Explicit Measures Podcast

Mike & Tommy tackle the often-overlooked "outer context" problem in agentic Fabric development — exploring why request tracking systems like Notion, GitHub Issues, or even ADO matter more than most teams realize, and how building a proper project harness could be the difference between an agent that delivers and one that drifts. They break down how to map these workflows across corporate tool stac...

Mike & Tommy tackle the surprisingly tricky problem of tracking Power BI app usage at scale, exploring why app-level telemetry is harder to surface than report-level metrics and how teams can map usage back to districts using Entra ID, Admin APIs, and audit logs. They break down which telemetry sources are actually viable, how to avoid common pitfalls like audience filters hiding true reach and sh...

Mike & Tommy tackle why organizations are still dragging their feet on AI adoption even with Microsoft Fabric sitting right in front of them — weighing in on whether the real blockers are skills, data quality, governance, or just unclear ROI. They break down what "AI-ready" actually looks like in a Fabric and Power BI environment, how to tell AI strategy from AI theater, and what a realistic 30/60...

Mike & Tommy tackle the question of whether it's time to hold CEOs and CFOs accountable for data literacy, not just the analysts building the reports. Inspired by a mailbag from jedc at bi.fo , they explore why leaders so often ask for A when the business actually needs B, and what it really takes to build a shared data language across the org. They also cover the latest on AI-powered Power BI rep...

Mike & Tommy dive into the second half of the AI self-service analytics story, tackling governance, skills, and validation — and why giving everyone the ability to ask questions of data raises the stakes, not just the speed. They break down what a "Skill" actually means in Power BI terms, who owns the wrong answer when Claude writes the query, and how BI teams can build validation checkpoints that...

Mike & Tommy dive into self-service analytics with AI, exploring how tools like Claude are changing the way business users interact with data — and whether speed and access come at the cost of trust and governance. They break down what semantic models need to look like when chat is the primary interface, who owns accountability when AI gives a wrong answer, and what practical guardrails BI teams s...

Mike & Tommy tackle the growing tension between individual and team-owned Microsoft Fabric Agent Skills, exploring how BI teams should organize, govern, and promote skills without killing innovation or creating shadow BI. They break down the full skill lifecycle — from personal experiments to certified team assets — and land on practical governance guardrails that are lightweight enough to actuall...

Mike & Tommy tackle whether Power BI developers are quietly becoming professional QA testers in the age of Microsoft MCP, weighing in on what separates a true senior developer from a junior when AI writes the first draft. They explore how the developer role is shifting, who owns accountability when AI-generated measures ship broken, and what skills still matter when the tool can do the typing. Mor...

Mike & Tommy dive into RayFin, Microsoft's new AI-first product for building, deploying, and governing agents inside Microsoft Fabric, exploring whether this is a true shift in how BI teams work or just another layer of hype on day one. They break down what RayFin actually changes for semantic models, reports, and pipelines, tackle the real governance risks when AI can build and deploy at platform...

Mike & Tommy dive into Microsoft Build 2026, breaking down what the "agentic apps" announcement actually means for Power BI and Fabric teams—and whether this is a real architecture shift or just rebranded copilots. They weigh in on how Fabric Data Factory orchestration, Microsoft Databases, and Agent Skills change the day-to-day for BI developers and data engineers, and what governance guardrails...

Mike & Tommy dive into CI/CD automation with agents in Microsoft Fabric, exploring how agentic workflows are reshaping deployment pipelines, whether AI-driven deployments introduce more speed or more risk, and what guardrails teams need before letting agents touch production workspaces. https://github.com/microsoft/fabric-task-flows https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/cicd/deployment-pipeline...

Mike & Tommy dive into Claude Design meets Power BI Embedded, exploring whether AI-generated UX is a shortcut or a quality risk, how semantic models stay the source of truth when LLMs scaffold embedded apps, and what guardrails belong on every AI-assisted analytics project. https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerBI/comments/1sy5kue/claude_design_meets_power_bi_embedded/ Get in touch: Send in your questions...

