TechCon 365 Atlanta 2025: Key Takeaways

TechCon 365 Atlanta 2025 brought together over 500 practitioners at the Georgia World Congress Center for an intensive five-day event. With a mix of hands-on workshops and informative sessions, the conference offered an unparalleled opportunity to delve into the latest advancements in Microsoft 365, Power Platform, and Copilot. For business owners and IT decision-makers, the event was a goldmine of actionable insights and practical guidance.

TechCon 365 Atlanta 2025: What We Brought Back for Microsoft 365, Power Platform, and Copilot

At TechCon 365 Atlanta this August, more than 500 practitioners gathered at the Georgia World Congress Center for five fast-paced days—two days of hands-on workshops and three days of 70-minute sessions. With 144+ sessions, 27 workshops, and co-located events (PWRCON and DATACON), the conference offered a rare, end-to-end view of Microsoft’s ecosystem: Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Power Platform, Loop, OneNote, and Copilot.

Cyber Advisors was there. Kevin Kelly—our Microsoft 365 and SharePoint veteran of 19 years—immersed in the full program with a focus on Power Automate, PowerApps, and Copilot. He met MVPs, product experts, and vendors we rely on in the field, and he returned with practical guidance we’re already applying for clients.

Why TechCon 365 Matters Right Now

Microsoft’s cloud stack evolves weekly. Copilot is moving from “interesting” to “inevitable,” Power Platform is becoming the fabric of business workflows, and SharePoint continues to modernize content and intranets. Conferences like TechCon 365 compress months of trial-and-error into days of applied learning and candid peer conversations. For organizations planning FY25 initiatives—Copilot pilots, automation roadmaps, SharePoint modernization—this kind of concentrated learning directly shortens the path.

How the Event Was Structured

Attendees could mix and match: two full workshop days (eight hours each) and three conference days, with roughly seven sessions to choose from in every time block. Between sessions, roundtables gave space for open-forum questions, war stories, and deep dives. Vendor booths added roadmap previews and practical demos. This format made it possible to explore a topic from strategy to configuration to operations—all in a single week.

Kevin’s Focus Areas

Power Automate (workflow engine). We doubled down on advanced patterns for approvals, service requests, and cross-system orchestration—particularly where legacy processes still straddle on-prem and cloud.
PowerApps (modern e-forms and mobile apps). We looked at design patterns for replacing brittle legacy forms, reducing manual data entry, and delivering simple field apps with offline resilience.
Copilot (AI across Microsoft 365). We evaluated adoption sequences, governance guardrails, and change-management practices required to unlock value responsibly.

Power Automate: Turning Processes into Measurable Outcomes

Workshops demonstrated how to move from “we automated a thing” to “we improved a KPI.” The difference is design:

Start with the business outcome. Is the goal to cut cycle time by 30 percent, reduce touches per request, or eliminate duplicate data entry? Document it up front.
Map the system of record. Build flows that read and write to a single, authoritative system (or trigger integration) to prevent drift and shadow databases.
Design for exceptions. Happy-path automations are easy; the gains come when you gracefully handle escalations, timeouts, reassignments, and partial failures.
Bake in observability. Log key checkpoints, emit metrics, and alert on stuck approvals so the business can see where work slows and why.

Common use cases we’re rolling out after TechCon 365:

HR and finance approvals with dynamic routing and audit trails.
IT service request intake with enrichment and SLA tracking.
Procurement and vendor onboarding with conditional risk checks.
Facilities and field operations work orders with mobile acknowledgments.

PowerApps: Replacing Legacy Forms with Modern Apps

Organizations still running InfoPath or heavily customized classic SharePoint forms now have clear lanes forward. Key patterns from the workshops:

Separate presentation from process. Use PowerApps for the front end and let Power Automate or Dataverse handle the process backbone.
Design for mobile first. Form factors matter—thumb reach, tap targets, offline caching, and quick-scan layouts.
Standardize data. Enforce data types, use dropdowns and masked input, and validate early to reduce rework downstream.
Think ALM from day one. Source control your components, define environments (dev/test/prod), and promote with approvals.

