Microsoft Business Applications Summit 2021: Major Power BI Announcements
The Microsoft Business Applications Summit on May 4, 2021, delivered major updates across Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform. The event introduced new features, early previews, and important enhancements that will shape how businesses use Power Apps and Power BI. Below are the most impactful highlights to help you understand what’s coming and how you can benefit from the best Power BI features.
Low-Code Custom User Experiences for Dynamics 365
Microsoft announced a modern web designer coming to preview this month. It will let teams create custom pages for model-driven apps with a simple, low-code experience. Instead of relying on the traditional “forms over data” layout, users can now build pages from a blank canvas and design flexible experiences using Power Platform tools.
Microsoft also shared a roadmap for unified Power Apps authoring. By October 2021, the Canvas Designer and the Teams Canvas Designer will merge into a single interface. By April 2022, a new unified app builder will combine the strengths of canvas and model-driven design, allowing users to build Power Apps faster without choosing between formats.
Power Apps for Teams Enhancements
Power Apps in Teams received several updates focused on collaboration. A new “sharing with colleagues” feature makes it easier to distribute apps to different groups, even outside the original team. This flexibility helps organizations scale low-code solutions quickly.
Additionally, Microsoft is introducing five new prebuilt app templates, including Persona+ and two collaboration-focused templates—Discussion and Identity. These templates simplify development and help creators deliver quick value across a tenant.
Power BI Goals: A Game-Changing Feature
One of the biggest announcements was Power BI Goals, now available in preview. This feature is fully integrated into Microsoft Teams and connects directly to Power BI datasets.
You can link data to business goals and track progress with real-time insights. As conditions change, Power BI Goals shows performance gaps, trends, and opportunities for improvement. Even better, Power BI Goals works seamlessly with Power Automate, enabling automatic alerts and workflows when goal statuses shift.
Dynamics 365 Sales: Wave 1 2021 Highlights
The Dynamics 365 Sales updates showcased how Microsoft is pushing CRM beyond basic data entry. Instead, the platform is becoming a proactive system that supports sellers with intelligence and automation.
Key capabilities include:
Conversation Intelligence
AI now captures call transcripts, action items, and insights in real time. Sellers no longer need to take notes manually.
Intelligent Sales Sequences
Sequences offer guided selling by suggesting and automating the next best action. Branching logic adjusts steps based on customer behavior.
Intelligent Lead Routing
Leads flow automatically to the right sellers based on skills, availability, and capacity—powered by Microsoft BI solutions.
A redesigned mobile app is also on the way, giving sellers immediate access to documents, meetings, and insights wherever they work.
Why Power BI Goals Stood Out
Power BI Goals was the Summit’s main spotlight. It lets teams create KPIs, track them visually, and collaborate around performance. This feature brings clarity to decision-making and encourages teams to stay aligned with real data—not assumptions.
Additionally, Microsoft emphasized continued Power BI integration within Teams. This ensures data becomes a natural part of daily collaboration instead of a separate reporting task.
What’s Next?
Although many features are still rolling out, organizations can expect to access them over the coming months. These updates aim to help businesses work smarter, collaborate better, and unlock deeper insights with the best Power BI features available today.
