Power BI and Copilot

Unleashing the Power of Copilot in Power BI (Preview): A Generative AI Revolution

In the continuous world of data analytics, Microsoft Power BI has introduced a transformative tool that promises to redefine the way we interact with data – Copilot. Available in Power BI as part of the Microsoft Fabric Public Preview, Copilot harnesses the transformational power of generative AI to help organizations extract the most value from their data.

Getting Started: Enabling Copilot in Microsoft Fabric

Before your business can dive into the capabilities of Copilot, there are some essential prerequisites to address:

1. Administrator Activation: Your administrator needs to enable Copilot in Microsoft Fabric. This step is crucial for unlocking the AI-powered features within Power BI.
2. Region and Capacity Considerations: Ensure your F64 or P1 capacity is located in one of the supported regions listed in the Fabric region availability article. Copilot functionality is dependent on this regional alignment.
3. Tenant Switch Enablement: The administrator must enable the tenant switch to activate Copilot. Detailed instructions can be found in the article on Copilot tenant settings.

4. International Usage: If your tenant or capacity is outside the US or France, Copilot is disabled by default. However, this can be overridden if your Fabric tenant admin enables specific settings related to data processing outside your tenant’s geographic region.

5. SKU Support: Copilot in Microsoft Fabric Public Preview is available only on paid SKUs (F64 or higher, or P1 or higher). Trial SKUs are not supported.

Exploring Copilot’s Report Creation Capabilities

Power BI has taken a bold step by introducing generative AI capabilities through Copilot, enabling users to automatically create reports with ease. Whether selecting a report topic or prompting Copilot on a specific subject, users can create a narrative visual that generates a summary of the report using generative AI.

Feature Overview: Interacting with Copilot in Power BI

Copilot offers several ways to interact within Power BI, making it a versatile tool for data analysts and business users alike. Here are the key features:

1. A Report Outline of Suggested Pages
   Copilot provides a starting point by offering a summary of your dataset and suggesting pages for your report. While not perfect, it gives users a foundation to build upon, modifying it to meet specific needs For example: topic of each page and number of pages it will create or even the visuals for the individual pages. 

2. Narrative Visuals
   Create visuals that generate text summaries of the data visualized in your report canvas. These visuals offer suggested prompts, providing an easy-to-read guide for end-users that updates with slicers, filters, and data refreshes.

3. Summary Responses about Your Report Content
   Even without editing permission, Copilot empowers users to generate a summary of a report page in the Copilot pane. Users can refine or guide the summary by customizing prompts, allowing for flexibility, and understanding of specific data sources.

4. Synonyms to Enhance Q&A
   Copilot can generate synonyms that users can add to Q&A, enhancing the visual’s ability to understand user questions.

5. Descriptions for Semantic Model Measures
   Copilot adds descriptions to your semantic model measures, providing essential documentation for individuals building reports from your model.

Before You Start Using Copilot

• Copilot sends customer data to Azure OAI for summary generation, stored for 30 days. Refer to the Supplemental Terms of Use for Microsoft Azure Previews for details.
• Continuous improvements are underway to enhance the quality of reports and summaries generated by Copilot.
• AI-generated content may contain mistakes; users should verify accuracy and appropriateness before utilization.

In conclusion, Copilot represents a leap forward in data analytics, bringing the power of generative AI to the fingertips of Power BI users. By exploring its capabilities and understanding the requirements, businesses can unlock a new dimension of efficiency and insights in their data analysis journey. As Copilot progresses towards general availability, the future of data-driven decision-making looks brighter than ever.

For more in-depth information, we refer to visit the original article on Copilot Introduction.