Chapter 1: Introduction to Copilot for Power BI

Copilot for Power BI is an innovative AI-driven feature embedded within Microsoft’s Power BI platform, aimed at optimizing and enriching the experience of data analysis. This tool harnesses artificial intelligence to assist users in crafting reports, dashboards, and data visualizations, marking a pivotal advancement in making sophisticated analytics more approachable for a wider audience.

Microsoft unveiled Copilot for Power BI in 2023 during a broader announcement regarding the rollout of Copilot features across the Microsoft ecosystem. Following its preview release in April 2024, it became accessible in Power BI Desktop by August 2024.

With Copilot, users can engage in natural language queries, prompting Copilot to generate relevant visuals or summaries of data. You can access Copilot in Power BI Desktop by clicking the dedicated button in the Home menu, which opens a side panel on the right.

In a similar vein, Copilot is also available in Power BI Service.

You can pose questions about data from your entire semantic model and even ask follow-up queries based on previous answers.

If your inquiry can be addressed by an existing visual in the report, Power BI will navigate you to that visual as part of its response.

If you’re unsure how Copilot interpreted your question, you can access a hint that provides clarification.

Copilot also aids in report creation. You can request Copilot to suggest content for your report, and it will do so based on the analysis of the available dataset.

To utilize Copilot effectively, adhere to these basic guidelines:

• Use unique and descriptive names for columns and measures to enhance understanding.
• Structure your model in accordance with Power BI’s best practices.
• Add synonyms to data field names to clarify business-specific terminology for Copilot.

To enable Copilot in Power BI Service, select a compatible workspace where you have write access. This workspace must be assigned to a Copilot-enabled capacity, specifically a paid Fabric capacity (F64 or higher) or a Power BI Premium capacity (P1 or higher).

For Power BI Desktop, you need admin, member, or contributor access to at least one workspace assigned to a paid Fabric capacity or Power BI Premium capacity with Copilot enabled.

If you’re interested in exploring additional examples of how to use Copilot in Power BI, check out this video:

For a comprehensive overview of Microsoft Copilot, its availability, and an installation guide for administrators, please refer to the official documentation:

Overview of Copilot for Power BI - Power BI

Read all about how Copilot operates within Power BI.

learn.microsoft.com

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Chapter 2: In-Depth Guide to Using Copilot

The second video provides a detailed exploration of Copilot in Power BI, from beginner to advanced levels.