Copilot for Power BI: Take Productivity to the Next Level

Microsoft Copilot for Power BI is an effective tool that uses generative AI capabilities to help users with report creation, DAX measure formulation, and improving Q&A sessions. Its goal is to make data analysis into an easy-to-use, AI-driven procedure.

Now, let’s start with comprehending Power BI.

What is Microsoft Power BI?

Power BI is a collection of software programs, apps, and connectors that cooperate to transform your data from silos or inconsistencies into coherent information that is visually appealing and offers comprehensive and understandable insights.

Whether the data comes from a complicated cloud-based warehouse or your spreadsheet, with Microsoft Power BI, you can quickly view and examine your data from every perspective, gain a thorough understanding of the information, and use that knowledge to guide your decision-making.

Microsoft Power Platform, a low-code platform that allows the development of customized business solutions, comprises five product areas: Power Pages, Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Virtual Agents, and Power BI.

The Parts of Power BI

Power BI is a suite of different software and applications that work in cohesion to enable faster data analysis, starting with these three basics:

• A Windows desktop application called Power BI Desktop.
• The Power BI service is an online software as a service (SaaS) provider.
• Power BI Mobile apps for Windows, iOS, and Android devices.

While leveraging the capabilities, Copilot in Microsoft Power BI or Copilot Power BI manages all your data handling tasks, including combined data visualization, quick and customized reporting, advanced calculations and financial modeling, and robust data summaries.

Besides, it is also responsible for interactive data exploration, complex data manipulation, and creating precise financial forecasts.

Here’s a brief overview of how you can use Copilot in Power BI:

1. Report Creation: Reports can be automatically customized by selecting a subject or asking Copilot to concentrate on a particular area.
2. Data Analysis: Copilot can analyze data, create charts and graphs, and provide actionable insights almost instantly.
3. Enhanced Q&A: The feature improves the Q&A experience by understanding natural language queries and delivering relevant content.

To start using Copilot in Power BI, your administrator needs to enable it in Microsoft Fabric. You’ll also need access to a workspace assigned to a paid Fabric capacity (F64 or higher) or Power BI Premium capacity (P1 or higher) with Copilot enabled.

How to Use Copilot in Power BI?

Copilot in Power BI is a powerful feature that leverages generative AI to assist users in creating reports, analyzing data, preparing narrative summaries, and generating insights. Here’s how you can use Copilot in Microsoft Power BI:

1. Enable Copilot

• In Power BI Desktop, navigate to the File menu, then select Options and Settings, and finally choose Preview Features.
• Enable the Quick Measure Suggestions option.
• Close and reopen Power BI Desktop to apply the changes.

2. Access Copilot

• In Power BI Desktop, go to the View tab.
• Click on the AI Visualizations dropdown menu.
• Select Copilot to activate the assistant.

3. Ask Questions and Describe Data

• Open Power BI and type a question about your data into the Copilot tab on the screen.
• You can describe the topic you want to explore, ask questions, or provide instructions.

4. Generate Reports and Insights

• Copilot will analyze your data and automatically create visuals, narratives, and summaries based on your input.

Benefits of using Copilot for Power BI

Microsoft Copilot is a powerful generative AI that adds more capabilities to Power BI and transforms it into a smart business analytics solution. It can lead businesses to enhanced data visualization, deep insights, vast data exploration, greater productivity, and growth.

Here are some of the benefits of using Copilot for Power BI:

1. Simplified DAX Formula Creation

• Non-professional developers can create DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) formulas without requiring extensive coding expertise.
• The Copilot assists in writing complex DAX expressions, making it easier to perform calculations and create custom measures.

2. Efficient Data Model Changes

• Copilot’s suggestions streamline the process of modifying the data model within Power BI.
• Users can quickly adjust relationships, hierarchies, and data transformations based on Copilot’s recommendations.

3. Streamlined Visual Reporting

• Adding visuals (charts, graphs, tables) to reports becomes more straightforward and intuitive.
• Copilot provides context-aware suggestions for visualizations, helping users create compelling and informative reports.

