Power BI
Microsoft's BI platform with Copilot for DAX generation, report building, and natural-language Q&A.
About
Power BI is Microsoft's business intelligence platform, deeply embedded in the Microsoft 365 and Azure ecosystem. Its AI story centers on Copilot, an assistant built into both Power BI Desktop and the web service that generates DAX formulas, creates report pages, writes narrative summaries, and answers natural-language questions about datasets.
Copilot runs on Azure OpenAI models and reads the semantic model to ground its outputs. Related AI features include Smart Narratives (auto-generated text explanations for KPIs), visual Q&A for plain-English querying, and Fabric IQ, a unified semantic layer extending the Power BI model across Microsoft Fabric for governed AI reasoning. Fabric data agents let users build natural-language Q&A experiences over data sources.
The catch is licensing: Copilot requires Fabric capacity (F64+) or Premium Per User, so standard Pro licenses ($14/user/month) don't include it. Copilot also can't build data models from scratch (Power Query ETL is still manual), struggles with poorly structured models, and can't replace analyst judgment on ambiguous business questions. AI-generated summaries should always be reviewed by a human.
What it can do
- Copilot DAX generation and explanation from natural language
- Natural-language report page generation
- AI narrative summaries of dashboards
- Visual Q&A for plain-English data questions
- Fabric IQ unified semantic layer for governed AI
- Smart Narratives for KPI explanations
Setup
Get a Power BI Pro license or Fabric capacity. Enable Copilot in the Admin Portal tenant settings (requires Fabric F64+ or PPU). Open the Copilot pane in Desktop or web, describe what you want in plain English, and review the generated DAX, visuals, or narratives.
Prerequisites
Fabric capacity F64+ or Premium Per User license; a well-modeled semantic layer (field names, relationships, and descriptions improve Copilot accuracy); admin access to enable the tenant setting.
Use cases
Works with
Trust score — 9/10
Scored 9/10 (verified tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: Microsoft's dominant BI platform with Copilot (DAX generation, report building, NLQ); Fabric IQ unified semantic layer and data agents documented from Microsoft Ignite 2025 coverage; Licensing gate honestly disclosed (Copilot needs Fabric F64+ or PPU, not standard Pro); Limitations documented: can't build models from scratch, struggles with poor models.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.