Microsoft launches Custom Agents for .NET — meet C# Expert and WinForms Expert

Copilot now supports purpose-built “custom agents” for the .NET ecosystem, with the debut of two specially trained offerings: C# Expert and WinForms Expert. These agents are designed to deeply accelerate developer workflows by analysing codebases, planning tasks and executing commands with domain-specific expertise.

Introducing two experimental agents for .NET developers:

• C# Expert Agent

  Get best practices and guidance for C# development. This agent focuses on Core C# principles, code integrity, and testing standards—helping you write cleaner, more efficient code.

• WinForms Expert Agent

  Perfect for developers working on Windows Forms applications, this agent specializes in UI design patterns, event-driven programming, and tool integrity—ensuring your app stays stable and designer-friendly.

• How to get started

  Download CSharpExpert.agent.md and WinFormsExpert.agent.md from @github/awesome-copilot, and add them to your repo’s .github/agents folder.

• Assign with ease

  When assigning an issue to Copilot, simply tag C# Expert or WinForms Expert for tailored support.

• What’s improved

  Enjoy a smoother development experience with reduced unused code and built-in safeguards to protect your project files and maintain tool compatibility.

Want to unlock more potential in your Dynamics 365 and Power Platform with AI? Discover Infinity AI Agents and get in touch with us today!

Microsoft Power BI Readies Major Upgrade with New Card Visual for Reports

Microsoft has announced that its upcoming general-availability release of the new Card visual in Microsoft Power BI brings a complete rendering overhaul, dynamic layouts, image support and expanded styling controls for key-metric visuals. Users are advised to review their existing reports now—especially visuals with short heights—because the new default spacing and formatting may change appearances once the upgrade goes live.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Rendering improvements

  The rendering engine has been completely re-engineered for responsive design. Now, when you resize the Card visual, the layout proportions stay consistent — and no more cut-off sections!

• Impact on existing reports

  These updates may affect how your visuals appear, especially for cards with shorter heights. Once GA is released, default callout size and background formatting will automatically apply — regardless of whether a divider is used.

• Preparing for GA

  Review your card visuals, adjust divider and background settings for alignment, and fine-tune callout sizes to match your design preferences.

• What’s new in GA

  Enjoy enhanced image support, collage layout, expanded styling controls, and updated defaults (available as opt-in for existing reports).

See how Power BI can help you visualize data from every angle. Read our Independent Police Conduct Authority case study and contact us today.

Dynamics 365 Customer Service gets built-in session restore for agent continuity

Dynamics 365 Customer Service now includes a session-restore feature that saves open cases, tabs, and workspace states so agents can instantly pick up where they left off after a crash or browser closure. This enhancement helps improve productivity and ensures smoother customer interactions by minimizing downtime and lost progress.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Reclaim lost time

  No need to reopen every case or rebuild your workspace. Session Restore automatically saves your open sessions, tabs, and navigation context — just log back in, and your environment is instantly restored.

• Save your space

  Enabled by default, Session Restore captures your open sessions, tab states, navigation context, and productivity tools seamlessly.

• Real-world impact

  Service reps can resume work instantly after breaks or system updates, supervisors see fewer escalations, and IT spends less time troubleshooting session issues — all adding up to smoother, more efficient operations.

Enhance your customer connections with the right solution. Explore Customer Relationship Management and get in touch with us today!

Microsoft Power BI Launches App-Scoped Copilot in Preview

Microsoft has introduced the new App-Scoped Copilot (Preview) within Microsoft Power BI apps, allowing users to chat with and query curated content confined to a specific app environment. Authored for app-authors, the feature also supports “verified answers” — human-approved responses tied to specific reports — helping ensure quality insights.

Here’s what you need to know:

• How it works

  App-scoped Copilot lets users search, ask questions, and get AI-generated insights from reports within the app. It complements the existing report-scoped Copilot, giving you answers based on all the reports included in your app.

• Ask questions or get summaries

  Find the insights you need instantly. App Copilot identifies the most relevant reports, confirms your choice, and returns clear answers or summaries—all right inside your app navigation.

• Helpful tip for app authors

  Keep your reports up to date! Once verified answers are created, update your app to push the latest report changes for your users.

• Find reporting that matters to you

  Discover reports based on your interests and quickly drill down into insights. You can also switch to report-scoped Copilot within a report for deeper, context-specific analysis.

• Control at your fingertips

  If Copilot is enabled in your tenant, App Copilot (Preview) is turned on by default for workspace apps. You can manage its visibility in Update app → Setup → Advanced Settings → Show Copilot in app navigation.

Discover how Power BI drives real results. Read our Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Maia case study and get in touch with us today!

Power Pages Gets a Security & Performance Boost with New Server Logic Feature

Microsoft is rolling out a preview of server-side logic for Power Pages that allows developers to run JavaScript securely on the server, helping keep business logic and API keys out of the browser. With this update, data operations move into the backend, offering tighter security, improved performance and better integration with the Microsoft Dataverse platform for full-lifecycle deployment.

Here’s what you need to know:

• How it works

  Server logic executes on the server, keeping it hidden from browsers and protected by web roles and table permissions. You can author and validate code in Power Pages Studio and Visual Studio Code, with all logic stored in Dataverse for consistent lifecycle management and deployment.

• What you can do

  Server logic lets you securely connect to external services and APIs, perform data operations or transformations, and return processed results to your Power Pages — all while simplifying authentication and boosting integration flexibility.

• Why use Server Logic

  Gain enhanced security, integration flexibility, improved efficiency, and centralized maintenance — all while ensuring consistency across your Power Pages environment.

• Language supported

  Write native JavaScript that complies with the ECMAScript 2023 standard.