4. Faster Report Creation

• Copilot accelerates report creation by offering relevant insights and automating repetitive tasks.
• Users can generate reports in seconds, reducing the time spent on manual design and data exploration.

5. Intuitive Data Exploration

• Users can ask questions about their data in conversational language.
• Copilot assists in exploring data by providing relevant visualizations, filtering options, and insights.

6. Faster Decision Making

Copilot for Power BI can help access data insights in real-time which can further contribute to informed and faster decision-making.

7. Futuristic Approach

Copilot for Power BI ensures you a futuristic business approach. It gives you a competitive edge over other businesses that have not embraced AI.

How to Turn on Copilot in Power BI

Turning on Copilot in Power BI involves a few steps. Here’s a general guide to help you get started:

1. Enable Copilot in your Tenant Settings

• Open the Fabric Admin portal and navigate to the Tenant settings.
• Locate the Copilot settings by using the Search function.
• Toggle the switch on to Enable Copilot in Fabric.

Source: Microsoft

2. Enable Sharing Data Across Geographic Boundaries (if necessary)

• This step is only required if Azure OpenAI isn’t available in your geographic region.
• In the Fabric Admin portal, find the setting that allows data to be processed outside your capacity’s geographic region and toggle it on.

Source: Microsoft

3. Use Copilot for Power BI in the Service

• Ensure that reports are in a workspace with the right capacity (Premium Power BI or paid Fabric capacity).
• Check your license type in the Workspace settings and apply either Premium or Fabric capacity.

4. Use Copilot in Power BI Desktop

• Select Copilot from the ribbon when you open a Power BI report.
• The Copilot pane will prompt you to select a workspace. Only workspaces that support Copilot will appear.

Remember, you must have Fabric admin privileges to enable Copilot settings.

Start Copilot in Power BI Desktop for the First Time

Using Copilot in Power BI Desktop for the first time may ask you to choose a Copilot-compatible workspace while selecting the Copilot button in the ribbon.

The workspace you select and the one where you want to publish your report do not need to be the same.

Also Read: Interactive Reports in Power BI

To start Copilot in Power BI Desktop for the first time, you’ll need to follow these steps:

1. Open Power BI Desktop.
2. In the ribbon, select ‘Get Data’, then choose the type of data source you want to connect to.
3. After selecting a data source, click ‘Connect’ to load your data into Power BI Desktop.
4. Once your data is loaded, click on the Copilot icon in the ribbon to open the Copilot pane in the report view.
5. The first time you click the Copilot ribbon button, you’ll be prompted to pick a Copilot-compatible workspace. Select any workspace assigned to the required capacity (Note: This doesn’t need to be where you’ll publish your report).
6. If you don’t have access to any workspaces that are in the correct capacity to use Copilot, you’ll see a message indicating this issue in the Copilot settings.
7. After selecting a workspace, you’ll see a welcome card in the Copilot pane. Click ‘Get started’ to begin interacting with Copilot.

You don’t need to repeat the steps once you successfully implemented them.

Change the Selected Workspace

However, if you want you can change the assigned workspace to a different Copilot-compatible workspace. You can follow the below steps to change the associated workspace:

Select File > Options and settings > Options > Copilot (preview) setting under Global.

Here you can find the name of the selected workspace along with an option to choose a new workspace.

Remember, to use Copilot, you must have admin, member, or contributor access to at least one workspace that is assigned to a paid Fabric capacity (F64 or higher) or Power BI Premium capacity (P1 or higher) with Copilot enabled.

How Can Dynamics Square Help You with Power BI Implementation?

So far in this article, we have gone into detail regarding Copilot for Power BI. However, if you want to know more about it, you can reach out to Dynamics Square.

Dynamics Square is a renowned Microsoft Dynamics partner in the market. With rich industry experience and relevant resources, Dynamics Square is an ideal option for your Power BI implementation. We have a team of experts who will work diligently for the successful implementation of Power BI.

They can efficiently assess your business needs and suggest the optimal solution that can best align with your organizational goals. In case any assistance is required, feel free to call us directly at +1 281 899 0865 or simply write an email at arish.siddiqui@dynamicssquare.com.