Andreas Odner is a solution architect, senior adviser, and AI strategist with over 20 years in the Microsoft Power Platform and CRM ecosystem. In a wide-ranging conversation on the Power Talks podcast with host Griffin Lickfeld of the Citizen Developer Channel, Odner shares how he accidentally fell into the Power Platform, why Agent 365 is the most exciting development in the Microsoft ecosystem right now, and the unpopular career advice he wishes he’d followed earlier: never lose touch with the technology that made you passionate in the first place.
How the Power Platform “Appeared Before My Eyes”
Odner’s journey into the Power Platform wasn’t planned. He started 20 years ago at a large Swedish industrial company, writing .NET code for industrial robot joysticks. After moving to Stockholm and consulting on ASP.NET projects, he landed on a Dynamics CRM 3.1 project—long before the Power Platform existed.
“Sometime during that time, some inspired person at Microsoft realized that this Dynamics CRM platform could actually be the technical foundation for some kind of broader technology platform,” Odner recalls. “So I never planned to be part of this broad Power Platform ecosystem. It just basically appeared before my eyes.”
When AI arrived, Odner discovered that much of Microsoft’s AI offering was built on the same Power Platform foundation—meaning he could ride the AI wave without leaving the ecosystem he already knew.
Getting Started: Read the Docs, Watch the Videos
For professionals new to the Power Platform—whether they were placed on a project or are exploring it on their own—Odner and Lickfeld offer complementary learning strategies:
- Odner’s approach: Read the documentation. Microsoft Learn modules, official docs, and technical blogs are his go-to. “Read the docs” remains his primary advice for text-oriented learners
- Lickfeld’s approach: Video-first learning. Seeing exactly where to click, what pops up, and how the UI responds makes complex tools more accessible—especially for products like Copilot Studio where documentation is still catching up
- Hidden gem: The “Custom Engine” blog from Microsoft’s Power CAT team. Product team members blog frequently about deeply technical Copilot Studio topics—like removing citations from knowledge base responses or implementing custom knowledge sources
Both agreed on a key point about Copilot Studio: the more rigid structure you add to your agent’s conversation map—questions, conditional branching, message nodes—the less AI you’re actually using. “Nobody wants a Power Virtual Agent,” Lickfeld says. “Everybody wants a Copilot Studio agent.”
Agent 365: The Missing Governance Piece
When asked what excites him most about current technology, Odner pointed immediately to Agent 365—the governance and identity framework for AI agents demonstrated at Microsoft Ignite:
- Agents as users: Agents can be assigned their own identity in your Microsoft 365 tenant, have product licenses, and essentially operate like users in your organization
- Team integration: Users can tag agents in Microsoft Teams conversations, and agents can respond to comments in Word documents or reply to emails
- Governance: The ability to govern, monitor, and control agents across the enterprise—addressing what Lickfeld called “the single biggest objection to enterprise-grade AI”
After Ignite, Odner spent three weeks replicating the Agent 365 demos, eventually connecting with members of the product team who helped him work through technical issues. “Agent 365 is the missing piece of the governance puzzle,” he says. “Probably as consultants, we will spend the coming years making sure that all the agents we develop are governed in Agent 365.”
Both predict a new role emerging at enterprises: something like a “Chief of Agent Operations” or agent administrator—someone responsible for managing AI agents the way existing roles manage Power Apps, Power Automate flows, and Power BI reports today.
The Future of Agent Interfaces
The conversation turned to a deeper question: will the chat interface become the primary way people work?
Odner’s prediction: agents will increasingly become the hub where work happens, with richer UI capabilities beyond simple chat. He pointed to emerging protocols for generative user interfaces in AI agents—MCP Apps, OpenAI’s approach, and A2UI—that could allow agents to render interactive interfaces directly in the chat client.
“If you have an agent that gets data from your Dynamics system, why not render some kind of user interface in the agent where you can do certain operations there?” Odner suggests. The question is which standard Microsoft will adopt for Copilot Studio—whether it’s enhanced adaptive cards or something entirely new.
