regions planned.

This approach, known as generative pages, marks a “new chapter” in how Microsoft envisions organizations developing new Power Apps according to Microsoft CVP Ryan Cunningham in a new blog post. With this approach, agents will write code to generate the app, allowing customers to do away with the type of user friendly but abstracted low-code tools that Power Apps have traditionally been known for.

Cunningham wrote: 

Traditional low-code tools (including the Power Apps canvas) relied on complex abstraction layers to enable drag-and-drop configuration of pre-built components. While this unlocked productivity for those who preferred not to write code, it also came with limitations on what could be customized.

By generating pages directly in code, we unlock far greater potential for creativity and customization. By bringing this capability to the mature, enterprise-grade Power Apps platform—trusted by millions for mission-critical business apps—we’re making it practical for organizations to adopt at scale.

Generative pages will still rely on many of the same creative elements involved in creating Power Apps such as defining Dataverse tables, creating wireframes, and setting up other details of the desired app. But the results are rendered by agents. 

The generated page can still be reviewed, customized, and refined, Cunningham explained, and apps will “remain portable, extensible, and future-proof”.

Drag-and-drop and writing code will remain options, he added. And developers still get full access to the underlying React and TypeScript code. 

Microsoft discussed its agent-driven development capabilities for low-code scenarios at Ignite 2024, including the use of Copilot Studio to replace some duties of Power Apps and Power Automate. And Plan designer for Power Platform, a feature that had only been revealed in September 2024 for early access, has already reached GA. Plan designer was one of the most notable reveals at Power Platform Community Conference 2024 as a new generative AI interface for describing, refining, and building the solution architecture of a new Power Platform solution. 

Generative pages represent Microsoft’s focus on enterprise-ready low code development, Cunningham stressed, and from security and governance to open coding standards to the user interface elements that app builders expect. He also noted Dataverse as the “battle-tested platform” that customers should be building their Power Apps atop. “You can connect to your data instantly and simply choose the tables you need—no complex data modeling required,” he wrote.

Another key detail for agent-driven activities in Power Apps will be the pricing model. Microsoft has already started setting the expectation that agent-driven work will not come for free in its business applications. Copilot Studio, for example, uses a message-based pricing structure, with various tasks consuming different quantities of messages. For ongoing agent-driven activities in the context of business processes, like an agent for an ERP-expanding capability, these costs will have to be managed based on volume. Whether these cost factors come into play for vibe coding Power Apps makers is still unclear.

Microsoft has already seen customers in various industries and use cases use this technology, Cunningham wrote. Examples include time tracking in a manufacturing scenario, modernizing an investment simulator at a financial services firm, and equipment tracking for a retail chain.