013 | M365 Power Platform Environments & ALPACAs? with MVP Wes Preston

In this episode of Code Deploy Go Live, hosts Julie Turner and Andrew Connell discuss Microsoft 365 Copilot extensibility options, Power Platform environments, and interview Wes Preston, a Microsoft MVP since 2009 who works primarily in the productivity space with SharePoint, lists, and Power Platform.

The discussion centered on the balance between Power Platform (low-code/no-code) and Pro Dev (professional development) approaches for Microsoft 365 extensibility, with a focus on when each approach is appropriate and how organizations should make these decisions, as well as the newly introduced Power Apps Code Apps (jokingly nicknamed "alPACAs").

🙎‍♂️ GUEST
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Wes Preson, MVP
Wes is an independent consultant based in Minneapolis, MN and works primarily as an O365/Power Apps/SharePoint platform evangelist, product specialist and solution designer.
🔗 https://www.idubbs.com/blog
🔗   / wpreston  
🔗   / idubbs  

📚 CHAPTERS
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00:00 : Introduction
14:55 : Interview
1:10:56 : AC's & Julie's Picks


🔗 LINKS
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From the episode intro & banter:
🔗 Extend M365 Copilot: Declarative Agent Alt to Copilot Studio https://vtns.io/7SwtG5
🔗 Live Microsoft 365 Learning for SPFx, Copilot, and MS Teams https://vtns.io/Xmu5pu
🔗 Webinars - register for upcoming or watch previous webinars https://vtns.io/u97nVX
🔗 CollabDays New England - October 17, 2025 https://www.collabdays.org/2025-ne/re...
🔗 Ask Sympraxis Inforatmion - http://symp.info/asksympraxis

From the interview with Wes:
🔗 The Power Platform Pivot with MVP Paul Culmsee and Ryan Cunningham from Microsoft    • The Power Platform Pivot with Ryan Cunningham  
🔗 Vibe Coding using Power Apps Code Apps and GitHub Copilot by Scott Durow    • Vibe Coding using Power Apps Code Apps and...  
🔗 Create custom web application to run within Power Apps! https://github.com/microsoft/PowerApp...

Andrew's Pick:
🔗 Copilot Broke Your Audit Log, but Microsoft Won't Tell You https://pistachioapp.com/blog/copilot...
Julie's Picks:
🔗 Find insights and answers across Carbon Markets News, Registries, and Datasets https://alphaearth.ai/
🔗 Instagram Reel https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNQOi3...


🎙️ PODCAST
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🔗 https://codedeploygo.live
🔗 LinkedIn 👉 https://aka.codedeploygo.live/yt-link...
🔗 Bluesky 👉 https://aka.codedeploygo.live/yt-bluesky


🎙️ HOSTS
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Julie Turner
🔗 https://julieturner.net/me

Andrew Connell
🔗 LinkedIn 👉 https://aconn.me/pod-cdlg-yt-ac-linkedin
🔗 YouTube 👉 https://aconn.me/pod-cdlg-yt-ac-youtube
🔗 Bluesky 👉 https://aconn.me/pod-cdlg-yt-ac-bluesky
🔗 Newsletter 👉 https://aconn.me/pod-cdlg-yt-ac-newsl...


SPONSORS
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Sympraxis (by Julie Turner)
🔗 Website 👉 https://www.sympraxisconsulting.com/
🔗 Ask Sympraxis 👉 https://symp.info/asksympraxis
🔗 YouTube 👉 https://symp.info/youtube


Voitanos (by Andrew Connell)
🔗 Website 👉 https://vtns.io/pod-cdlg-yt-voitanos
🔗 LinkedIn 👉 https://vtns.io/pod-cdlg-yt-voitanos-...
🔗 Bluesky 👉 https://vtns.io/pod-cdlg-yt-voitanos-...

Music Credit: Ken Bagley