Microsoft Power Automate (AI Builder) Review for UK Businesses

Microsoft Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow) is a key component of the Microsoft Power Platform, designed to help UK businesses automate workflows and processes across various applications and services. With the integration of **AI Builder**, Power Automate allows users to infuse Artificial Intelligence into these automations without requiring deep data science expertise, making it a powerful tool for digital transformation in UK organisations.

Key AI Features with AI Builder & RPA

Power Automate leverages AI Builder and its RPA capabilities to deliver intelligent automation:

1. AI Builder for Pre-built & Custom AI Models

AI Builder provides UK users with a low-code way to add AI capabilities to their Power Automate flows. It offers pre-built AI models for common scenarios and allows users to train custom models with their own data.

• Form Processing: Extract data from documents like invoices, receipts, and forms relevant to UK businesses.
• Object Detection: Identify and count objects in images.
• Text Classification & Entity Extraction: Categorise text (e.g., customer feedback) and extract key information (e.g., names, locations relevant to the UK).
• Prediction Models: Build models to predict binary outcomes (e.g., yes/no) based on historical data.

2. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for UI Automation

Power Automate includes RPA capabilities (Power Automate Desktop) that enable UK businesses to automate tasks on legacy systems or applications that don't have APIs. Bots can mimic human actions on user interfaces.

• Automate tasks on desktop applications and web browsers.
• Record UI interactions to create automation scripts.
• Supports both attended (human-triggered) and unattended (scheduled/triggered) bots.

3. Workflow Automation with Intelligent Triggers & Actions

Users can create "flows" that automate sequences of tasks based on triggers from hundreds of connectors (including Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Azure, and many third-party services popular in the UK). AI can enhance these by enabling more intelligent decision-making within flows.

• Automate approvals, data synchronisation, notifications, and more.
• Use AI Builder models as steps within a flow to process data intelligently.
• Conditional logic and branching based on AI model outputs.

4. Process Advisor (Process Mining)

Similar to other process discovery tools, Process Advisor in Power Automate helps UK businesses understand their existing processes, identify bottlenecks, and discover opportunities for automation by analysing task recordings and system logs.

• Visualise business processes and identify inefficiencies.
• Provides data-driven recommendations for automation.

Ease of Use & Implementation

Power Automate aims to be accessible for both citizen developers and pro developers in UK organisations. The cloud-based flow designer is relatively user-friendly for creating API-based automations. Power Automate Desktop for RPA has a visual recorder and designer. AI Builder provides a guided experience for using AI models. However, building complex RPA bots or custom AI models still requires a good understanding of the processes and data involved. Integration with the Microsoft ecosystem is a key strength.

Pricing & Plans (UK Focus)

Microsoft Power Automate offers various licensing options, including per-user plans, per-flow plans, and AI Builder capacity add-ons. GBP pricing is available for UK customers.

• Per-User Plan: (e.g., ~£10-£12 GBP/user/month for basic automation). Allows individual UK users to run unlimited flows.
• Per-User Plan with Attended RPA: (e.g., ~£30-£35 GBP/user/month). Adds RPA capabilities.
• Per-Flow Plan: (e.g., starting around ~£70-£80 GBP/flow/month for a set number of flows). Good for automating specific critical processes across many UK users.
• AI Builder Add-on: Priced based on service credits; consumption varies by AI model type and usage.
• Often included in certain Microsoft 365 or Dynamics 365 licenses with some capabilities.

UK businesses should carefully review Microsoft's Power Platform licensing guide or consult a Microsoft partner for detailed pricing relevant to their specific needs and expected AI Builder usage.

Customer Support & UK Availability

As a Microsoft product, Power Automate benefits from Microsoft's extensive global and UK support infrastructure:

• Microsoft Learn & Documentation: Comprehensive online resources, tutorials, and learning paths.
• Microsoft Power Platform Community: Active forums for user support and knowledge sharing.
• Standard & Premier Support Plans: Various levels of technical support available for UK businesses.
• Microsoft UK Partner Network: Numerous partners in the UK offer Power Platform consulting, implementation, and training.

Pros for UK Businesses

• Deep Integration with Microsoft Ecosystem: Seamlessly connects with Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Azure, and Teams.
• Accessible AI with AI Builder: Low-code way to add AI to automations for UK users.
• Both API & UI Automation (RPA): Covers a wide range of automation needs.
• Scalable Platform: Suitable for individual productivity up to enterprise-wide process automation in the UK.
• Growing Feature Set: Microsoft continuously invests in and expands Power Platform capabilities.
• Strong UK Partner & Community Support: Ample resources available for UK businesses.

Cons for UK Businesses

• Licensing Can Be Complex: Understanding the different per-user, per-flow, and AI Builder credit costs can be challenging for UK businesses.
• RPA Can Be Fragile: UI-based automation can break if application interfaces change, requiring maintenance.
• AI Builder Costs: Using AI Builder models extensively can add significant costs on top of core Power Automate licenses.
• Learning Curve for Advanced RPA/AI: While low-code, building sophisticated bots or custom AI models requires skill.
• Full Potential Often Tied to Broader Microsoft Stack: While it connects to many services, it works best within the Microsoft ecosystem.

Alternatives to Microsoft Power Automate (with AI Builder)

For UK businesses looking for workflow automation and RPA with AI:

• UiPath: A leading enterprise RPA platform with strong AI capabilities.
• Automation Anywhere: Another major enterprise RPA player with integrated AI.
• Zapier AI: Excellent for connecting cloud apps with simpler AI actions.
• Make (formerly Integromat): Powerful visual workflow automation with flexibility for AI integration.

Verdict & Recommendation for UK Businesses

Microsoft Power Automate, especially when combined with AI Builder, is a very powerful and compelling automation platform for UK businesses, particularly those already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem. Its ability to automate both API-based workflows and UI-based tasks (RPA), coupled with accessible AI models for tasks like form processing and text classification, offers significant potential for improving efficiency and productivity across UK organisations.

For UK SMEs and enterprises alike, Power Automate provides a scalable solution that can start small and grow with business needs. While the licensing model and costs for AI Builder usage require careful consideration, the deep integration with Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 makes it a natural choice for many UK companies looking to streamline processes and leverage AI within their existing tech stack.