Keith Atherton
Power Platform Solution Architect | Microsoft MVP | MCT | 11x Microsoft Certified | User Group Leader | LinkedIn Learning Instructor | Speaker | Podcaster
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Actions
Power Platform Solution Architect, Microsoft MVP for Business Applications, Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), 11x Microsoft certified, published LinkedIn Learning instructor, public speaker, Power Platform Community High Five user group founder, On Air in the Cloud podcast host, blogger, and mentor.
Versatile solution architect with over 25 years' international experience of leading and developing software solutions in permanent and contract roles for sectors including finance, legal, manufacturing, construction, game development, retail, healthcare, travel, and charity.
Find me online: https://linktr.ee/keithatherton
Links
Badges
Area of Expertise
Topics
Copilot City: Agents, Anarchy & the Law
Agents are opening doors faster than most organisations can keep up with. With a few clicks, anyone can spin up an agent that talks to customers, processes data, or interacts with internal systems - and that speed is both the opportunity and the risk.
In this session, we’ll follow two familiar characters you’ve probably met in your own organisation:
Maverick - a renegade Copilot Studio builder. He moves fast, breaks things, and spins up agents quickly to solve real problems but at what cost? Guardrails? “Suggestions.” Best practices? “Optional.” If there’s a limit, Keith has already found a way around it.
The CoE Commander - the uncompromising force of Copilot governance. Badge, rulebook, and risk register in hand, she’s here to protect the organisation from data leaks, compliance nightmares, and AI agents that have gone completely off the rails.
We’ll use them to explore the real tension many organisations face right now: balancing creativity and innovation with security, oversight, and responsible use of AI agents living in your very own Copilot city.
This session is grounded in real-world experience from working with organisations who are trying to get Copilot Studio implementation right - not by slowing people down, but by putting the right conversations, boundaries, and support structures in place. By the end, you’ll have a clearer picture of how to encourage responsible innovation, keep things on track, and avoid turning your AI rollout into a firefight.
Nuke it from Orbit! Power Platform Testing Tips & Tricks
In space, no one can hear your app crash… but on Earth, your users definitely can.
Join Mel and Keith as they gear up and take you on a high-octane, intergalactic mission to obliterate bugs, squash rogue flows, and track down those sneaky canvas app glitches hiding in the shadows of your environment. With a heavy dose of Aliens nostalgia, we’ll explore battle-tested strategies, tools, and tips for testing across the Power Platform — without triggering a full-blown incident on LV-426.
Expect laughs, explosions (theoretical ones), and the kind of practical guidance that makes you want to say, “Game over, bugs!” Whether you’re a hardened Colonial Power Apps Marine or a wide-eyed Power Automate rookie, you’ll leave ready to test with extreme prejudice.
In this action-packed session, we’ll show you:
- How QA saves your reputation (and sanity)
- Built in Power Platform tools to hunt bugs before they burst out
- Demos of testing like a pro with tools like Test Studio
Remember: when in doubt… nuke the bugs from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Describe It, AI Builds It! Live App Building with Power Apps Generative Pages
What happens when you let AI design your app pages for you?
In this fast-paced, interactive session, we’ll use Generative Pages in Power Apps live on stage, driven by prompts from the audience. You’ll see how natural language turns into real, usable app pages in seconds - and what to do when the AI gets a little too creative.
Expect live demos, audience voting, and plenty of practical tips for getting the best results from generative experiences without losing control.
The Future is Now! The Next Generation of Power App Development
The way we build Power Apps is changing fast. Really fast.
What used to be a choice between canvas apps and model-driven apps has exploded into a full spectrum of possibilities. Now we’ve got AI-powered generative pages, code apps, and even vibe apps where describing what you want is half the job done.
In this session, we’ll take a fast-paced tour through the evolving world of Power Apps - from the foundations you know to the cutting-edge capabilities you probably haven’t tried yet. We’ll explore how AI is transforming not just how apps are built, but who can build them and how quickly they can go from idea to reality.
And yes, this is not just low-code anymore. We’ll also dive into how pro-code tools like Visual Studio Code fit into the picture, giving you the power to go deeper, extend further, and truly build your way.
Expect demos, real scenarios, and a few “wait… you can do THAT now?” moments.
Whether you’re a low-code builder, a pro developer, or somewhere in between, you’ll leave with a clear view of where things are heading and how to stay ahead of the curve.
The Future is Now! The Next Generation of Power App Development Workshop
The future of app development isn’t coming… it’s already here. And it’s moving fast.
In this hands-on workshop, you’ll dive into the next generation of Power Apps development - where traditional boundaries between low-code and pro-code are disappearing, and AI is changing how everything gets built.