Mike & Tommy tackle Microsoft Fabric hints to work faster, exploring whether teams are wasting time due to self-inflicted bad workflows, poor reuse, and confusing busy work with shipping value. They break down which repeatable tasks should be standardized first, when "just build it" becomes technical debt, and what practical Fabric habits listeners can adopt this week to stop the waste and start d...

Mike & Tommy explore agentic skill and report design, diving into the "Five Minutes to Wow" framework and whether AI agents accelerate great design or amplify bad habits. They confront questions about who owns design decisions when the AI makes the call, how to balance speed with craftsmanship, and what guardrails prevent self-service clutter—ultimately wrapping up with practical takeaways for any...

Mike & Tommy dive into whether agentic tooling should be driving your Knowledge Center, exploring if docs, support, and governance content can—or should—be fully automated by AI, and what that means for the future relevance of your CoE. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcas...

Mike & Tommy explore the importance of agentic skills for the Fabric developer, weighing whether Skills are a productivity breakthrough or another governance risk, and discussing how to build, version, and share Skills without sacrificing engineering discipline. https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/blob/main/skills/productivity/grill-me/SKILL.md https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Power-BI-U...

Mike & Tommy dive into Databricks Genie and the growing hype around data agents, exploring whether the real challenge is natural language chat or the semantic layer underneath—and what Power BI teams must fix before any AI agent can deliver trusted, governed answers at scale. https://www.advancinganalytics.co.uk/blog/genie-is-a-semantic-layer-problem-not-a-chat-problem-1 https://community.fabric.m...

Mike & Tommy weigh in on whether bookmarks in Power BI are still worth the maintenance burden, exploring how field parameters, slicers, and modern features have changed the game, and when you should still reach for bookmarks versus simplifying your data model instead. https://tabulareditor.com/blog/ai-readiness-and-best-practices-for-semantic-models-a-comprehensive-guide https://community.fabric.m...

Mike & Tommy dive into Building Agentic Tools for Microsoft Fabric With Alex Powers, exploring Microsoft's Alex Powers' new tool 'Taskflow Assistant' for Microsoft Fabric and how AI is transforming the way professionals work with Fabric workflows, discussing whether we're helping users master the platform or avoid learning it altogether. https://github.com/microsoft/fabric-task-flows https://commu...

Mike and Tommy review the most underrated Fabric features based on buzz and client usage Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips Podcast Page . Visit PowerBI.tips: https://powerbi.tips/ Watch the episodes live every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 730am CST on YouTube: https://www.y...

Mike & Tommy tackle the overfed golden dataset problem—when a single "source of truth" becomes a 100-table, 400-measure monster that takes four minutes to open. They explore why teams fall into the trap of cramming everything into one model, how fear of discrepant numbers drives over-centralization, and what it takes to split a bloated semantic model without breaking executive trust or reverting t...

This week on Explicit Measures, we tackle a critical "last mile" problem in Business Intelligence: how do you add narrative context to Power BI reports when the storytellers aren't Power BI users? Our listener has built monthly snapshot reports delivered to multiple business units, but marketing leads need to annotate these reports with context before they reach their final audience. We explore th...

Mike & Tommy weigh in on whether Databricks and Microsoft Fabric are converging into direct competitors, exploring how Databricks' push into BI with Genie and AI capabilities is closing the gap on Power BI's presentation layer. They question whether "end-to-end" platforms are the future or just feature bloat, discuss where semantic models should live in a modern data stack, and help teams decide w...

Mike & Tommy dive into improving AI skills for Fabric developers, exploring whether to start with prompt engineering or semantic modeling fundamentals, how to build real agents without organizational buy-in, and when AI tools actually add value beyond well-built reports. They tackle the tension between learning cutting-edge capabilities and mastering core BI craft, offering a practical 90-day road...

Mike & Tommy dive into Joachim's repo-based golden semantic model architecture, exploring whether AI-assisted development is making the classic thin-report pattern obsolete and how upcoming MCP servers for report modeling might reshape architectural decisions. They weigh the trade-offs between file-based AI edits and application-layer safety, discuss when splitting reports makes sense, and tackle...