It's been a while since I had the chance to focus on Hyperautomation, but there has been plenty of renewed interest in the topic recently, especially in public sector. If you've been subscribed to this newsletter for a while, you may recall a previous edition in May 2023, Leading Change: Beyond RPA where I covered some of the developments at that point, particularly the introduction of Hosted RPA at the time.
Since then, with the increased availability of Generative AI capabilities for government customers, initially surfaced through AI Builder custom prompts a year ago, and now more broadly available through custom agents created with Copilot Studio, supplemented with the responsible use of GenAI, the possibilities of Hyperautomation have come into into hyperfocus as the imperative to shift from low to high value work takes even higher priority in driving government efficiencies and enabling better outcomes.
The opportunity to use AI really is Everywhere, and you can learn more about where AI Agents and Copilots are headed in the previous edition, "Leading Change: AI Everywhere," if you missed it, along with the latest Federal guidance available here.
A great use case for this is Intelligent Document Processing. At the US Federal level, many are familiar with the Paperwork Reduction Act to streamline related form design and processing, but taking it a step further to automate so many steps along the way with AI accelerates so many tasks and processes so they can be even more efficient AND effective.* Augment that with Microsoft Syntex and Azure AI Document Intelligence (Form Recognizer) to reach across your users and their tech fluency to accomplish even more.
This is why I love hearing more customers ask about expanding their existing Power Platform and Cloud COE initiatives to include more focused Automation COE components to support more advanced use and scale of these capabilities. The Automation Maturity Model supplements our core Power Platform adoption maturity model and Well-Architected guidance to support healthy and sustainable adoption and achievement of mission outcomes.
NOTE: The U.S. Government Accountability Office regularly reports on improving efficiency AND effectiveness because the two terms are distinct, and it is possible to improve efficiency of ineffective processes that should be redesigned altogether first to be more effective. Want to learn more? Ask Copilot!
I'm looking forward to hearing more success stories like the Small Business Administration's about using Microsoft Business Applications across the Federal government during this week's Microsoft Federal Biz Apps Summit, too! Even if you are unable to attend in person, be sure to keep an eye on your feed for related updates and announcements this week.
Gartner, "Hyperautomation," at https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/hyperautomation
Ling, Candice. "Unlocking Opportunities for Government Efficiency," last updated Feb. 7, 2025, at https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/publicsectorblog/unlocking-opportunities-for-government-efficiency/4372684. Full white paper available via https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/s/gxcuf89792/attachments/gxcuf89792/PublicSectorBlog/926/1/Driving%20Gov%20Efficiencies.pdf
Microsoft, "Automation Kit February 2025" release available at https://github.com/microsoft/powercat-automation-kit/releases/tag/AutomationKit-February2025
Microsoft, "Azure AI Document Intelligence Overview," at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/ai-document-intelligence/#overview
Microsoft, "Cloud center of excellence (CCoE) functions," at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/organize/cloud-center-of-excellence
Microsoft, "Create a Prompt," AI Builder documentation, last updated Nov. 5, 2024, at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ai-builder/create-a-custom-prompt
Microsoft, "Empowering Responsible AI Practices," at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/responsible-ai
Microsoft, "Power Platform Center of Excellence (CoE) overview," at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/guidance/coe/overview
Microsoft, "Key concepts - Authoring agents," Microsoft Copilot Studio documentation, last updated Nov. 19, 2024, at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot-studio/authoring-fundamentals
Microsoft, "Overview of Microsoft Syntex," at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/syntex/syntex-overview
Microsoft, "Power Platform adoption maturity model: Repeatable patterns for successful Power Platform adoption," last updated Feb. 14, 2022, at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/guidance/adoption/maturity-model
Microsoft, "Power Platform automation maturity model overview," at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/guidance/automation-coe/automation-maturity-model-overview
Microsoft, "Power Platform Well-Architected," at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/well-architected/
Microsoft, "US Small Business Administration saves millions with Dynamics 365 and Power Platform," Jan. 22, 2025, at https://www.microsoft.com/en/customers/story/21407-us-small-business-administration-dynamics-365-customer-service#customers-share-modal-dialog
Microsoft Federal Biz Apps Summit 2025 Registration https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/531675-microsoft
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, 44 U.S.C. §§ 3501-3521, at https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title44/chapter35&edition=prelim
President's Management Agenda Archive, "CAP Goal 6," archived at https://trumpadministration.archives.performance.gov/CAP/low-value-to-high-value-work/
Siciliano, Stephen. "Announcing new releases for Microsoft Power Automate hosted RPA," Jan. 12, 2023, at https://powerautomate.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-new-releases-for-microsoft-power-automate-hosted-rpa/
U.S. Government Accountability Office, "GAO Urges Attention to 2025 “High Risk List” to Save Billions and Improve Government Efficiency and Effectiveness," Feb. 25, 2025, at https://www.gao.gov/press-release/gao-urges-attention-2025-high-risk-list-save-billions-and-improve-government-efficiency-and-effectiveness. Full report available at https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-25-107743.pdf
Zakhari, Nivine. "Business Applications AI Agents & Copilots," last updated Feb. 3, 2025, available at https://fedbizappscoe.powerappsportals.us/Fed%20Biz%20Apps%20AI%20Agents%20Copilots%20(Feb%202025)%20External.pdf
--. "Leading Change: AI Everywhere," Learning It All, Jan. 19, 2025, at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leading-change-ai-everywhere-nivine-k-zakhari-i8y8e/
--. "Leading Change: Beyond RPA," Learning It All, May 14, 2023, at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leading-change-beyond-rpa-nivine-k-zakhari/
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