5 Microsoft Ignite Sessions I’m looking forward to

Microsoft Ignite is just around the corner, and the session list is now out.  I’ve been looking through it. There are plenty of great sessions, but here are 5 that I’m particularly looking forward to seeing:

Transforming the modern workplace with Microsoft Teams platform

This is a good level-set session. It’s a roundup of all the different extension points with Microsoft Teams and should also cover any new announcements. If you’re new to the Teams Developer Platform then you’ll definitely want to attend this in order to understand what’s possible. Regulars will welcome the opportunity to get updated on anything that’s recently launched or is upcoming.

More information & add to schedule: Transforming the modern workplace with Microsoft Teams platform

Build richer meetings experiences with Microsoft Teams apps using new meetings extensibility points

New ways for developers to enhance the Microsoft Teams meeting experience were announced at Inspire 2020 but implementation detail has been thin on the ground. I’m hoping that this session will fill in the gaps and provide some detail around how to go build these new experiences.

More information & add to backpack: Build richer meetings experiences with Microsoft Teams apps using new meetings extensibility points

Build custom apps to drive productivity in the remote work world with PowerApps and Teams

Fun fact: One of the speakers, Marc Mercuri, is the Principal Product PM for Project Oakdale (the thing that was originally called DataFlex before being renamed). That’s why I’m including this talk in my top 5: it should be a chance for us to see in detail how to go about building a Microsoft Teams application which makes use of this new data store. I’m excited!

More information & add to backpack: Build custom apps to drive productivity in the remote work world with PowerApps and Teams

Ask the Expert: Amplify your pro developer skills with Power Platform

I’m finding quite a few hard-core developers who are a bit dismissive of the Power Platform, and I don’t get it. For me, anything that avoids repetition and saves me time is a win. This is an intriguing session title: I’m hoping to pick up tips on different ways to use Power Platform as a developer.

More information & add to schedule: Ask the Expert: Amplify your pro developer skills with Power Platform

Conversational AI powered Customer and Employee Virtual Assistants

An important part of building solutions on Microsoft Teams includes building bots on Bot Framework, and an important part of that is Conversational AI. It’s also a rapidly evolving landscape which is in popular demand at the moment, so I’m curious to see what’s new and how I can best use it in my next project.

More information & add to backpack: Conversational AI powered Customer and Employee Virtual Assistants

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These are just 5 sessions from the 700+ sessions which are planned for the three days of September 22-24 at Microsoft Ignite. Whether you found these 5 interesting or not, check out the session list and make your own personal schedule for Microsoft Ignite!