We’ll start with the foundations - canvas apps and model-driven apps - and quickly move beyond them into the new wave of capabilities reshaping the platform. You’ll get hands-on experience with model-driven app generative pages, explore emerging concepts like code apps and vibe apps, and see how AI can take you from idea to working solution faster than ever.
This is not a sit-back-and-watch session. You’ll build. A lot.
Through guided exercises that ramp up in complexity, you’ll experiment with different ways of creating apps - from traditional approaches to AI-assisted and prompt-driven development. You’ll learn how to choose the right approach for the right scenario, and how to combine them to deliver powerful, real-world solutions.
We’ll also step into pro-code territory, using tools like Visual Studio Code to extend and customise your apps, giving you the flexibility to go deeper when low-code alone isn’t enough.
By the end of the day, you won’t just understand where Power Apps is heading - you’ll have built across the spectrum and experienced it for yourself.
What you’ll cover:
- The Foundations Still Matter - Building with canvas apps and model-driven apps
- AI Changes Everything - Using Copilots and AI-assisted experiences to accelerate development
- Generative Experiences - Creating model-driven app generative pages with minimal effort
- New Ways to Build - Exploring code apps and the rise of vibe apps
- Build Your Way - Choosing between low-code, pro-code, or a blend of both
- Pro-Code Extensions - Using Visual Studio Code to customise and extend solutions
- Real-World Scenarios - Applying the right approach to the right problem
What you’ll walk away with:
- A clear understanding of the evolving Power Apps landscape and where it’s heading
- Practical experience building apps using multiple approaches, including AI-assisted techniques
- Confidence to combine low-code and pro-code to create faster, smarter, and more flexible solutions
If you want to stop just keeping up with the platform and start getting ahead of it, this workshop is for you.
How to Prepare for Microsoft Certifications
Are you interested in what Microsoft Certifications are or which one to take next?
In this session, we'll look into:
- What Microsoft Certifications are and how they can benefit your career
- Learning resources
- How to book exams, take renewals, and what to expect
- Where to find discounts
- Study tips
This session will give you knowledge into how Microsoft Certifications can impact your skills and career and take them to new levels!
With Great Power (Apps) Comes Great Reusability
Your time is precious! Luckily, there are many ways we can reuse UI components and code to work more efficiently and avoid duplication of effort when creating Power Apps.
In this session, we'll look into reusability by using awesome low-code features including components, component libraries, named formulas, and low-code plug-ins, as well as code-first features including client side scripting and plug-ins.
Don't worry, this won't be a dry technical session... er, actually, it will be a DRY (don't repeat yourself) technical session.
Full Power! Power App Optimisation
User experience (UX) can make or break adoption of a solution, and a large part of that experience can be the performance of your app.
In this session, we'll demonstrate various ways to optimise Power Apps to get optimal performance to improve that experience. We will cover:
- Code optimisation
- Architectural optimisation
- User experience (UX)
- Monitoring & troubleshooting
You'll leave this session with knowledge on how to make your apps perform as fast as possible, happier customers, and less support tickets!
Combining Low-Code with Pro-Code! Extend the Power Platform
Are you a professional developer wondering if the low-code Power Platform is too basic or limited when compared with building solutions from the ground up using traditional professional code-first development tech stacks? Then prepare to be surprised!
In this session, you'll hear from a professional developer with over 20 years' experience who transitioned to becoming a Power Platform Solution Architect in recent years - but who still utilises their professional developer skills in combination with all aspects of the low-code Power Platform.
You'll leave this session with knowledge on how much technical depth the Power Platform can offer in terms of the tools and languages available, the ability for rapid application development, how to extend the Power Platform using tradition professional code-first tech stacks, and much more.
Crafting Responsive Canvas Power Apps
In this session, we will explore the intricacies of designing responsive canvas Power Apps, ensuring seamless user experiences across diverse devices and screen sizes. We will cover:
- Understanding responsive design
- Utilizing containers and controls
- Adaptive sizing techniques
- Responsive design patterns
- Testing and debugging
By the end of this session, you'll have the knowledge and tools needed to create visually appealing, user-friendly, and responsive canvas Power Apps that meet the needs of your users, regardless of their device or screen size.
Join us to transform your Power Apps development skills and deliver exceptional mobile-first solutions.
Festive Tech Calendar 2021 Sessionize Event
Keith Atherton
Power Platform Solution Architect | Microsoft MVP | MCT | 11x Microsoft Certified | User Group Leader | LinkedIn Learning Instructor | Speaker | Podcaster
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Links
Actions
Please note that Sessionize is not responsible for the accuracy or validity of the data provided by speakers. If you suspect this profile to be fake or spam, please let us know.
Jump to top