As of October 2025, Microsoft’s Copilot in Power BI is redefining how users interact with data. From generating summaries to assisting with DAX, Copilot brings generative AI directly into your BI workflows.
Whether you’re a Power BI veteran or just getting started, this guide gives you a practical overview of where Copilot lives, what it can do, and how to make the most of it—from Desktop to the Power BI Service and the standalone experience.
What Is Copilot in Power BI?
Copilot is an AI-powered assistant built into Power BI. It helps users:
- Create reports and visuals
- Ask natural language questions about data
- Write and explain DAX queries
- Generate summaries
- Identify key insights in visuals
- Prepare data models for AI interactions
But it’s not just one feature it exists in multiple areas of Power BI, each with slightly different capabilities.
Where Can You Use Copilot in Power BI?
1. Power BI Service (Online)
- Ask questions about reports
- Summarize visuals
- Create new visuals
- Get explanations of report pages
2. Power BI Desktop
- Generate full report pages
- Create visuals on request
- Write DAX queries
- Explain DAX logic
- Prep your data for AI
3. Standalone Copilot (app.fabric.microsoft.com)
- Search across your tenant for reports and semantic models
- Ask questions and get summaries
- Explore data and build basic visual insights
Requirements to Use Copilot in Power BI
Not everyone will see the Copilot button right away. To activate it, ensure:
- Region Availability: Your tenant must be in a supported region (e.g., Netherlands is supported).
- Admin Enablement: The tenant admin must enable Copilot and Azure OpenAI services.
- Fabric Capacity: Trial licenses won’t work. You need at least F2 capacity (paid).
- Workspace Setup: Only workspaces assigned to Fabric capacity will allow Copilot features.
Tip: Use a pay-as-you-go model to keep costs low for testing and demos.
How to Enable Copilot
In the Power BI Admin Portal:
- Go to Settings > Admin Portal
- Search for Copilot
- Enable:
- “Users can use Copilot and other features powered by Azure OpenAI”
- “Only show AI-prepped items” (recommended for secure access)
- Choose to apply settings organization-wide or to specific security groups.
What Can You Do with Copilot?
In the Standalone Experience
Available at app.powerbi.com or app.fabric.microsoft.com:
- Search Reports & Models: Ask, “Which reports include financial data?” and get a list with metadata.
- Summarize Reports: “Create a summary for my team about profit and loss.”
- Explore Answers: Click into generated responses to refine, filter, or visualize further.
- View Semantic Models: Only see models you have access to respecting row-level and role-based security.
In Power BI Service (Online Reports)
Click the Copilot icon within a report to:
- Get a summary of a report page
- Understand key metrics
- Generate new visuals from natural language
- Summarize specific visuals (e.g., “Explain this KPI”)
- Ask targeted questions about the data
In Power BI Desktop
This is where Copilot shines for creators and analysts.
Features:
- Generate entire report pages based on themes (e.g., KPIs by month)
- Ask for specific visuals (e.g., “Show profit by country in a column chart”)
- Explain DAX queries line-by-line
- Create DAX measures and queries using natural language
- Prep your data for AI
Example:
Ask: “Show profit by country for the last 6 months.”
Copilot writes the query, runs it, and adds a measure called Last 6 Months Profit to your model.
How to Prep Your Data for Copilot
Prepping your data improves the accuracy of AI interactions. Here’s how:
1. Simplify Schema
- Exclude irrelevant tables, columns, and test measures
- Avoid clutter from helper tables
2. Set Up Verified Answers
- Define phrases users might use (e.g., “What’s the highest profit?” or “What’s the highest thingy?”)
- Link them to specific visuals
3. Add AI Instructions
- Add business context (e.g., “Thingy = Profit”)
- Define internal terminology and logic (e.g., KPIs, fiscal periods)
Real-World Example: Visualizing “Thingy”
A user asks:
“Which country has the highest thingy?”
Copilot knows to map “thingy” to “profit” and generates a line chart showing profit by month for the top-performing country. This personalization is what makes prepping data so powerful.
Copilot for DAX: Write and Explain Code
Copilot can:
- Generate complex DAX queries from plain language
- Explain what existing queries do
- Update your data model with new measures or queries
Example:
“Show profit by country for the past 6 months.”
Copilot creates and executes the correctEVALUATEstatement and adds the new logic to your model.
Final Thoughts: Is Copilot Ready for the Real World?
Copilot in Power BI is not a replacement for experienced developers but it’s an excellent accelerator. It shines when:
- You’re exploring unfamiliar data
- You need a head start on report building
- You want to help non-technical users engage with reports
Start small with the standalone experience, then experiment in Power BI Desktop and Service.
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