Explicit Measures Podcast

Mike & Tommy tackle the classic BI trap of falling in love with tools before understanding the problem, exploring why organizations rush to adopt Copilot, Fabric, or dashboards without defining what decision they're trying to improve, and how to force problem clarity without becoming the blocker when stakeholders just want to "see the data." Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want...

Mike & Tommy tackle a listener's question about connecting local VSCode to remote Fabric Jupyter kernels, exploring whether Fabric's architecture is fundamentally incompatible with traditional data science workflows, and discussing what an effective development cycle actually looks like when you can't just "pip install -e ." your way to productivity. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/79331916/is...

Mike & Tommy tackle a listener's challenge with Microsoft's overuse of "experience" in Fabric, questioning whether calling notebooks, pipelines, and copy jobs "experiences" inflates expectations and confuses adoption, and exploring what precise language would better serve data teams building real solutions. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @Power...

Mike & Tommy dive into Microsoft Fabric licensing strategy, questioning whether organizations actually need Fabric or are falling into the same over-provisioning trap as Power BI Premium. Drawing on Blake Edwards' client savings case studies, they explore F64 thresholds, hidden costs, and practical optimization tactics that separate smart capacity decisions from expensive assumptions. Get in touch...

Mike & Tommy explore Microsoft's new MCP servers for Power BI and Fabric, questioning whether teams should immediately enable these AI agent integrations or take a more measured, governed approach. They break down the security risks, governance implications, and practical rollout strategies for letting AI agents interact with semantic models. https://blog.fabric.microsoft.com/en-US/blog/in...

Mike & Tommy dive into whether Microsoft Fabric's success is driven by AI innovation or if it would thrive on its own merits, exploring how AI investments reshape organizational data strategies and examining what "AI-ready Fabric" truly requires in practice. https://www.fintechbrainfood.com/p/ai-is-rewiring-the-economy News from Today: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/josuebogran_i-have-an-nda-w...

492: Fabric Made Up Awards Mike & Tommy hand out the first annual Fabric Made Up Awards, debating hilarious categories from "Most Likely to Be Disabled by IT" to "Best Feature That Requires a Long, Awkward Conversation," revealing which Fabric features deserve recognition for being simultaneously essential yet problematic. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you...

Mike & Tommy start the new year with their own Microsoft Fabric Resolutions 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.youtube.co...

Mike & Tommy dive into Revisiting Dataflows Gen 2, exploring the tension between initial skepticism and current capabilities after major updates, and how organizations can strategically position this tool in their data workflows for maximum value. https://blog.fabric.microsoft.com/en/blog/unlocking-the-next-generation-of-data-transformations-with-dataflow-gen2-fabcon-europe-2025-announcements?ft=A...

Mike & Tommy dive into the challenges posed by Microsoft's Fabric IQ, exploring the friction it creates within organizations as they redefine semantics. They discuss how this shift impacts culture, politics, and collaboration, offering practical strategies for successful adoption. https://blog.fabric.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-fabric-iq-the-semantic-foundation-for-enterprise-ai?ft=All Ge...

it is that time of year - the fabric gift exchange. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips ](https://twitter.com/PowerBITips">@PowerBITips) with the hashtag #empMailbag or submit on the PowerBI.tips](https://powerbi.tips/explicit-measures-power-bi-podcast/">PowerBI.tips) Podcast Page . Visit [PowerBI.tips](http://PowerBI.ti...

Mike & Tommy dive into the concept of the "Intelligence Developer," exploring whether this new role is emerging from shifts in Microsoft Fabric IQ and AI's rise in organizations, and how it could redefine business intelligence practices for deeper insights and better governance. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empM...

Mike & Tommy dive into "Backward Ontology," exploring whether Fabric IQ can facilitate a bottom-up approach to defining enterprise semantics. They discuss the implications of shifting ontology creation from a top-down mandate to a team-generated process, and provide insights on how organizations can successfully navigate this evolving landscape. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/iq/ontology...

Mike & Tommy dive into 1-Click Notebooks, exploring how to start using them and the various customizations available. They discuss why these notebooks are essential for enhancing your Power BI experience, aiming to provide practical tips for effective implementation. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/transform-model/service-notebooks https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/deep-dive-into...

Mike & Tommy dive into "Data Governance in the Age of Fabric IQ," exploring whether Fabric IQ is truly the missing link for effective data governance or just another AI feature. They discuss practical strategies for organizations to enhance their governance frameworks and ensure successful implementation. https://blog.fabric.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-fabric-iq-the-semantic-foundation-fo...

Mike & Tommy dive into semantic modeling on the web, exploring whether this new feature signals the decline of Power BI Desktop and discussing the implications for data culture. Tune in for practical insights on version history and governance strategies for organizations. https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/deep-dive-into-editing-semantic-models-in-the-power-bi-service-now-generally-available...

Mike & Tommy dive into the AMAZING new features and incredible impact they will have on businesses and our careers. First half is AI then we dive in to Fabric Ontology and Fabric IQ. https://blog.fabric.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/advancing-data-integration-innovations-in-data-factory-in-ms-fabric-at-ignite-2025?ft=All https://blog.fabric.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-fabric-iq-the-semanti...

Mike & Tommy explore from fragmented import models to unified Fabric semantics, examining how to lead cultural change when teams resist moving from siloed datasets to shared models, and provide practical steps for building a culture that embraces a single source of truth. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMail...

Mike & Tommy tackle the controversial idea of killing your data team, questioning whether centralized BI teams have become expensive bottlenecks, and exploring how embedding analysts into product teams could deliver faster, more impactful insights.https://medium.com/dashboards-suck/kill-your-data-team-why-product-teams-should-own-data-bddd991dcff8 Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics...

Mike & Tommy dive into tracking app usage at scale, exploring how education consultants can monitor dashboard engagement across 70 school districts and 9,000 users. They break down the limitations of built-in metrics and reveal practical strategies for implementing audience-level usage tracking in Power BI. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @Power...

Mike & Tommy untangle workspace, branching, and artifact chaos, exploring how to organize Fabric environments amid conflicting advice from Microsoft and consultants, and provide a practical framework for managing dev/test/prod workflows without workspace proliferation. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag...

Mike and Tommy go through another great mailbag: I just finished listening to Adopting Copilot Standalone for Power BI - Ep.428. You may have addressed this before but I'd enjoy hearing a conversation about addressing what is the problem you are trying to solve for? You can have many tools and be highly skilled with it. But do you understand the issue for which the business needs improvement a...

Mike & Tommy explore the new Tabular Editor feature Semantic Bridge, investigating how this technology bridges the gap between different semantic modeling standards across platforms, and examining whether it solves real problems or just adds complexity to the BI ecosystem. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMai...

Mike & Tommy tackle source control in BI, exploring whether serialization formats like database.json and TMDL solve more problems than they create, and how teams can implement version control without overwhelming analysts. 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 . V...

Mike & Tommy dive into TMDL, Tabular Editor, and AI automation for semantic modeling, questioning why typing less gets so much attention when it's never the real bottleneck, and uncovering which workflow friction points actually deserve your automation effort. Get in touch: Send in your questions or topics you want us to discuss by tweeting to @PowerBITips with the hashtag #empMailbag or s...