• Other information

  Server logic execution follows configured permissions — governed by web roles and table access. Authentication and authorization are managed automatically, so there’s no need for custom authentication code.

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Dynamics 365 Contact Center Introduces Interactive Rich Media in WhatsApp and Live Chat

Microsoft has announced that Dynamics 365 Contact Center now supports rich messaging features—such as interactive forms, carousels and suggested replies—through both live chat and WhatsApp. This update enables organizations to design a single message template for multiple channels, aiming to speed resolution, improve customer satisfaction and reduce agent workload.

Here’s what’s new:

• Interactive conversations

  Add dynamic elements like forms, carousels, and suggested replies directly into your chats.

• Rich media support

  Available for Apple Messages for Business, with forms, cards, and suggested replies now supported in Live Chat — and suggested replies in WhatsApp.

• Preview pane

  See exactly how your rich message will look before sending, ensuring accuracy and great user experience.

• Customizable templates

  Empower agents to personalize admin-designed templates to fit customer needs.

• Better experiences, faster resolutions

  Rich messages make chats more engaging and efficient — improving satisfaction while reducing handling time.

Looking to add more functionality to your CRM or existing systems? Discover how Custom Business Applications can help—contact us today!

Power BI Gains New Fabric REST API to Bind or Unbind Semantic Model Connections

Microsoft has introduced a new Fabric REST API for Power BI that allows developers to bind or unbind semantic model connections programmatically. This new capability streamlines how data sources are managed, improving flexibility and automation for Power BI semantic models.

Here’s a quick overview of the 5 key steps to use the API:

• Step 1: Check existing connections

  Use the “List Item Connections” endpoint to retrieve the current data source references for your semantic model. This gives you a baseline of what the model is binding to currently.

• Step 2: View available connections

  Use the “List Connections” endpoint to retrieve all available connection objects in your environment. This helps you understand the universe of connection options available for binding.

• Step 3: Select or create a connection

  Match one of the connections from step 2 with the item connection from step 1 (or create a new connection if needed). Note the connection id, connectivity type, and target environment. If no matching connection exists, create one.

• Step 4: Build your binding payload

  Construct the JSON body that will define the binding. Typical fields include connectivityType, connectionDetails, and the objectId of the connection to bind. If you want to use default settings or disconnect, you’d set connectivityType to “Automatic” or “None”.

• Step 5: Send the binding request

  Make the request for each data source reference your semantic model uses. If the model has multiple data sources, each one must be bound individually. This completes the binding process, enabling automation of environment migrations, infrastructure changes, or connection updates.

Unlock smarter, data-driven decisions with Power BI. Discover Business Intelligence and contact us today!

Visual Studio Launches “Planning” Feature for Smarter AI-Assisted Development

Visual Studio has introduced a new “Planning” capability in public preview that lets its AI assistant map out multi-step tasks and track progress directly within the IDE. This feature is designed to improve visibility and control over complex workflows by giving developers a structured plan instead of relying on ad-hoc prompts.

Here’s what you need to know:

• How it works:

  Planning uses transparent tool calls to manage complex, multi-step tasks and automatically creates a markdown plan with steps, research notes, and progress updates as Copilot works.

• Why it matters:

  It makes Copilot more predictable and consistent — enabling smarter reasoning, dynamic adaptation, and deeper understanding of your codebase.

• What’s next:

  This is just the beginning of planning-driven development in Visual Studio. Microsoft is gathering feedback to enhance Copilot with smarter caching, refined reasoning, and deeper project context.

Discover how AI can help boost your productivity with Infinity AI Agents for Dynamics 365 and Power Apps. Contact us today!

Microsoft Unveils Smarter AI Enhancements for Power BI’s Report Copilot

Power BI Report Copilot has gained a major update, allowing users to not only generate entire report pages from scratch but also refine existing reports by adding, replacing or deleting visuals — all powered by enhanced AI and expanded context-aware capabilities. The new experience is available immediately in the Power BI service and is expected to roll out to Power BI Desktop in November 2025.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Why use it?

  Report Copilot can now generate entire report pages in seconds, giving you greater control, flexibility, and visual intelligence to tell your data story effortlessly.

• What’s improved?

  Enjoy smarter visual recommendations, an expanded visual library, and improved context awareness — helping you create more accurate, insightful, and visually engaging reports faster than ever.

• Enhance your reports effortlessly

  Easily add, modify, or remove visuals within your existing reports to refine how insights are displayed. With full undo and redo support, you can confidently explore and perfect every layout.

• How to access

  Open a report in the Power BI service, click Edit, and then select the Copilot button in the ribbon to start creating, refining, or transforming your visuals.

Curious how Power BI can make a difference for your organisation? Check out our New Zealand Police Association case study and reach out to us today!

Dynamics 365 Customer Service Adds Custom Tools to Streamline Agent Workflows

Microsoft has announced a new capability in Dynamics 365 Customer Service that lets organizations build and embed custom productivity tools directly into the agent workspace. This update empowers teams to create tailored, task-specific utilities that streamline operations, boost efficiency, and adapt to unique service processes—all without leaving the platform.

Here’s what makes it powerful:

• Tailored for your operations

  Empower developers and admins to embed lightweight, task-specific tools directly into the agent experience.

• Endless customization possibilities

  Create tools like a quick warranty calculator, guided onboarding scripts, SLA tracking mini-dashboards, or even custom schedulers.

• Built with familiar tech

  Develop using HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, hosted in Dataverse, and easily surfaced in the productivity pane or session side panels.

• Smart and efficient

  Enjoy context-aware rendering, two-way data flow with Web API calls, and lightweight deployment — no full app build required.

Empower your team to do more — explore Infinity Buttons: The Full Collection and get in touch with us today!