Where this lands quickly:

Safety inspections, maintenance checklists, and field service logs.
Visitor registration and asset checkout with barcode/QR support.
Employee onboarding packets that update identity, groups, and equipment tickets automatically.

Copilot: Productivity Accelerator, Governance Required

TechCon 365 underscored two truths: Copilot can unlock real productivity, and it must be deployed with intention.

High-value scenarios we recommend for early pilots:

Sales and account teams: draft follow-ups from meeting transcripts, summarize threads, and prepare account briefs from SharePoint, Teams, and CRM content the user already has rights to see.
Project and PMO teams: build status reports, risk summaries, and action lists from project artifacts and meeting notes.
HR and internal comms: generate first-draft FAQs, policy summaries, and training outlines, then route for review.
Support and service desks: summarize tickets, propose next actions, and surface similar resolved cases.

Governance essentials to address before you scale:

Permissions and labeling. Align Copilot with your existing access model and sensitivity labels so users only see what they’re already authorized to see.
Data boundaries. Review external sharing, guest access, and third-party connectors. Close gaps before Copilot amplifies them.
Logging and oversight. Enable auditing, define acceptable-use guidelines, and set up periodic reviews to check for data leakage or risky prompts.
Training and adoption. Teach users what Copilot can and cannot do; provide prompt patterns and “better together” examples inside their role-based workflows.

SharePoint and Teams: Modern Collaboration, Practical Governance

While the headlines often go to Copilot, TechCon 365 validated that strong outcomes still rest on modern content architecture and team collaboration.

Modern intranets and hubs. Use SharePoint for structured content, news, and knowledge—designed with audience targeting, lifecycle policies, and search in mind.
Teams as the collaboration canvas. Pin the apps people need where work happens—approvals, lists, dashboards—and reduce app switching.
Records, retention, and eDiscovery. Coordinate with legal and compliance early so collaboration patterns don’t outpace governance.

Roundtables, Vendors, and “What’s Working in the Field”

One benefit of TechCon 365’s format is proximity to practitioners. Roundtables surfaced real-world patterns:

Migrations: inventory first, retire what you can, and sequence complexity last.
Backup and recovery: assume human error and malicious deletion; test restores quarterly.
Security posture: enable basic protections (MFA, conditional access) universally before chasing edge cases.

Vendor chats were equally useful. We validated roadmaps for tools we already use with clients and flagged feature updates that remove friction—from simpler data connectors to improved policy enforcement.

Industry Insights: Skills, Reskilling, and the AI-Exposed Job Landscape

Sessions and hallway conversations converged on a pragmatic view of AI’s impact on work:

Many roles will change, not vanish. Tasks shift from drafting to curating, from retrieving to validating. Organizations that invest in reskilling will keep velocity while maintaining quality.
Hands-on beats theoretical. Teams learn faster by building real automations and Copilot prompts in their own context—supported by champions and office hours.
Governance creates confidence. Clear guidance on labeling, sharing, and acceptable use reduces hesitation and accelerates adoption.

A 30–60–90 Day Plan After TechCon 365

If you’re wondering how to convert conference energy into concrete progress, here’s a plan we’ve begun executing with clients:

First 30 days: assess and prepare

Inventory workflows, forms, and manual handoffs that cause the most delay or errors.
Map your data landscape: where does critical content live, who can access it, and how is it labeled?
Establish a Copilot readiness baseline: permissions hygiene, sensitivity labeling, external sharing, and guest access posture.
Select 2–3 candidate processes for automation and 2–3 Copilot scenarios for a pilot.

Days 31–60: pilot and prove value

Build minimum-lovable automations in Power Automate with clear success criteria (cycle time, touches per item, error rate).
Replace one legacy form with a PowerApp; capture field feedback and iterate.
Launch Copilot pilots with champions from sales, PMO, or HR; provide prompt guides and weekly office hours.
Draft governance updates: prompt hygiene, data handling, and escalation paths.

Days 61–90: scale and operationalize

Stand up a lightweight Center of Excellence: intake, prioritization, standards, and reuse of components.
Add observability: dashboards for flow health, Copilot adoption, and process KPIs.
Train the trainers: equip champions to mentor peers; integrate training into onboarding.
Plan the next wave: expand pilots to adjacent teams, and retire redundant tools.

