Build AI-first business apps that turn dashboards into actions | ODSP911
Paul Usher demonstrates how to build AI-first business apps in Blazor by combining structured UI components with Azure OpenAI, so users can ask questions, get insights, and trigger in-app actions instead of relying on dashboards and filters.
Overview
The session shows a Blazor-based approach to moving from traditional dashboard interactions (filters, drill-downs, static views) to AI-driven experiences where users can:
- Ask questions in natural language
- Receive insights grounded in application data
- Take immediate actions inside the app (for example, filtering data or exporting results)
The demo uses DevExpress UI components to render structured, actionable outputs from AI responses.
Key segments (from the session chapters)
Integrating AI for natural user experiences in Blazor apps
- Focuses on embedding an AI assistant experience directly into a Blazor application.
- Emphasizes the difference between a generic chat answer and an application assistant that can operate on app features and data.
Exporting grid data to Excel
- Demonstrates exporting data from a grid to Excel as an example of an in-app action that can be triggered from the assistant experience.
Registering tool methods (filtering, exporting)
- Shows registering application “tool methods” that the assistant can invoke.
- Examples mentioned include filtering and exporting.
Chat client integration with Azure OpenAI configuration
- Demonstrates integrating a chat client into the app and configuring it to use Azure OpenAI.
Translating report content to English within the report viewer
- Uses AI to translate report content to English directly within the report viewer experience.
Rendering AI findings with formatting for a side panel
- Shows presenting AI findings with structured formatting in a side panel, rather than returning only plain text.
Keeping report logic independent from AI (clause risk focus)
- Explains an approach where report logic remains independent from AI.
- Mentions a scenario focused on “clause risk,” with AI used to assist without becoming the source of core business logic.
Wrap-up: Azure AI + DevExpress + Visual Studio
- Summarizes how the demo pages fit together and the overall synergy between Azure AI services, DevExpress components, and Visual Studio tooling.