finelybook
Workflow Automation with Microsoft Power Automate: Design and scale AI-powered cloud and desktop workflows using low-code automation
Author(s): Aaron Guilmette (Author)
- Publisher finelybook 出版社: Packt Publishing
- Publication Date 出版日期: December 5, 2025
- Edition 版本: 3rd ed.
- Language 语言: English
- Print length 页数: 544 pages
- ISBN-10: 1836649630
- ISBN-13: 9781836649632
Book Description
Build intelligent automations with AI, RPA, and Microsoft 365 to streamline work and reduce manual tasks
Free with your book: DRM-free PDF version + access to Packt's next-gen Reader*
Key Features
- Build flows faster using Copilot, AI Builder, and Gen AI tools
- Learn to create robust cloud and desktop automations through real-world examples
- Implement best practices for security, governance, and monitoring
Book Description
Whether you're automating a daily task or implementing automation at scale, this third edition gives you everything you need to succeed. This practical guide makes automation accessible, helping you streamline operations using low-code cloud flows, desktop RPA, and AI tools built into Microsoft Power Automate.
You’ll begin by building foundational skills through easy-to-follow tutorials that show how to automate actions across Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Slack, and more. From there, you'll level up to integrating approvals, databases, and Forms, handle complex scenarios such as sequential and parallel approvals, and manage shared flows.
The book explores Power Automate’s robotic process automation capabilities, teaching you how to automate legacy applications, web interfaces, and Access databases. With expanded coverage of AI Builder, sentiment analysis, Copilot, and document summarization using generative AI, you'll gain hands-on experience creating intelligent, responsive workflows that drive efficiency.
Written by a Microsoft 365 expert, this third edition adds 8 new chapters along with guidance on governance, compliance, and enterprise deployment, making it a complete guide for anyone looking to get started or scale automation with Power Automate.
*Email sign-up and proof of purchase required
What you will learn
- Build cloud flows using triggers, connectors, and actions
- Use Copilot and generative AI to create and edit flows
- Automate desktop tasks with Power Automate for Desktop
- Create approval processes for Teams, Slack, and email
- Connect Power Automate to Dataverse, Forms, and SQL
- Implement error handling, monitoring, and troubleshooting
- Govern and scale automations using best practices
Who this book is for
This book is ideal for information workers, citizen developers, and Power users looking to automate workflows across Microsoft 365, Teams, Outlook, and third-party platforms. Basic familiarity with Microsoft 365 is recommended.
Table of Contents
- Introducing Microsoft Power Automate
- Getting Started with Power Automate
- Working with Email
- Copying Files
- Creating Button Flows
- Generating Push Notifications
- Working with Shared Flows
- Working with Conditions
- Understanding Expressions and Functions
- Getting Started with Approvals
- Working with Multiple Approvals
- Posting Approvals to Teams
- Using Databases
- Working with Microsoft Forms
- Posting to Slack
- Accepting User Input
- Automating Entra ID
- Introducing Robotic Process Automation
- Contributing to an Access Database with RPA
- Automating Webpages with RPA
- Introducing AI Models and Generative AI
- Creating a Sentiment Analysis Flow
- Using Copilot to Create and Manage Flows
- Using Generative AI to Summarize Documents
- Exporting, Importing, and Distributing Flows
- Monitoring and Troubleshooting Flows
- Governance in the Power Platform
Editorial Reviews
Review
“If you’ve ever felt bogged down by repetitive tasks - copying files, sending emails, managing approvals, or updating databases, this book is for you. What I love is the balance of simplicity and depth. It’s perfect for non-technical users who want to streamline work, yet it doesn’t shy away from advanced scenarios like multi-stage approvals, database integration, RPA, and AI-powered flows. By the time you’re halfway through, you’ll start spotting automation opportunities everywhere. The book doesn’t just teach features; it helps you think like a workflow designer.”
Steve Miles, Microsoft MVP
About the Author
Aaron Guilmette is a Principal Architect at Planet Technologies, an award-winning Microsoft Partner focused on the Public Sector. As an author of over a dozen IT books, he specializes in identity, messaging, and automation technologies. Previous to Planet Technologies, Aaron was a Senior Program Manager for Microsoft focusing on Microsoft 365 Customer Experience. When he's not writing books or tools for his customers, Aaron can be found tinkering on cars.