What to Measure: KPIs that Connect to Outcomes

Technology metrics matter, but business outcomes sustain momentum. We encourage leaders to track a blend:

Cycle-time reduction in targeted processes (before vs. after automation).
Automation coverage (% of eligible processes with a flow or app).
First-contact resolution in support workflows.
Time-to-first-draft for key artifacts (status reports, client summaries) using Copilot.
Adoption and satisfaction (active users, prompt usage, training completion, and user NPS).
Governance health (sensitivity label coverage, external sharing exceptions resolved, audit findings closed).

Common Pitfalls—and Practical Ways Around Them

Automating the mess. If the process is unclear, automation will calcify the pain. Map and simplify first.
Skipping change management. Even great tools fail without communication, training, and feedback loops. Budget time for enablement.
Ignoring data foundations. Copilot and analytics produce poor results if content is unlabeled, duplicative, or locked in personal silos.
One-and-done pilots. Treat pilots as the start of a steady cadence—expand in waves aligned to measurable outcomes.

Kevin Kelly’s Perspective: From Conference to Client Outcomes

“As a long-time SharePoint practitioner, I’ve lived through every modernization wave,” Kevin notes. “What stood out at TechCon 365 is how much faster organizations can move when they combine Power Platform with disciplined governance—then layer Copilot to remove the busywork. The technology is ready. The teams that win are the ones who align it to clear outcomes and train people well.”

How Cyber Advisors Translates TechCon 365 into Your Roadmap

We’ve already put these learnings to work for clients across industries:

Copilot readiness and pilot design. We confirm permissions, labeling, and sharing settings; define use cases; train champions; and measure impact.
Power Platform acceleration. We stand up or tune your CoE, establish standards, and deliver the first automations and apps with your team—so you learn by doing.
SharePoint modernization. We rationalize content, design modern hubs, and build intranet experiences that balance usability, findability, and governance.
Security and compliance by design. We align collaboration and automation with controls for retention, eDiscovery, and least-privilege access.

What to Do Next: Practical Starting Points

If you want tangible momentum in the next quarter, here are three places to begin:

Run a Microsoft 365 health and Copilot readiness review. You’ll surface quick fixes—permissions clean-up, label coverage, and sharing boundaries—that improve value and reduce risk.
Choose one process to automate and one form to modernize. Deliver wins that staff can feel and measure.
Launch a role-based Copilot pilot. Pick teams with repeatable writing or summarization work. Train them, collect feedback, and expand in waves.

FAQ: Fast Answers to Common Questions We Heard at TechCon 365

Is Copilot safe for our data?
Copilot respects the permissions model you already enforce. That’s why readiness matters—clean up access, apply sensitivity labels, and review external sharing before broad rollout.

How much time does a Power Automate project take?
Simple approvals can be built in hours; cross-system orchestration may take days or weeks. The key is scoping clear outcomes and iterating.

Do we need a Center of Excellence?
A lightweight CoE (standards, intake, reuse) pays off quickly. It prevents duplication, improves quality, and accelerates delivery as demand grows.

Can we replace InfoPath this year?
Yes. With PowerApps, Dataverse or SharePoint lists, and Power Automate, most legacy forms have a modern path. Start with a pilot form that has high visibility and manageable complexity.

Does Copilot reduce headcount?
The value is time back and higher-quality output, not headcount elimination. Most teams reallocate time to customer work, analysis, and innovation.

Closing Thoughts

TechCon 365 Atlanta confirmed what we’re seeing in the field: organizations that connect Microsoft 365, Power Platform, and Copilot with thoughtful governance are achieving measurable, durable gains. The technology is no longer the barrier. Focus on outcomes, data foundations, adoption, and iteration—and the results follow.

If you’re planning your FY25 roadmap, Cyber Advisors can help you move with confidence. We’ll meet you where you are, apply what we learned at TechCon 365, and set up a plan your teams can execute.

Let’s turn conference insights into momentum. Reach out to schedule a Microsoft 365 modernization and Copilot readiness review with Cyber Advisors.