Why Every D365 Consultant Needs Power Platform Skills in 2026

There's a lovely thing happening in the Dynamics 365 world right now. The line between "D365 consultant" and "Power Platform person" is fading, and the people who've embraced both are having a brilliant time. They're building things in days that used to take months, they're closer to the business, and they're getting paid well for it.

If you're a D365 specialist who's kept Power Platform at arm's length, this is your friendly nudge. It isn't a nice-to-have any more. It's the price of entry, and the good news is it's one of the most enjoyable skills you'll ever pick up.

What the job ads are telling us

I like to start with data rather than opinions. IT Jobs Watch tracks UK job adverts, and the numbers for the six months to 15 October 2026 are pretty clear:

• 46% of permanent UK job ads that mention Dynamics 365 also mention Power Platform. Power Automate shows up in 19% and Power Apps in 16% (IT Jobs Watch, Dynamics 365 permanent).
• On the contract side, 42% of Dynamics 365 ads mention Power Platform, 25% Power Automate and 21% Power Apps (IT Jobs Watch, Dynamics 365 contracts).
• Permanent ads citing Dynamics 365 roughly doubled year on year, from 719 to 1,456, with the median salary up 4% to £65,000.

That's close to half the market asking for Power Platform alongside Dynamics. A few years ago it was a bonus line at the bottom of a job spec. Now it's often in the first paragraph.

Why it happened

It makes total sense when you look at how the products are built. Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service and Customer Insights are model-driven apps built in Power Apps and running on Dataverse, the data platform under Power Platform. Microsoft points out that because of this shared foundation, Copilot and AI capabilities in model-driven apps are automatically available across those Dynamics 365 apps (Microsoft Learn).

In other words, if you're a CE consultant, you've been a Power Platform consultant all along. You just might not have called it that.

On the ERP side it's a bit different but heading the same way. Finance and operations apps and Business Central both connect to Dataverse and Power Platform, and both now expose MCP servers so agents built in Copilot Studio can work with ERP data. Business Central's MCP server went generally available in April 2026 (Microsoft Learn).

And then there's AI. Copilot Studio sits on Power Platform, so every client that wants agents is quietly also asking for Power Platform skills.

The exciting bit: Copilot Studio is taking off

This is the part that makes me genuinely optimistic. Permanent UK ads mentioning Copilot Studio went from 52 to 248 in a year, nearly five times as many, with a median salary of £65,000 and a 75th percentile of about £86,500. Almost three quarters of those ads also mention Power Platform (IT Jobs Watch, Copilot Studio).

The numbers are still small compared with core Dynamics roles, but that's exactly why it's a great moment to get in. Early movers in a fast-growing skill tend to become the go-to people, the ones running the workshops and leading the interesting projects. We're heading into an age where one consultant with a good grasp of Power Platform and agents can deliver what used to need a whole team. That's an exciting place to be.

What it pays

Combining Dynamics and Power Platform puts you in a strong spot. Some reference points:

• Pearson Carter's 2026 guide puts the UK medium salary for a Power Platform consultant at £77,000 and a Power Platform architect at £105,000, with contract rates for architects of £715 to £1,045 a day (Pearson Carter).
• In Australia the same guide has a Power Platform consultant at AU$165,000 and an architect at AU$198,000, excluding super.
• In the US it's $138,000 for a consultant and $176,000 for an architect.

On IT Jobs Watch, the broad UK median for all permanent Power Platform roles is £57,500, but that includes a lot of junior Power BI and reporting roles (IT Jobs Watch, Power Platform). The real value is in the combination: a D365 consultant who can also build with Power Platform is worth more than either on their own. Our salaries page has more detail by role.

What "Power Platform skills" actually means

It's a broad label, so here's what I'd focus on as a D365 person:

Dataverse

The foundation. Tables, relationships, security roles, business units and environments. If you're from the CE world you know most of this already. If you're from F&O or BC, it's the first thing to learn.

Power Apps

Model-driven apps for structured, data-heavy processes, and canvas apps for task-focused screens like a warehouse check-in or a field inspection. Being able to knock up a quick canvas app to fill a gap in a D365 process is a wonderful party trick in a client workshop.

Power Automate

Cloud flows for approvals, notifications and integrations. This is where most D365 consultants get their first quick wins, because nearly every project has a "can we just automate this bit" moment.

Copilot Studio

Agents and conversational experiences, increasingly connected to Dynamics 365 through MCP. This is the fastest-growing part of the stack.

ALM and governance

Solutions, environments, pipelines and the Centre of Excellence approach. Clients love consultants who can build fast and keep things tidy.

The kind of work you'll be doing

Here are the sorts of things D365 teams are typically building with Power Platform:

• An approvals app for purchase requests that writes back to Finance or Business Central.
• A mobile canvas app for engineers or warehouse staff, with the data landing in Dataverse.
• Automated onboarding for new customers, from the CRM record through to the ERP account.
• A self-service portal on Power Pages so customers can log cases or check orders.
• A Copilot Studio agent that answers staff questions about stock, orders or policies.

Every one of those is a small, visible win for a client, and they're usually great fun to build. They're also how you end up with a client who trusts you with the next, bigger project.

A friendly learning plan

You don't need to block out six months. Here's what I'd do over a few weeks:

• Week 1: Sign up for the free Power Apps Developer Plan, which gives you your own environment to play in. Build a model-driven app on a couple of Dataverse tables.
• Week 2: Add Power Automate flows for an approval and an email notification. Then connect one to your D365 data.
• Week 3: Build a canvas app that solves one small, real problem from a project you've worked on.
• Week 4: Build a simple Copilot Studio agent that answers questions about your app's data.
• Ongoing: Work through the free Power Platform learning paths on Microsoft Learn. For certification, PL-400 Power Platform Developer is still current. PL-200 Power Platform Functional Consultant retired on 31 August 2026, so if you're functional, look at the newer AB associate certifications such as AB-620 AI Agent Builder instead (Microsoft Learn retirements).

Make it fun. Build something for your football club, your family calendar or your side project. The skills transfer and you'll actually finish it.

How to show it on your CV

• Lead with outcomes. "Built a Power Automate approval process that cut purchase order turnaround from three days to same day" beats "Power Automate experience".
• Name the components. Dataverse, model-driven, canvas, Power Automate, Copilot Studio, Power Pages. Recruiters search for those words.
• Show the D365 link. Be explicit that you extended D365 with Power Platform, not that you did both separately.
• Keep a small portfolio. Screenshots or a short video of two or three things you've built are worth a lot in an interview.

For employers

If you're hiring, there's a big opportunity here too. Many strong D365 consultants are a few weeks away from being strong Power Platform consultants. Give them time and a sandbox, and you'll grow capability faster than you can hire it. Teams that learn together tend to stay together, and it's a lot more fun than fighting over the same handful of candidates.

The bigger picture

Every time Microsoft adds a new AI feature to Dynamics 365, it lands on top of Power Platform and Dataverse. That isn't a threat to D365 consultants. It's the biggest expansion of what we can do for clients in a generation. The people who learn the platform will spend the next few years building things that would have seemed like magic in 2020, alongside some brilliant colleagues, and that's a pretty good way to spend a career.

What to do next

• Search roles asking for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform together on our jobs board.
• Compare pay for combined skills on our salaries page.
• Add your Power Platform and Copilot Studio work to your consultants directory profile.
• Find partners building Power Platform and agent practices on our employers page.