The Digital Workplace Conference Australia 2024, held in Sydney, brought together industry leaders, tech enthusiasts, and innovators to explore the evolving landscape of the digital workplace. This year’s conference was a melting pot of ideas, showcasing the latest trends, technologies, and strategies that are shaping the future of work.

This event followed the Digital Workplace Conference New Zealand earlier this year, where both events were organised by Microsoft Regional Director, Debbie Ireland. As a community leader, Debbie understands the significant role the community plays when driving such an impactful initiative for the good of industry. When reflecting on the highlight of this year’s conference, Debbie says, “it’s seeing what an amazing community we have – so many faces, that all get together sometimes just once a year, but continue to grow and thrive from knowing each other”.

Microsoft Regional Director, Debbie Ireland, at the Digital Workplace Conference

Digital Workplace Emerging Trends

As technology and the way we work is moving at a fast pace, Debbie shared the emerging trends she observed throughout the Digital Workplace Conference. Debbie’s key insights included:

The pervasive influence of AI, which is now a ubiquitous topic of discussion. Debbie highlighted how AI could become a “personal assistant,” especially for those who have never had one, to help improve work efficiency.
The growing understanding of the “people first” mentality. While technology is essential, it is the habits and behaviours of people that need to change. Bringing people along on the journey is critical for any implementation.
The desperate need for in-person connections, emphasized by events like the conference. Despite the rise of hybrid workplaces, nothing beats personal contact. The trend is shifting towards getting people back to work rather than working remotely.

Hearing from the experts

The conference spotlighted 35 speakers to share their expertise over the two-day event, with 12 speakers contributing from the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) community. “There were customers, thought leaders and Industry Professionals – a great mix”, said Debbie.

Debbie gave a “big shout out” to all the speakers. She expressed her gratitude by continuing, “as a presenter I always appreciate the time effort and commitment it takes. I estimated once that the effort was approximately 40 hours to prepare and then practice (I feel it needs at least 3-5 run throughs to be good!). That’s a lot of time. Not to mention, giving up of knowledge and experience and expertise.  I very much appreciate speakers at our conferences.”

Vahid Doustimajd, Microsoft MVP for Data Platform on stage at the Digital Workplace Conference.

Integrating Power BI and Power Automate into your workflows

Vahid ​Doustimajd, an MVP for Data Platform who shares educational content on his personal blog and hosts the Persian Power BI User Group, played a significant role in the Digital Workplace Conference 2024.

Vahid’s session focused on the advantages of integrating Power BI and Power Automate, as well as using HTML in Power BI, where he shared three key takeaways for the audience:

Enhanced report design with HTML, which improves the visual appeal and interactivity in Power BI reports.
Automation and workflow integration, which streamlines business processes with Power Automate and Power BI.
Efficient data management, using automation to handle data updates, alerts, and report sharing effectively.

Microsoft Regional Director, Debbie Ireland and Microsoft MVP M365, Andrew O’Young.

From Standard to Stellar: Custom Microsoft Teams Templates with Power Automate

Andrew O’Young, an MVP in M365 and technical blog author at M365 Senpai – Fun Times with Microsoft 365, flew from Adelaide to attend the conference in Sydney.

Andrew demonstrated the options available on Microsoft Teams to help them understand that customers are not bound by the options that come pre-built in the software. “Microsoft allows and enables us to create methods to achieve desired outcomes. There are multiple ways to design our processes, which can be determined by free or premium components”, says Andrew.

Andrew who is the co-host of the Adelaide Microsoft IT Pro Community, also highlighted the importance of professionals leaning into community for support. He expressed, “the Tech Community is there to support you and inspire you with new methods to improve your iterative designs!”

“The Australian Digital Workplace Conference is a fantastic environment to learn and connect with people new and old. I was able to reconnect with the Digital Workplace Results team running the conference and Connections and Microsoft MVPs I’ve known, but I also had the opportunity to create new connections and meet other Microsoft MVPs and employees”, continued Andrew.

Staying connected

The Digital Workplace Conference Australia 2024 is a testament to the rapid advancements in technology and their impact on the workplace. As we move forward, it is clear that embracing digital transformation is not just an option but a necessity for organizations aiming to thrive in the modern world.

Microsoft’s Copilot Learning Hub is a resource available to help professionals navigate their roles across the Microsoft cloud.

Lastly, Debbie encourages the community to reach out to her to be considered as a speaker or participant next year. For monthly digital workplace tips and updates, Debbie recommends subscribing to the Digital Workplace Conference newsletter.

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