Lickfeld offered a counterpoint: the directness of traditional apps—seeing all information on screen, clicking exactly what you want to interact with—may remain more user-friendly than hoping an AI agent interprets your intent correctly. “You don’t have as much control as the user,” he noted. The ideal future may be a true convergence of both paradigms—not just a chat window bolted onto the side of an app.
The Unpopular Career Advice: Don’t Lose Your Technical Passion
Odner’s career advice cuts against the conventional wisdom of always chasing the next promotion:
“I started out because I had a passion for technology. I like development. I like programming. But eventually I started straying away from technology. I transitioned to being an architect, working with technical sales. Somewhere along the way, I lost my connection to technology. I spent a couple of years basically just shuffling around papers at government agencies. Not that fun.”
It took him a year and a half to rekindle that original passion. His advice: “If you’re really passionate about something—especially technology—don’t lose track of that. Make sure you continue doing something aligned with that passion, because otherwise your job will become very, very boring.”
Lickfeld agreed, noting that many professionals chase management roles or promotions without considering whether the actual day-to-day responsibilities align with what they enjoy. Some people just want to build apps, agents, and automations—and there’s nothing wrong with staying close to the craft.
“Even just last night, I sat down and spent an hour and a half tinkering on a canvas app,” Lickfeld shared. “My wife asked why I was working. I said, honestly, it’s kind of fun. It didn’t feel like work.”
Balancing Architecture and Hands-On Development
Both professionals discussed the tension between customer-facing architecture work and hands-on development:
- Odner: Spends most workdays on customer interactions, architecture, and technical pre-sales. His technology exploration mostly happens evenings and weekends. His 2026 goal: get back to more development work professionally
- Lickfeld: Values the balance his solution architect/senior consultant role provides—some days are heads-down building, others are client workshops and demos
- Shared insight: Staying close to the technology makes you a better architect. “Five years from now, if I’m completely away from development, I feel like that would hurt my ability to be a good solution architect,” Lickfeld noted
Odner also shared that he tried product development with former colleagues and discovered it wasn’t for him: “I need at least some human interaction along the way. Product development was absolutely not my thing.”
Key Takeaways for Power Platform Professionals
- Learn the product deeply—whether through documentation, videos, or the Custom Engine blog from Microsoft’s Power CAT team
- In Copilot Studio, less structure means more AI—don’t over-engineer your conversation maps
- Agent 365 is the future of enterprise AI governance—start learning it now before general availability
- The agent interface will evolve—watch for generative UI protocols and richer interactions beyond chat
- Don’t chase titles at the expense of passion—stay connected to the technology that excited you in the first place
- Balance is everything—the best professionals blend customer interaction with hands-on technical work
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is Agent 365?
A: Agent 365 is Microsoft’s governance framework for AI agents, demonstrated at Ignite. It allows organizations to assign agents their own identities, product licenses, and governance policies within a Microsoft 365 tenant. Agents can be tagged in Teams, respond to documents, and reply to emails. It’s currently available to frontier firms and expected to reach general availability in 2026.
Q: What is the Custom Engine blog?
A: A technical blog maintained by Microsoft’s Power CAT team—a task force that helps customers implement Copilot Studio agents. It covers deeply technical topics like removing citations, implementing custom knowledge sources, and advanced agent configuration.
Q: What’s the best way to start learning the Power Platform?
A: It depends on your learning style. Documentation-oriented learners should start with Microsoft Learn modules. Visual learners should explore video content from community creators. Either way, spend time in the product itself understanding how it works before trying to build complex solutions.
Q: Will AI agents replace traditional business apps?
A: Not entirely. While agents will increasingly become hubs for work—especially with richer UI capabilities—traditional apps offer a directness and user control that chat interfaces can’t fully replicate yet. The likely future is a convergence of both paradigms.
